today we set one of Jeff's big pots into the electric kiln to be bisque fired. we made a sling out of a drop cloth to carry it and drop it in... Jeff learned this method when he helped Daniel Johnston with the last firing of his large jar project. no pics of the carrying method since it took the two of us to do it, but here is the pot, safe and sound in the kiln...
the pot is a little taller than the kiln, so we use this method for the lid...
a layer of soft brick with ceramic wool in between and the cover from another electric kiln (it's always a good idea to have spare parts on hand!)
tomorrow i should be able to get the gas kiln loaded and ready to be fired by Friday the latest... then one more gas firing along with a raku before the Celebration of Seagrove Potters... i am trying to not be stressed about being ready for this show... i don't know why i am, it's only two days!
What a cool idea and such a big pot
ReplyDeleteGood to see the kiln extension... it is something I,ve been thinking of trying as I have some large earthenware pots that I made that are too tall for my kiln. I wonder if the top will be slightly cool with that arrangement? Top loading kilns are difficult to load sometimes with really tall, heavy, or wide things, glad the sling worked!
ReplyDeleteever though you need a bigger kiln?!
ReplyDeleteholy sh!t!
ReplyDeletePeter- we do this often with big pots and the top being cooler doesn't seem to be a problem. i think the fiber & bricks are about as tight as the lid sitting on the top ring.
ReplyDeleteGwyneth- we have considered adding another ring to this one, since we have a spare... the downside is that with one ring taller it makes it hard to load at the bottom and since we only bisque big pots a few times a year the extension is easier. We have bisque fired big ones in the gas kiln too.
ReplyDeleteLike that pot and your solution for firing.
ReplyDeleteI bought my big kiln with a blank ring at the top. It firs to temp as long as I remember to leave one row of elements above the shelf. I usually end up stuffing it with taller bisque items.