Comments on: Our New Urban Wood Kiln! http://jeffcampana.com/blog/2009/07/our-new-urban-wood-kiln/ The ceramic art and process of Jeff Campana functional pottery. Wed, 21 Jul 2010 18:52:14 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Manabigama Complete! http://jeffcampana.com/blog/2009/07/our-new-urban-wood-kiln/comment-page-1/#comment-228 Manabigama Complete! Sat, 12 Sep 2009 14:28:45 +0000 http://jeffcampana.com/?p=552#comment-228 [...] have been tracking the building of our new Manabigama Kiln here at the University of Louisville. In Part One I discussed the basics design and some of the process of building. In Part Two I explained the [...] [...] have been tracking the building of our new Manabigama Kiln here at the University of Louisville. In Part One I discussed the basics design and some of the process of building. In Part Two I explained the [...]

]]> By: Jeff Campana http://jeffcampana.com/blog/2009/07/our-new-urban-wood-kiln/comment-page-1/#comment-220 Jeff Campana Tue, 18 Aug 2009 02:28:08 +0000 http://jeffcampana.com/?p=552#comment-220 We significantly changed how the steel goes on there, and doubled the amount of fiber to 2 inches. Todd rigged up a chimney top that we are hoping will cut some of the smoke and flame on the way out. We are right in the middle of a huge city, and need to make an effort to curb those emissions. I will do one more blog entry about that. Things that come to mind: Make a pad of cinder block to put the whole thing on, to give more space between our kiln pad and the firebox while keeping everything nice and dry. Seems pretty thin down there. Make the cinder block chunk flush on both sides with the firebox, so that steel could be run better around the whole thing. We find it easier to run steel and do a sprung arch rather than the catenary. That way a shell of softbrick could insulate everything, and the stacking space would be nicer. We would then be able to hang a nice swinging door on it. Not fans of bricking doors here at U of L. The kiln would probably last longer too. The plans as they are have a lot of uninsulated hard brick, hope it doesn't get way too hot to hang around the kiln. If you followed the ordering list, you will have a lot of 18x9x2.5 floor tile left over. Use those for any soldier courses you put in. Those things rock for that. The plans do not match the disc you get, so always look at both, then make the call based on your better judgement. We put just one spy hole in the back, to line up with the front of the back shelf. The plans call for one towards the front, but we will just put some cone packs where we can see them through the door holes. Didn't really see the point in a front spy hole. We did not install salt ports. We have a salt kiln right next to it if we want to do that. I've never seen aluminum foil used the way they call for it to be used. We did it on the firebox but decided it wasn't for us by the time we got to the floor of the chamber. We tried really hard to not use a mortar joint in the cinder block chunk, but ultimately that is the way to go. We ended up using 3 courses of cinder, 1/2 inch of wonderboard, a course of 4 inch pavers, and about a 1/4 inch of mortar. Plan a whole day and get about 10 people for the skin coat. It is time-sensitive and actually ended up being 1000 pounds of stuff! Good luck! We significantly changed how the steel goes on there, and doubled the amount of fiber to 2 inches. Todd rigged up a chimney top that we are hoping will cut some of the smoke and flame on the way out. We are right in the middle of a huge city, and need to make an effort to curb those emissions. I will do one more blog entry about that.

Things that come to mind:

Make a pad of cinder block to put the whole thing on, to give more space between our kiln pad and the firebox while keeping everything nice and dry. Seems pretty thin down there.

Make the cinder block chunk flush on both sides with the firebox, so that steel could be run better around the whole thing.

We find it easier to run steel and do a sprung arch rather than the catenary. That way a shell of softbrick could insulate everything, and the stacking space would be nicer. We would then be able to hang a nice swinging door on it. Not fans of bricking doors here at U of L. The kiln would probably last longer too. The plans as they are have a lot of uninsulated hard brick, hope it doesn’t get way too hot to hang around the kiln.

If you followed the ordering list, you will have a lot of 18x9x2.5 floor tile left over. Use those for any soldier courses you put in. Those things rock for that.

The plans do not match the disc you get, so always look at both, then make the call based on your better judgement.

We put just one spy hole in the back, to line up with the front of the back shelf. The plans call for one towards the front, but we will just put some cone packs where we can see them through the door holes. Didn’t really see the point in a front spy hole. We did not install salt ports. We have a salt kiln right next to it if we want to do that.

I’ve never seen aluminum foil used the way they call for it to be used. We did it on the firebox but decided it wasn’t for us by the time we got to the floor of the chamber.

We tried really hard to not use a mortar joint in the cinder block chunk, but ultimately that is the way to go. We ended up using 3 courses of cinder, 1/2 inch of wonderboard, a course of 4 inch pavers, and about a 1/4 inch of mortar.

Plan a whole day and get about 10 people for the skin coat. It is time-sensitive and actually ended up being 1000 pounds of stuff!

Good luck!

]]> By: Michael Mahan http://jeffcampana.com/blog/2009/07/our-new-urban-wood-kiln/comment-page-1/#comment-219 Michael Mahan Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:17:58 +0000 http://jeffcampana.com/?p=552#comment-219 I'm getting ready to build a Manabigama myself, using refractory block and brick that I got from a brick yard. Have you done anything different than the plans call for? Just curious. I’m getting ready to build a Manabigama myself, using refractory block and brick that I got from a brick yard.

Have you done anything different than the plans call for? Just curious.

]]> By: Manabigama Part 2 http://jeffcampana.com/blog/2009/07/our-new-urban-wood-kiln/comment-page-1/#comment-216 Manabigama Part 2 Sat, 15 Aug 2009 15:50:36 +0000 http://jeffcampana.com/?p=552#comment-216 [...] the last article, our new urban wood kiln construction project at the University of Louisville has jumped some major hurdles, but continues [...] [...] the last article, our new urban wood kiln construction project at the University of Louisville has jumped some major hurdles, but continues [...]

]]> By: Zygote http://jeffcampana.com/blog/2009/07/our-new-urban-wood-kiln/comment-page-1/#comment-208 Zygote Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:46:21 +0000 http://jeffcampana.com/?p=552#comment-208 I'm green with envy... mabey it time to finish off that degree... I’m green with envy… mabey it time to finish off that degree…

]]> By: Jeff Campana http://jeffcampana.com/blog/2009/07/our-new-urban-wood-kiln/comment-page-1/#comment-207 Jeff Campana Sat, 01 Aug 2009 20:05:49 +0000 http://jeffcampana.com/?p=552#comment-207 Sure! Sure!

]]> By: John Bauman http://jeffcampana.com/blog/2009/07/our-new-urban-wood-kiln/comment-page-1/#comment-206 John Bauman Sat, 01 Aug 2009 15:20:12 +0000 http://jeffcampana.com/?p=552#comment-206 What a cool project! Any chance I could get a "tour" if I made my way down there? John What a cool project! Any chance I could get a “tour” if I made my way down there?

John

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