when would you add wood pellets to glaze firing?

[jrgpots]

This is for anyone who  has had success adding wood pellets to a gas kiln?  I have questions

1.  When would I add them?

2. Does the ash do its magic only at high temp?

3.  Do pellet produce sufficient ash?

4. For how long do I burn the pellets?

5. Does the kiln need to be in reduction?

 

Jed

[neilestrick]

If you add wood to your kiln, it's going to not only stick to and melt on the pots, but also on the bricks. So once you do it there's no going back. If it's a soft brick kiln, I wouldn't do it unless you've put wash on the bricks to protect them.

3. It will take a lot of pellets to get any results. For example, I used to fire a fast firing wood kiln in grad school. It took three pickup (mid-size Nisssan) loads of wood to complete the firing. Two of those loads were for getting the kiln up to temp, at which point there wasn't enough ash, so I burned another load just to build up ash.

1./2. Ash will start to melt and stick around cone 6-8. The later you wait, the more efficient the process will be, because the pots will be sticky later in firing.

4. Long enough to get the ash buildup you want. It could take hours and hours.

5. No. When you add the pellets it's going to make the kiln go into reduction. You'll want it to be highly oxidizing when you put in the wood, because you'll have two fuel sources competing for the oxygen. It could be a big problem, in fact, and cause some major loss of temperature when you add the wood. You'll probably also get a ton of smoke, so be prepared to explain to the neighbors what's going on.

You're not going to get enough ash to glaze raw pots like in a wood kiln, but you may be able to get enough to stick to your glazes to show. Most likely it will be right along the burner ports, not so much in the middle of the kiln. If you really want the look of ash on your pots, you'd have more control and less effort by sifting it on during glazing, while the pots are still damp, and just firing like usual.

 

 

[jrgpots]

So it's like a salt kiln in that once done, it would be fully committed.  I think I will just be dusting a few pieces with ash during glazing.  You have saved me a lot of time and effort.

 

Thanks, Jed

[Mark C.]

You could experiment with pettets in sagers.

 

[Sorcery]

Perhaps try putting wood ash on the pots before firing?

Sorce