Fire

Welcome to hell

now THAT'S a fire.......dammit that looks hot in there!

Looks brilliant, I'd be tempted to do that on a cooler day, it's suddenly turned hot here last week.............

Up since 2 am- Been at 2300 or better since 11 am. Burning down the coal bed without losing temp is an art I'm still perfecting

The picture of the pots shows the outside coarse looking. Is that just fly ash? Does it brush off or become part of the glaze?

That is some serious business right there.

That ash melts at higher temp- it mixes with the glaze or acts as a glaze on bare clay. I spend a lot of time at low tempo build up ash in the top and back of the kiln- it races across the bottom at high temp

Several months ago you had a post about ash melting. I always figured that ash was as far as wood could burn down in the process. Not that I didn't believe it, but I had had to see if for myself. So one day I took the Mapp torch out and melted ash in the bottom of the stove when it was cold. Pretty interesting seeing it melt away.

If I remember correctly, it melts at something like 1900f depending on species/ composition?.. Or was it 2200?

Another question. What form does the ash turn into at its melting point? Vapor? Gas?

It melts- solid turns to liquid. Some potassium will vaporize at some temp. There's chemistry between potassium and other minerals in ash and the clay as well. It acts as a flux of sorts.

Chemistry was not my strong suit.

I would have taken vids later in the fire but they come out like a white blur- the whole kiln is full of bright yellow/ white fire.

The passive dampers at about 2300F. The other video view doesn't make sense as you couldn't see pots anyway

Does the roar of the draft pulling run the course of the whole firing? and how loud does it get?

At one point it sounded like a plane, and sometimes the rushing noise sort of puffs like a train. Normally it's not that loud,but one time at high temp I threw in a big sappy piece of pine and the noise made me take a step back. I suddenly started thinking about how much coals and super hot brick was roaring in front of me

No picture of the flames out the chimney this time?

That part of the firing was during the day- much less interesting

I keep thinking about the old comedy routine, maybe Bill Cosby, "Now that's a fire".

Results: firing was excellent, results were great




A friend's egg sculptures right in front of the firebox- that crusty stuff is built up melted wood ash

For a friend's MMAteam

Fantastic work man. I really liked the overhead shot of all the mugs with the variety of colors. The new camera looks to be taking some fine photos. I am amazed at the color change before and after firing.