#kilndesign

Giving new meaning to the definition of “trolley kiln”. 🤣 www.sereneceramics.com #kiln #kilnfolk #kilnfired #kilner #kilnbuilding #kilndesign #kilndesigns #kilndesigner #trolleykiln #trollykiln #trolley #shoppingtrolley #gaskiln #gas #ceramic #ceramics #fibre #kilnfiredceramics #portakiln #portablekiln #australianceramics (at Sydney, Australia) https://www.instagram.com/sereneceramics/p/BwJ2Lt0gw3y/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=oeckprwmmldk

Working through some initial design thoughts and decisions for my possible next project. I don’t really think any of the details are secrets that need to be kept because they’re actually centuries old. If someone wants to try and make this before I do please let me know how it goes. . I stumbled across some research on early glass bead making that suggested that a simple clay hearth burning wood produced enough heat to work glass. Given the materials and tools that are readily available now, I figure I should be able to design something that is more than capable of doing the job. . Thinking about going back to older technologies to try and modernize them is making me realize that going back to those old ways of working and thinking gives one an alternative perspective to the one we have on our perch of contemporary life. As much as I love being able to get this kind of planning work done practically anywhere because I carry around a glowing rune stone etched with insanely intricate sigils granting it the ability to follow complex commands, is imbued with the power of lighting, and connects me to what is practically the entire store of known human knowledge; there is something about working through ideas using pen and paper that is more direct for me. . In similar ways, actually taking a step back in my creative practice to use older techniques, materials, and equipment makes me feel more connected to the process and to the work. I firmly believe it makes me a better artisan when I do have the chance to use cutting edge techniques, materials, and equipment. . #ideationsketches #kilndesign #minifurnace https://www.instagram.com/p/CQuj7HLDdCq/?utm_medium=tumblr

This is the interior of the wood kiln that I built. Towards the “bottom” are the two ports where the flame from the firebox comes up, and towards the “top” is the split flue for the chimney. I can fit two cubic feet of work into here. . I’ve been collecting fallen branches and other fallen scrap wood to use as fuel. I’m not sure how efficient this kiln will be or how many BTUs are actually in the wood that I’ve collected, so I’ve got approx. 10x the the volume of the ware chamber in wood (second pic). I’ve just got to let it dry out a bit. It should be enough to get me up to cone 3... I hope. . I’m hoping to fire sometime in the next few weeks. I need to finish making the work to fire and find a day with favorable weather. I also need to make sure there aren’t any burn restrictions in the area. All the work I’m making is from recycled materials too. I’m mainly using reclaim and mixing up batches of the coffee inclusion clay that I’ve been playing around with. The only bits of material I might use that aren’t recycled are some of the experimental surfacing treatments I’m playing around with. I think I may have a version of a low-fire “shino” inspired glaze that might work well with the potential ash from the wood fire. I’ve got some more tests to run, but I need to do a bit more before I’m ready to mix up a large enough batch to be able to glaze a piece larger than some beads or a tile. . #ceramics #kilndesign https://www.instagram.com/p/CPXEytnjgiX/?utm_medium=tumblr

The fix seems to be holding up. There hasn’t seemed to be any more settling or slanting of sections. The real test will be when I fire it. I’m still trying to figure out how much wood I’ll need. I’m also asking myself how high of a firing I want to do. I’m pretty confident that I could get this thing up to cone 10 if I had enough wood, but do I really want to fire to cone 10? . When one considers scarcity, whether by necessity or by mindfulness, the answers to these questions can vary greatly based on the perspective one takes in evaluating them. I find myself seriously torn over whether the results I get from doing a cone 10 wood firing is worth the time, energy, and resources that it takes to get them. It seems like a lot of the time, energy, and resources used in the process are used to certify a value in the item through a kind of “proof of work” model. But I don’t find any of these narratives of value especially compelling. . My conundrum around this is that the narratives I do find compelling do not seem to be widely accepted as such, especially when compared to things like “proof of work” and other systems rooted in “scarcity.” This brings me back to the scenario I find myself in where the things that are valued are the things that are unavailable to me specifically because their unavailability to people is what makes them “valuable.” So even when I do have the chance to make something that can be gilded in a sense of value based around scarcity, doing so makes me feel gauche and inauthentic. . Given this, I think I’m going to shoot for something between cone 1 and cone 3. That just feels like an interesting place for me to work, in part because it’s not very commonly explored, and it is hot enough for some of the more interesting chemistry that can happen with materials that I have available. I’m in a position where I don’t need to try and court the commonly accepted metrics of “value” (which I frankly am finding increasingly boring), so I’m just going to keep doing what I find compelling, which is also what I find worthy of value. . #ceramics #kilndesign https://www.instagram.com/p/CO9Hv_jDlZJ/?igshid=1poz4mcuxn7wc

I had to do some more work on that kiln because this happened. A part of the foundation settled into the dirt more than I expected, likely due to the weight of the chimney. I ended up taking the chimney down and reworking some of the brick structure to better tie things in for support, along with doing some reinforcement of the foundation. It did give me a chance to reposition the peep to a better place than I had it before. We’ll see how it holds up. . If you actually follow what I do, you know that I don’t shy away from showing failure. I don’t curate my account to be just the best stuff because I think it’s important to show that the world is more complex and complicated than one might expect; like not being able to stipulate that the ground is solid. Being able to operate in a simplified world is a form of privilege. I wouldn’t have had this problem on this build if I poured a concrete slab instead of just building on dirt, or if I had bought new brick for this project, but that would have meant spending money which I didn’t really want to spare right now. Also, the build would have gone much smoother if I could have designed it all beforehand and bought new brick (along with a proper wet saw) to build it. Instead, I had a limited supply of brick that was encrusted with salt/soda residue that didn’t quite sit square, and a hand saw to cut scrap pieces of soft brick to fit into the places that didn’t play nice. . Even with all this, my situation is still full of privilege. I had access to scrap refractory. I have a place where I can actually build this thing and fire it. I have the time and am physically able to take the week or so of intense physical labor that it took to actually put this thing together. It really hammers home for me why I feel so driven to try and find ways for people to get involved with these craft mediums without the need for special access. . #ceramics #kilndesign https://www.instagram.com/p/CO1i0S-DiHR/?igshid=1alhy6wlvm2kp