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offcntrIt's been a long time since I've shared a firing; probably back to the first few times I'd fired the big (50 cubic-foot) kiln. I'd started using the small kiln, 24 cubic-foot, and one firing I realized I had more than twice the pots I could fit in. Normally, the big kiln fires a 6-shelf footprint, but it's possible to load with four, so that's what I did. The firing turned out well, and the cost per pot was enough less that I decided to keep using it.
That's also about the time I started entering more retail fairs, and selling more pots, so fairly soon, I needed to fill every cubic foot to keep up with demand. And it was nice to be in total control of the firing, running things to suit my work and nobody else's. (About this time, Tea grabbed a few of my bowls to fill out one of his kilns, and the results were, shall we say, not ideal.)
So for the last decade, I've been firing my own stuff, with the occasional test tile from Jon or Annie thrown in.
Enter the global-f**king-pandemic.
All my shows are cancelled, Saturday Market every second week--if that--galleries not reordering. I needed to fire a kiln, to restock what was selling, and cover a few special orders. But I really didn't need more pots to put in the shed.
Meanwhile, Club Mud has been doing a complete teardown and rebuild of the smaller gas kiln. They took it down to the ground, redesigned and rebuilt. Now it's just waiting on burners (an epic in itself) and a door.
The old kiln didn't have a door. It had a doorway, through which you loaded pots and shelves. But to close and fire, you just stacked up bricks until it was full, remembering to leave ports to check the cones. It was a laborious process, often taking more time than loading itself, and there never seemed to be exactly the right-sized brick to fill a given gap. So bricks got cut to fit, meaning more smaller bricks, more time needed the next time. The users decided if we were rebuilding the kiln, we needed a proper, hinged door.
They're still figuring out the door. (I'm staying out of it.) And the projected finishing date keeps getting set back, from early September, to late September, to late October.
So anyone who needs a firing in the small kiln is either on hold, or looking for other options.
Look! An option.
This is Linda. She grows plants and sells plants, planters, and the usual mugs/bowls/plates at Saturday Market. She had enough work to fill the small kiln; about a third of the big kiln.
I could easily make enough to fill two-thirds. So we're sharing a firing.
It was weird, loading a kiln with someone who isn't Denise. She's a little to eager to help, I have to tell her when to slow down and let me think. Tell her when to stop bringing pots and look for posts instead. But we worked out a good rhythm, got the kiln loaded even a little faster than usual. And it was nice having some different sized pots, things that could fit in between and around my standard sizes. Made the load a little more efficient, in the end.
I did the firing myself, as she doesn't have a schedule for this kiln. It was a little fussy, cool on the bottom, though that shouldn't affect the pots we loaded there. It's cooling now, will unload tomorrow. Hope for the best.
That's also about the time I started entering more retail fairs, and selling more pots, so fairly soon, I needed to fill every cubic foot to keep up with demand. And it was nice to be in total control of the firing, running things to suit my work and nobody else's. (About this time, Tea grabbed a few of my bowls to fill out one of his kilns, and the results were, shall we say, not ideal.)
So for the last decade, I've been firing my own stuff, with the occasional test tile from Jon or Annie thrown in.
Enter the global-f**king-pandemic.
All my shows are cancelled, Saturday Market every second week--if that--galleries not reordering. I needed to fire a kiln, to restock what was selling, and cover a few special orders. But I really didn't need more pots to put in the shed.
Meanwhile, Club Mud has been doing a complete teardown and rebuild of the smaller gas kiln. They took it down to the ground, redesigned and rebuilt. Now it's just waiting on burners (an epic in itself) and a door.
The old kiln didn't have a door. It had a doorway, through which you loaded pots and shelves. But to close and fire, you just stacked up bricks until it was full, remembering to leave ports to check the cones. It was a laborious process, often taking more time than loading itself, and there never seemed to be exactly the right-sized brick to fill a given gap. So bricks got cut to fit, meaning more smaller bricks, more time needed the next time. The users decided if we were rebuilding the kiln, we needed a proper, hinged door.
They're still figuring out the door. (I'm staying out of it.) And the projected finishing date keeps getting set back, from early September, to late September, to late October.
So anyone who needs a firing in the small kiln is either on hold, or looking for other options.
Look! An option.
This is Linda. She grows plants and sells plants, planters, and the usual mugs/bowls/plates at Saturday Market. She had enough work to fill the small kiln; about a third of the big kiln.
I could easily make enough to fill two-thirds. So we're sharing a firing.
It was weird, loading a kiln with someone who isn't Denise. She's a little to eager to help, I have to tell her when to slow down and let me think. Tell her when to stop bringing pots and look for posts instead. But we worked out a good rhythm, got the kiln loaded even a little faster than usual. And it was nice having some different sized pots, things that could fit in between and around my standard sizes. Made the load a little more efficient, in the end.
I did the firing myself, as she doesn't have a schedule for this kiln. It was a little fussy, cool on the bottom, though that shouldn't affect the pots we loaded there. It's cooling now, will unload tomorrow. Hope for the best.