akilspots

this little bowl has a shino glaze on it. the pot behind it has a glaze to the shoulder the rest is from the ash. these cups are all un-glazed on the outside. some slips applied to the two on the ends. this bottle was fired on its side and is un-glazed. just the natural ash glaze. has a really wonderful drip that formed from being side fired.

I got a chance to participate in my first wood firing this past summer. it was great. i'd say definitely try to get some pieces in different places in the kiln so you can see what it's like for something to be by the fire box or in the back and how that affects how much ash they get and how much that ash melts. also try to wad things in different ways, i had some pots that were wadded on their side vs just on the bottom or with shells or with a ring of wadding vs a blob of wadding. definitely try some glazed vs un-glazed pots as well.

In addition to Fred Olsen's great kiln book I like Kilns: Design, Construction, and Operation by Daniel Rhodes.

thanks so much! i'm going to try this out next time i fire the kiln.

they are all from john britt's mid-range glaze book. the shinos definitely want to be fired in reduction not so sure about the oxblood glaze i've got mixed results with it in both types of firings.

yeah i actually watched this video a few times...definitely got some good info from there. it's very sensitive to changes i guess from being so small. so its like i can get a reducing flame coming from the chimney but a slight adjustment of the damper will have it climbing while there's a reducing flame as well. it never gets quite as big as that one in the video still though. but the klin is just a little 4.5-5 cu ft baby kiln. it has been great to get some firing practice with though.

to be honest with this first firing i was just concerned if it would fire to cone 6 and reduce at all. it was put into reduction at around 1500F

from the first firing of a little electric to gas conversion kiln i built. hit cone 6 at the top and middle of the kiln and cone 7 at the bottom where the burner port is. had some mixed results: one glaze blistered pretty badly on everything it was on. some shivering on the inside of one bowl where i used the "gold" shino. i re-fired these 2 of them in the same kiln and 1 in an electric and they all healed over the 2nd time around...

I picked this book up the other day and it's great. detailed information on alternative firings and good information on stuff that other people gloss over like finishing pots that have been alternatively fired.