buckeye Posted November 29, 2011 Report Share Posted November 29, 2011 I woke up at about 12:30 am lastnight after almost an hour and a half of sleep. Sore throat, congested, coughing.. yes I seem to have found myself a cold. So sitting up bored, not much to do I decided to load the kiln and fire some pottery. I figured if I stayed awake until it shut off, take a nap from exhaustion and I would be up and ready for the day. 9 hours later and scratching my head wondering why the kiln kept shutting off but not throwing a breaker I called a friend who has wired 4 of his previous homes. Together, after some testing with the my handy multi-meter we came to the conclusion that my 25 + year old main breaker decided to give out. Called the powere co. to come turn off my power outside so I could replace it. well after finally chasing down the part I needed I put it back together and to my surprise still a problem.. Ok I am so tired and want to go to sleep, long story short I FINALLY have it fixed and it is 7 pm.. stick around folks, I am always full of crazy adventures, mishaps and shenanigans! In the process I managed to knock over 3 mugs and break 2 of them, I have a kiln full of half fired stuff, I have been from the cellar to the second floor of my house 357 times, dog tripped me and him and I are both sore from that incident AND this cold is kicking my BUTT!! Believe it or not I am still smiling and in a good mood, I think the sleep deprevation is making me loopy! GOOD NIGHT ALL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Unknown Craftsman Posted November 29, 2011 Report Share Posted November 29, 2011 Well, with your tenacity and determination, you are bound to succeed, buckeye! I hope you and your dog will feel better soon, and that your kilnload turns out well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denice Posted November 29, 2011 Report Share Posted November 29, 2011 So Buckeye when you wake up tell us what was really wrong with your kiln. My test kiln recently quit firing in the middle of the firing recently, the light was still on and the kiln sitter still set. So I let it cool down and put a new cone in it and it fired just fine. But I know it will probably do this again and I'll have to figure out what is going on. Denice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckeye Posted November 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2011 So Buckeye when you wake up tell us what was really wrong with your kiln. My test kiln recently quit firing in the middle of the firing recently, the light was still on and the kiln sitter still set. So I let it cool down and put a new cone in it and it fired just fine. But I know it will probably do this again and I'll have to figure out what is going on. Denice I have two breaker boxes in my house. One in the cellar and one upstairs. The box in the cellar feeds the upstairs box. Where I really messed up yesterday was having it in my head somehow that they werent connected, I thought I had two seperate meters and instead of going outside and verifying it I just assumed, I know thats stupid but since I bought the house 3 years ago somehow I have had it in my head they were seperate. SO I blew a fuse in the cellar box but just one, not both which gave me power upstairs to half of my box. So thats what happened. I am not sure why it blew though. I have a buddy who is an electrician and of course i was on the phone with him all day. He said replace the fuse and give it another try and If I have any other problems install bigger fuses, right now I only have 2 - 30 amp fuses but the wire is heavy enough it can take 40's. I am firing again right now so I will let you know what happens. He thinks since I had already fired twice and what is tied into the upstairs box that It shouldnt be a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynny Posted November 29, 2011 Report Share Posted November 29, 2011 Evening Buckeye This is a story that confirms -clay does strange things to peoples minds! It makes you stubborn, inquisitive, determined and the list is endless......... Why do we do the things we do? I'm experienced in electric firings and have done a few gas firings to make me feel comfortable to do it again, but have always been curious about a wood firing. For 2 years at uni i've looked at the outside kiln courtyard, 4 big brick beasts full of mystery to me, covered in cobwebs and weeds, not fired for 3-6 years and gathering dust. I've often suggested lets do a 'wood fire' and finally this week a group of us were ready. Now when I say a group, actually 3 old ladies and one lady in her early 40's! We had a man come in and break up some wooden pallets for fuel and off we went. 9 hours yesterday glazing and loading and bricking up the door. 2 ladies in at 7am this morning to light it and all day we shared the stoking. By lunchtime we had a temp slump that we didnt know how to fix, lecturer to the rescue. Finally at 8.30 cones down, brick and mudded up fire boxes and we had finished. Well today was a HUGE learning curve. Heaps of fun, filthy dirty, 34c windy hot day, sweaty and excited we cant wait to chip open that door and find our pots. Glaze experiments, shino, celadon, temoku, nuka and some bare work for fly ash glazes........ its exciting. So as sleep deprived as you may be, and as absolutely exhausted as I am ......... I bet we all go back after every challenge and still want to play with mud enjoy your sleep! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckeye Posted November 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2011 Lynny I am so excited for you! PLEASE take some pictures for us, I would absolutely love to see them and I know others would as well!! My dream is to someday build a wood firing kiln, was just talking about it with my good friend the other day! I am very determined but I have to admit every time I walked past a piece of clay yesterday I muttered cuss words under my breath ( didnt want the clay to hear me and give me problems) but today is a new day, I slept good but I am still sick, can hardly talk today, losing my voice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
