Pres Posted April 25, 2017 Report Share Posted April 25, 2017 This weeks Question of the week comes from glazenerd, where he asked: The power grid has gone down in your area and will not be back up for one year: so what alternative firing method will you choose? I started thinking about this as glazenerd thought it would be fun or funny. The deeper I thought.... . . . uhhhhh! What would my alternative firing method be? To me that would be the least of my problems. How would I throw? I have an old Amaco motorized kick in the basement, but I really don't kick anymore at my age. I guess I would look into a good treadle wheel. Hmmm, could handbuild. . . nah, I am mostly a thrower. Then again, how about an extruder. Little shop can't handle a whole lot of equipment though. Firing? guess I could go up to Mansfield to the farm property and build a kiln of some sort, but then that is 2 1/2 hrs away. Nope, buy propane and build a small cone 6 kiln for firing, hmmm. . . where to put it, live in the middle of town! Hmmmm hope it never happens! best, Pres Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEP Posted April 25, 2017 Report Share Posted April 25, 2017 Wood. I wouldn't worry about my neighbors being upset with the smoke, or whether I was violating local regulations, since everybody else would have their own problems to worry about :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrim8 Posted April 25, 2017 Report Share Posted April 25, 2017 Wood sounds good. Propane would be easier. I'd have to order my kick wheel proactively as my computer needs power too! Or... I wonder if instructables has a "how to build a propane powered pottery wheel" in their repertoire ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pres Posted April 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2017 Put up a ton of solar grids with a battery storage and forget about the rest. Either that or hook up a generator to the NatGas line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JBaymore Posted April 25, 2017 Report Share Posted April 25, 2017 I've been mostly "off-grid" for most of my ceramic life. My first wood firing and wood kiln was summer 1969. I've used gas fired kilns with venturi type burners (no power needed) and mostly wood fired work. I bisque in gas... finish fire in wood. My noborigama here at my studio is 40 years old now. The gas kiln is one year older. I do use electric kilns for overglaze enamels though. But if necessary... I'd build a simple updraft wood-fired muffle kiln to fire the enamels in. I have 6 kickwheels in the studio (selling off 4 shortly.....don't do workshops here anymore). One of them a wooden Japanese one (keeping that of course). So throwing would be OK. Have a river on my property... so some form of water power for some pottery aspects would come into play. Land for gardening. House heats with wood. Have some solar. Have some woodlot. We'd do OK. Are we going all dystopian here? best, .....................john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Bridge Pottery Posted April 25, 2017 Report Share Posted April 25, 2017 I would go to the National Grid and fire everybody at the top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted April 25, 2017 Report Share Posted April 25, 2017 It would not affect my firing ceramics or production at all. I have a natural gas 12kw generator that auto kicks on when the power is out. My wheels still work and my lights still come on. I have 3 gas kilns (natural gas) so no issues at all on production or firing I would not need an alternative method to continue making a living with clay. Since I only use an electric for overflow bisque firing usually less than 8 firings a year it would not even be missed . The only downside would be I have to hear the generator run Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph Fireborn Posted April 25, 2017 Report Share Posted April 25, 2017 Move to the country with power operational. Find a house with no neighbors for miles and wood fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe_L Posted April 25, 2017 Report Share Posted April 25, 2017 Cowpats. Tried it last year, got 800'C first time. I'm sure with a bit of thoughtful design that can be increased a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 25, 2017 Report Share Posted April 25, 2017 Wood and maybe a bicycle powered wheel Joe, the local Fire Company has cowpat bingo to raise funds. The game moves stinkin' slow while waiting for the next number. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph Fireborn Posted April 25, 2017 Report Share Posted April 25, 2017 Wood and maybe a bicycle powered wheel Joe, the local Fire Company has cowpat bingo to raise funds. The game moves stinkin' slow while waiting for the next number. My highschool did this once. I think they ended up just rolling balls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callie Beller Diesel Posted April 26, 2017 Report Share Posted April 26, 2017 Ridiculously, I'd have no problems setting up a wood kiln in my urban backyard. They want to regulate natural gas self built kilns in the same category as the same equipment they use to extract bitumen from tar sands, with all the same engineering approvals required. But a wood kiln, as long as it's under a certain size, is apparantly in the same category as a fancy outdoor fireplace >.<. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denice Posted April 26, 2017 Report Share Posted April 26, 2017 I would switch to a low fire clay and try several methods of firing, trench, pit, Weber grill ect. I have a wooded area nearby and horse manure to start firing with. If I fail at those I could try converting my big Skutt to gas. I already use a kick wheel and do handbuilding no electricity needed. Denice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeU Posted April 26, 2017 Report Share Posted April 26, 2017 Power out for a year--that definately portends dystopian horrors. There are serious luxury condo survival habitats built inside old missile silos buried in the desert, for use by billionaires should TSHTF. Therefore, I would go on eHarmony and insist that my perfect match would own such a shelter and would, of course, install a complete ceramics studio. Problem solved. Alternatively, I'd invite myself over to John's place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted April 26, 2017 Report Share Posted April 26, 2017 The Power Grid Has Gone Down In Your Area When is going to happen anyway??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatthewV Posted April 26, 2017 Report Share Posted April 26, 2017 I would paint for a little while. Really, my ability to make pottery is dependent on teaching classes and using electricity. Getting a wood kiln is 10 year dream that might get fast tracked. Getting a gas kiln up and running could be done in one summer. If I have internet access to order materials from. Sigh. I am dependent on this modern life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kellykopp Posted April 26, 2017 Report Share Posted April 26, 2017 Barrel firing which I already do, no problem. Sawdust, cow pies, straw, and wood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denice Posted April 26, 2017 Report Share Posted April 26, 2017 I was in New Mexico at the Painted Desert Museum when the power went off last week. We were leaving for Holcomb to stay at the WigWam Tee Pees, it was a half hour drive. When we got there the whole town was out of power, and the concrete Tee Pees didn't have windows. The electricity would go off and on, we managed to get some dinner before it went off again. A little reminder of life off the grid, I probably wouldn't get much potting done. I would be moving someplace that had electricity or growing a bigger garden. Denice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta12 Posted April 26, 2017 Report Share Posted April 26, 2017 I would probably build a wood kiln. Lots of access to wood. I would handbuild, unless I could get plans to build a treadle wheel. And maybe a small propane kiln for some things. Our house is passive solar, but we are thinking about panels for the shop. Yes, when is this happening?? I better get moving on this project! Roberta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnolia Mud Research Posted April 26, 2017 Report Share Posted April 26, 2017 What I find interesting from this discussion so far is that the non-pottery consequences of unavailability of electric power for the coming 365 days has not been considered. I can't make pots when there is no ice cream available at snack time. And, while I do enjoy walking 2 miles to the store for an ice cream bar, I don't really want to tote that bag of clay back to the studio because there is no power at the gas station to pump gas into the truck that I normally use to go get the clay and ice cream. But wait a minute, I can't buy ice cream at the store when there is no power to keep it frozen or run the cash register to make change for by fiver. Thus, I will sun bake my pots, just like I did when I was 4 years old. LT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glazenerd Posted April 26, 2017 Report Share Posted April 26, 2017 Being surrounded by trees, with several hundred acres more across the street: I would be wood firing. However, there is a natural coal seam down in the creek bottom, easy enough to get to. Then again my carbon footprint would become much larger. We have some high magnesium clay with a fair amount of lignite in it: perhaps primitives with a splash of modern. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denice Posted April 27, 2017 Report Share Posted April 27, 2017 Roberta I use to eat my sun dried mud pies, they didn't taste bad but we lived in a area with sandy soil so they were gritty! Denice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrim8 Posted April 27, 2017 Report Share Posted April 27, 2017 I don't even want to think about no power. The people in the US along our southern border can relate. Our April showers have been snow all week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glazenerd Posted April 27, 2017 Report Share Posted April 27, 2017 The better question: the grid goes down for a year and the battery on your cell phone is dead in 24 hours: now what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pres Posted April 27, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2017 The better question: the grid goes down for a year and the battery on your cell phone is dead in 24 hours: now what? Solar battery charger. . . don't you have one nerd? best, Pres Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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