Firing #3 (finally a load I can be happy about!)

So, firing number three went smoothly. I sprayed in less soda in shorter bursts, fired without closing up the damper (less reduction), packed a light properly stacked load, did TONS of research regarding firing schedules, and begged the kiln gods to be nice to me. 

Finally some work I can be proud of:

Colors were bright, beautiful flashing, glazes did what they were supposed to and I am finally feeling like this whole long kiln building experience has been worth every arduous stressful heartbreaking moment!

Couldn't be more pleased! Already on my way to filling another load. 

Thank you to everyone who helped me find supplies, shared their knowledge/expertise, and encouraged me (again and again) not to give up. This load of gorgeous pots was because of you!

Results of second firing :(

I'll first let the pictures speak for themselves.

Lots of snot grey, over bleaching of colors, blistering, piles of soda buildup...etc

So, what went wrong? Looking over the firing schedules maybe:

1) Too much soda (almost double what I used in the first firing)

2) soda sprayed in burst that were too long (15 seconds each time instead of 5 second) 

3) Too much reduction with no oxidation soak (caused extensive carbon trapping)

4) Poor kiln loading which impeded the proper flow of air based on how the kiln was built. (I really wanted to fire a large platter in this load and ran a shelf that extended over the center air chimney exit gap.)

I studied my firing schedules, did a heap load of research and prepped for my next firing. Lol, definitely not time to give up now! I looked through all the pieces, tried salvaging a few of them by rerunning them in an electric kiln (some improvement) and I took a hammer to most of the load (which made me feel much better!) I gave away a few pieces to a friend that loves gray and photographed the couple of pots that were left. Oh, and I had a beer and quit pouting (almost).

Kiln Firing #2

Well, it fired beautifully! Pots were glazed, slipped, etcetera with all home made glazes and loaded up on Saturday night in time for the sunset!

The roof was finished the day before courtesy of my hubby. Loaded the pots and closed up the wicket. 

The two tanks were joined with a manifold in hopes that they wouldn't freeze up.

Had a successful firing where cone 10 was reached and very little issues!!! Woohoo!!! Thanks to some help from my hubby and a good friend who chose today to come for a visit, it was a stress free and exciting day of kiln sitting, soda spraying, and adjusting of psi (and perhaps a little beer drinking thrown in). No issues with the new build and more importantly NO MELTED BRICK!!!

Now the nail biting and waiting for cool down... Will post once I open. 

:)

Repairs Complete!!!

Well, it took a while but the repairs are done! REALLY hope it fires up well as another big setback would be painful! Sigh...

But, it's done! Woohoo! I still have to have my hubby put on the metal roof and paint the ironwork to slow rusting but that can wait. Had the original arch support rescued out of our burn pile. Set it up and hard firebrick arch went in. All numbered and you'd think it would be a piece of cake...well I'm blonde...forgot whether the numbering started in front, or back, or zig zagged! Luckily I have all my pictures for this blog. ;)

 

The brick arch fitted pretty well. Not as tight as the original but not too shabby. Just a couple brick had fused together and showed signs of bloating so those were recut and replaced just in case.

Next came the layer of ceramic fiber blanket and IFB arch. Wasn't as luck with this arch so it had to be redone. Not bad but a bummer non the less.

Done!!! All up and ready to fire!! Not as tight as before and a few odd patches but should be functional.

So excited to fire it up!!! Please keep your fingers crossed...and toes...give a sacrifice to the kiln gods...anything that may help is appreciated!

Rebuilding the interior chamber

So, I got all the bad brick out. It was hard around the burner ports but new brick was replaced around those. The chimney got trickier. Some bricks couldn't be taken out because of the weight on them (at least not without dismantling the whole chimney which I was trying to avoid!) So I broke a few in half, pieced in some holes with partial bricks so at least I know nothing will collapse. Not pretty but effective.

 

One brick I had to give up on and work around it so my back wall has a small "wonk" to it. It offends me only because it was perfectly lined up before. 

The bricks around the holes for removing the draw rings and spraying in the soda also don't line up perfectly due to the minor discrepancy in brick size of these new ones compared to the old ones. Sigh... it really does offend my perfectionist nature but I am learning to let it go...sigh. Should be functional.

It's kinda like putting a puzzle together without all the right size pieces but with some creativity it is coming along smoothly. 3/4 of the chamber is done and a huge thunderstorm forced me to quit for the day.

Dismantling of kiln for repair

Ugh...I've been really upbeat about this whole catastrophe until today. Tearing down what you just built isn't fun. In fact, it's pretty depressing. :(

I numbered all the arch soft IFB and removed them in order. Peeled off the fiber blanket layer and numbered all the arch hard brick.

When I tried to fit in my old arch support that I used to build the hard fire brick arch I couldn't fit it in because of all the expanded and melted brick. I don't want the arch brick ruined by dropping them (they were a different batch of bricks and are in great condition) so I filled the kiln with old towels to provide cushion and tried dropping it in rows. It worked with no brick damage. 

Everything is then stacked in order off to the side. I'll keep them covered with a tarp until they are reinstalled.

Here's a few more pictures of the damaged brick that will all be replaced. 

The rear wall is so interlocked with the chimney that I think it will be my hardest, but, at least I have started and I am well on my way to fixing my kiln. 

The rear burner port was the biggest fail as it was occluding the burner port during the firing. What a mess!!!

Still hoping not to remove any ironwork. The damaged brick is very brittle and needs to be hammered to break off. It splinters and sends glass-like slivers or rocky chunks flying. I just might have a few cuts and scratches when I'm done! Will update again soon.

Another road trip for new super duty high fire brick

Another drive for replacement bricks, this time to a brick plant in Grayson, KY. Thank you Mathew G for the contact. Extremely reasonable bricks, new with minor cosmetic flaws (jeez...I don't think the pots will be offended...heehee). Picked up 250 of them to repair/replace my melted ones.

But, the best was getting to check out the massive round kilns! Too cool and he let me take pics so I can show you guys. Now those are real kilns!!!

Me for scale. :)

And those are some massive burners!

The inside

Looking up at the ceiling.

These kilns are no longer in use as they have moved to tunnel kilns but he said their other plant still uses a couple of their round ones. Neat.

Well, loaded down heavy with these bricks so driving back to SC and hopefully finding good BBQ on the way.