totemtina Posted November 29, 2011 Report Share Posted November 29, 2011 Evening Buckeye This is a story that confirms -clay does strange things to peoples minds! It makes you stubborn, inquisitive, determined and the list is endless......... Why do we do the things we do? I'm experienced in electric firings and have done a few gas firings to make me feel comfortable to do it again, but have always been curious about a wood firing. For 2 years at uni i've looked at the outside kiln courtyard, 4 big brick beasts full of mystery to me, covered in cobwebs and weeds, not fired for 3-6 years and gathering dust. I've often suggested lets do a 'wood fire' and finally this week a group of us were ready. Now when I say a group, actually 3 old ladies and one lady in her early 40's! We had a man come in and break up some wooden pallets for fuel and off we went. 9 hours yesterday glazing and loading and bricking up the door. 2 ladies in at 7am this morning to light it and all day we shared the stoking. By lunchtime we had a temp slump that we didnt know how to fix, lecturer to the rescue. Finally at 8.30 cones down, brick and mudded up fire boxes and we had finished. Well today was a HUGE learning curve. Heaps of fun, filthy dirty, 34c windy hot day, sweaty and excited we cant wait to chip open that door and find our pots. Glaze experiments, shino, celadon, temoku, nuka and some bare work for fly ash glazes........ its exciting. So as sleep deprived as you may be, and as absolutely exhausted as I am ......... I bet we all go back after every challenge and still want to play with mud enjoy your sleep! [Well, I think you're right about going back for more with more determination! I've been a clay artist for 25 + yrs, worked with all kinds of clays but always using the electric kiln. Something is unigue maybe about clay artists though....we put ourselves through a lot and we keep going. Maybe it's this inate acceptence that working in clay is hard. I remember years ago when I was renting a cement block garage and it was February, with 20" of snow on the ground. I was making slip cast ware at the time. I had a kerosene heater that barely made a difference. On this day I went home to eat lunch and to get warm, not realizing how friggin' cold I was until I sat by my woodstove clutching my soup bowl. I stoked that stove up SO HIGH that it melted the side of my TV! I didn't even realize it at the time until later that day. I returned to the studio and finished what I needed to, but it's this blinding determination we clay artists share I think!! Thanks for the stories. Tina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckeye Posted November 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2011 Evening Buckeye This is a story that confirms -clay does strange things to peoples minds! It makes you stubborn, inquisitive, determined and the list is endless......... Why do we do the things we do? I'm experienced in electric firings and have done a few gas firings to make me feel comfortable to do it again, but have always been curious about a wood firing. For 2 years at uni i've looked at the outside kiln courtyard, 4 big brick beasts full of mystery to me, covered in cobwebs and weeds, not fired for 3-6 years and gathering dust. I've often suggested lets do a 'wood fire' and finally this week a group of us were ready. Now when I say a group, actually 3 old ladies and one lady in her early 40's! We had a man come in and break up some wooden pallets for fuel and off we went. 9 hours yesterday glazing and loading and bricking up the door. 2 ladies in at 7am this morning to light it and all day we shared the stoking. By lunchtime we had a temp slump that we didnt know how to fix, lecturer to the rescue. Finally at 8.30 cones down, brick and mudded up fire boxes and we had finished. Well today was a HUGE learning curve. Heaps of fun, filthy dirty, 34c windy hot day, sweaty and excited we cant wait to chip open that door and find our pots. Glaze experiments, shino, celadon, temoku, nuka and some bare work for fly ash glazes........ its exciting. So as sleep deprived as you may be, and as absolutely exhausted as I am ......... I bet we all go back after every challenge and still want to play with mud enjoy your sleep! [Well, I think you're right about going back for more with more determination! I've been a clay artist for 25 + yrs, worked with all kinds of clays but always using the electric kiln. Something is unigue maybe about clay artists though....we put ourselves through a lot and we keep going. Maybe it's this inate acceptence that working in clay is hard. I remember years ago when I was renting a cement block garage and it was February, with 20" of snow on the ground. I was making slip cast ware at the time. I had a kerosene heater that barely made a difference. On this day I went home to eat lunch and to get warm, not realizing how friggin' cold I was until I sat by my woodstove clutching my soup bowl. I stoked that stove up SO HIGH that it melted the side of my TV! I didn't even realize it at the time until later that day. I returned to the studio and finished what I needed to, but it's this blinding determination we clay artists share I think!! Thanks for the stories. Tina WOW melted the side of the tv, I would have liked to seen that!! I love wood burning stoves, better than fire places if you ask me, can make tea, coffee and even cook on top of them and nothing like a good fire when coming in from a day of bone chilling weather. One of the first things I did when I moved in to my house was put in a wood burning stove! Kiln just shut its self off so looks like everything worked good! Hopefully the problem is fixed and all is good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Unknown Craftsman