oldlady Posted June 5, 2016 Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 well, i guess it is time to remove the carcass of the paragon a99 that has been dead for many years. it has been a handy shelf rest for loading and unloading the real kiln next to it but now i have a tiny paragon ready to take its place as a test kiln. the cord for the new one, an A66, has been modified to plug into the old Touch'nFire controller on the wall so it will allow for more consistent testing. Arnold Howard at paragon says this will work. looking forward to using it, once i can find someone to help get it out of the car. is there anything i can do with the bricks i am taking out? many of them are undamaged and i hate to waste anything. the metal is going to the recycler. wish i could find something useful to do with the bricks. i have a number of pieces for propping things and the slots for the elements are in good shape. any ideas???? there is a second carcass of a totally empty kiln that i thought i would like to convert to gas. won't be happening since the propane i would have to use is ridiculously expensive. it is about the same size as the 99. all ideas welcome as long as they do not involve landfills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted June 5, 2016 Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 You could possibly wrap a new sleeve around the bricks made of steel flashing and held together with hose clamps and sheet metal screws, There are some old discussions of horizontal barrel shaped kiln on the forum. If you included some fiber between the brick and steel, you wouldn't be burning a lot of propane for a reduction kiln. There is always alternative firing methods. If you post it in Potters Attic on Facebook, maybe whoever comes for it would help unload the new one. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatthewV Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 Well, what you have is soft brick with groves. They could be used as a fire pit (interested in pit firings?), as a garden feature, or just as fill. I would just put them for free on craigslist if you don't have a use for a pile of soft brick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnolia Mud Research Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 Think outside of the 'kiln box' and let the artist in you begin to have fun with a "ton of bricks": Glazed bricks make good functional "objects de art;" their function is to hold things up or down or open or to be viewed. Carve bricks into hump and slump molds for making pots A shelf of bricks is a good drying rack for green ware. lighter than plaster and more versatile for making shapes. Carved bricks make good stamps. Bricks with holes in them make good "bricks" for flower arrangements. Bricks make pedestals for sculpture. Have fun with bricks, LT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pres Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 Donate the soft bricks to a school program for sculpture, use them to make molds for small sprig molds or even stamps. Use them to make an extra lid insulation layer to slow cooling. Use them in a cistern set up for water filtering. There are a lot of use out there for soft bricks even though they have been cut in odd ways for the original kiln. best, Pres Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted June 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 i plan to cover the regular top on my new a66 kiln with a top made of some of the leftover bricks. there are 20 perfect ones in a pile. the smaller or chipped ones will be part of the new top. a hacksaw does a good job of cutting them to fit. i left a message for joyce michaud at Hood college about the bricks and the kiln without wires to be converted to gas. when i go to baltimore i will put notices in the several places i know in frederick and baltimore. if you pay postage, i would be happy to mail one or two to someone who wants to repair a kiln or whatever. one brick weighs just under 2 pounds. the pile of bricks includes one on top of the shorter pile with a small missing outer corner, the worst of the pile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karenkstudio Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 Old Lady I used parts of my ruined electric kiln to build a Raku wood fired trash kiln, with a side door. (I don't like propane, and needed a side door for my go-it-alone firing secessions.) The kiln lid made a great base. the fire bricks were used as supports for the shelf above the fire box. Fire bricks were also used to make firing trees. Note; the trash can was lined with ceramic fiber insulation. Glad I didn't get rid of that kiln. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babs Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 Karenk What is the thingie in photo two? A fan? Nice work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karenkstudio Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 It's a squirrel cage fan. works great to fan the flame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted June 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2016 thanks for reminding me that i plan to make a raku kiln this summer. i have a lid and plan to do the wire one on the Bracker website. i will need some bricks to hold the flame thrower thing in place and to support the shelf/floor. cut some bricks in half to use for raku kiln and cut out a half circle for the weed burner to rest on. almost ready to take the metal to the recycler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted June 7, 2016 Report Share Posted June 7, 2016 Nice kiln, Karen. I am going to add a little chimney on mine. I have noticed in Europe the raku kilns all have a little chimney added.I have seen then in Spain, Scotland and they are manufactured that way in Germany. The german kilns also sell the perforated shelves and they have a stackable system with an easily removable shelf. The picture is from my recent workshop in Scotland. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karenkstudio Posted June 7, 2016 Report Share Posted June 7, 2016 Marcia, My chimney opening, which I placed off-center toward the fire box, also serves as a "peep hole". Opening the door to check didn't work. The perforated shelves sound like something worth trying. I saw your post on making your own. If I can find the right drill bits in hubby's shop I'll give it a try. This kiln fires fast enough to do 3 small loads in a morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginkgo Posted September 14, 2016 Report Share Posted September 14, 2016 Thanks to everyone for their ideas. I've been looking for ways to use funky old soft brick and obviously searched long enough! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rae Reich Posted September 22, 2016 Report Share Posted September 22, 2016 Old Lady I used parts of my ruined electric kiln to build a Raku wood fired trash kiln, with a side door. (I don't like propane, and needed a side door for my go-it-alone firing secessions.) The kiln lid made a great base. the fire bricks were used as supports for the shelf above the fire box. Fire bricks were also used to make firing trees. Note; the trash can was lined with ceramic fiber insulation. Glad I didn't get rid of that kiln. IMG_0107.JPGIMG_0119.JPG KarenK, nice use of an old stilt as a fiber button! How much wood, and what kind, do you go thru in a morning's 3 firings? I use a blower like yours, but single-cage, for my single burner gas raku kiln (an old small electric turned on its side, about 2 cu.ft.) and I can take a full load to ^10 nicely, tho it cools pretty fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Longer Member Posted September 23, 2016 Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 I'd like to do a wood fire raku but my little electric does such a good job with such little effort I can't justify the extra hassle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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