[detailed book on kiln building]

15 hours ago, grackle said:

loving this conversation.  i live in the texas hill country, and we have something called "oak decline", so lots of oak trees biting the bullet, and it has recently moved onto my five acres, with a lot of potential wood becoming available..   seems like this hardwood oak would be perfect for a wood fired kiln.  we do have a burn ban at the moment, but recent rains should lift that soon..  of course, we would have to BUILD a kiln, but the idea of something relatively small, fired to a cone 6???  planning to check out the books mentioned, but i an wondering about the glazes I now use in my L and L electric kiln.  would I need all new glazes?  thinking i have read that a wood fired kiln takes more time to finish a firing than an electric kiln.  This is a whole new idea for me.  thank you for any thoughts!!

You can certainly do primitive firing and pit firing, without having to do any building.  Or, build a mud kiln.  Just don't expect to get higher than cone 06.  Go check out Andy Ward's channel on youtube.  You could also do saggar pit firing, but that's not something Andy covers.

[detailed book on kiln building]

22 hours ago, neilestrick said:

Be totally honest with them about everything. You don't want to go to all the cost and trouble of building a kiln only to have them shut you down. Chances are they won't have a clue what you're talking about, so you give them as much information as possible so they are able to make an honest assessment of the kiln. Otherwise they'll just say no.

I just sent what is sure to be a curious e-mail to the County.  Let's see if and what they respond.  I imagine this is not a request they get very often.  :-)

[detailed book on kiln building]

11 hours ago, Mark C. said:

Wood kilns take time but if they are made right you can fast fire them-Olsen has a fast fire wood kiln in one of his books  it had two fireboxes if I recall . An local earthquake took it down the next year at my place.-we built it in the 70s and took about 24 hours. The wood type and dryness will make or break this speed.

Wood firing is a young persons deal as far as I'm concerned -just a bunch of long back breaking work-hey it ceramics right.

I'm not young, but neither am I yet elderly, and I do love fire.  :-)

I've seen a video on youtube from someone who built that two-firebox kiln.  I think I'm more interested in that kiln from the UK that I linked above (single fire box, eight hour firing, supports soda and salt firing), but again I am not an expert and not dead set on anything yet.

[detailed book on kiln building]

29 minutes ago, neilestrick said:

Some places consider it to be open burning, others just call it a big barbecue, others classify them as industrial equipment. Also be aware that there will be a certain amount of smoke created, even in an efficient kiln, so you could easily annoy the neighbors.

Sounds like I should be deliberate in how I ask the question of the County, lest they jump straight to the worst possible answer.

I'm less concerned about my neighbors, we're all pretty easy going, but I will talk with them before I get serious about this.

[detailed book on kiln building]

51 minutes ago, neilestrick said:

Have you confirmed with the local authorities that you can have a wood burning kiln in your back yard? 

If you're looking to get the effects of wood firing that you typically see, then you'll need to fire to at least cone 9, because wood ash doesn't melt at cone 6. However, if you're not looking for the wood ash effects, and plan to fire with glazes, then a low-ash fast-fire type wood kiln might work for you. What are your goals with this kiln? We can help point you in the right direction if you tell us what you're hoping to achieve with your work.

I'll have to ask the County about any regulations on wood kilns.  I hadn't considered that -- thanks for the tip.  That might put the brakes on pretty quickly.

I can live with just salt or soda firing, if a small / fast kiln can't achieve wood ash glaze.  The video I referenced earlier did that on a fast updraft kiln, so I'm hoping that's in the realm of the reasonable.  For wood ash I can always sign up for when they fire that anagama I mentioned!  That one only fires twice a year, and there's a sign-up lottery, which is part of why I'm looking into setting up my own thing.

[detailed book on kiln building]

On 5/6/2023 at 12:42 PM, neilestrick said:

One of the best things you can do is to go visit someone with the type of kiln you want to build. There are many types of wood burning kilns out there, and a lot of variation within each type, so being able to discuss those details with someone who actually fires the kiln be more beneficial than a book. Each type has its pros and  cons and creates a certain look to the work. Anagama pots look different than crossdraft pots, and they have radically different firing schedules. It's a major investment of time and materials to build one, so you want to be sure to do it right.

What type of kiln are you thinking of building?

I'm not married to any particular style.   My main criteria are that it be small enough that I can build it and fit it in my back yard, and that I can fire it in one long day.  Cone 6 or 7 is enough for me.  The option of doing salt or soda firing would be nice, but not strictly required.  This one looks like a nice compact design https://youtu.be/6pdFWixTXiQ , but the only type I've seen personally was a large anagama that takes 48 hours to fire.

I'm not building anything yet, just doing research.  I haven't yet found anyone nearby with a smallish wood kiln I can visit.  

[detailed book on kiln building]

Any suggestions on a book (or PDF) with detailed instructions on building a wood-fired kiln?  So far I've found a lot of things that are not detailed, out of print and unavailable, or a plagiarism.