Posted November 29, 2011 Report Share Posted November 29, 2011 I could understand how you could melt the side of your TV, sometimes you get so cold it feels like you'll never be warm again, even if you are sitting ON the stove. I looked into getting a woodburning stove for my garage studio, I was wondering how much heat they put out, I bet one could warm my 20 x 22 garage to more than 45F. Glad to hear you were able to solve out your electrical problem, and it sounds like your cold might be going away; usually when I lose my voice the cold/sore throat has passed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckeye Posted November 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2011 I could understand how you could melt the side of your TV, sometimes you get so cold it feels like you'll never be warm again, even if you are sitting ON the stove. I looked into getting a woodburning stove for my garage studio, I was wondering how much heat they put out, I bet one could warm my 20 x 22 garage to more than 45F. Glad to hear you were able to solve out your electrical problem, and it sounds like your cold might be going away; usually when I lose my voice the cold/sore throat has passed. My house is like 2800 square feet and my woodburning stove will run you out of the downstairs when I have it going, stays pretty comfortable upstairs, nothing like being out in the freezing cold, coming home chilled to the bone and sitting around the stove, will put you to sleep! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Unknown Craftsman Posted November 29, 2011 Report Share Posted November 29, 2011 I suspected it would be very effective, but that sounds fantastic! I'll have to do more research; too bad you can't use all that heat that for some sort of woodfiring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynny Posted November 29, 2011 Report Share Posted November 29, 2011 Hi all how good to hear others stories when its been 'one of those days'. And like I said no matter how bad the day was we just shake ourselves off and get back into it. Totemtina made a good point- maybe its because we are told all along that this journey in clay will be tough so we just accept it and keep going. It amazes me some of the clay stories I've heard where you'd think just throw in the towel and say 'too hard', but we persist. I've loved every minute of it, including the disasters and the more I learn the more I realise I dont know. At my age I havnt got a hope of perfecting a technique, but I know I want to keep on experimenting and learning more at every corner. The wood fire yesterday was a blast and I can see how how 'wood fire artists' can invest years and years into it. After yesterday I was keen to have a small kiln built too and maybe one day I will. You would love it Buckeye. I promise I will get pics of the pots that come out of it (good and bad) and I'll put them here so you can a peek into the outcome. Sounds like you have your power issues sorted. I'm lucky that the electrician who wired our house from the start lives next door and is a back up when things go wrong. He's upgraded wiring for my kiln and put in bigger circuits. hope your cold has left you in peace cheers Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckeye Posted November 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2011 lyn - I cant wait to see your pictures from the wood firing!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckeye Posted November 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2011 I suspected it would be very effective, but that sounds fantastic! I'll have to do more research; too bad you can't use all that heat that for some sort of woodfiring. I had to laugh when you said to bad cant use the heat for some kind of wood firing... I have thought about it several times, trying to figure out if I could build a small box on top, I mentioned it to my girlfriend though and the dream was squashed! She does not think a box on top of the woodburner would look good in the dining room Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone to Pot Posted November 30, 2011 Report Share Posted November 30, 2011 I suspected it would be very effective, but that sounds fantastic! I'll have to do more research; too bad you can't use all that heat that for some sort of woodfiring. I had to laugh when you said to bad cant use the heat for some kind of wood firing... I have thought about it several times, trying to figure out if I could build a small box on top, I mentioned it to my girlfriend though and the dream was squashed! She does not think a box on top of the woodburner would look good in the dining room Maybe you could make a removable container for the top of the wood stove. If your cold is still bad enough maybe you can put your fevered mind to it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~janie Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 Good Grief! Sounds like a good way to burn the house down. I have an old cast cookstove that I am going to set up in my studio for heat. I have used it for cooking and heating many days, and I love putting a pot of soup or beans on to cook for dinner while I am working and can watch it. Slide a pan of cornbread in the oven, we have a meal! I am so envious of your wood burn, lynny! Please post pictures! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynny Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 Hi all, as a few of you have showed interest in the wood firing we did I thought I'd put some pics up of the process. The beast is still cooling down so we are yet to chip it open to see what our work looks like. Good or bad outcome I'll be brave and put those pics up as well I know you will all be kind. These pics were taken during the day of firing. I hope this works as I've put pics up before and they were huge! cheers, Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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