5th September Meeting Part Two
There was some confusion over the bricks and building materials for the kiln – we learnt that we needed to be very specific about the types of brick necessary – it wasn’t enough to talk about soft and dense firebricks, as everyone seemed to have a different understanding of what that meant. We realised that we needed to point out that it was necessary that the materials used would be able to expand and contract with the firing cycle, eg large components made of castable materials which might withstand great temperatures, may crack with the strain of repeated firings. In effect, we became aware of the extent to which kiln building and firing is a very specialist area and therefore we need to be very clear in our communication of the subtleties involved.
The meeting was inconclusive – we all had some further research to do.
It is worth noting that everyone at the meeting had different expertise and priorities; despite this there was a shared vision to succeed with the project; everyone was keen to exchange knowledge and to learn. It did become apparent that the kiln build was going to be more difficult than envisaged, but nobody gave up on the idea. Although anxious about the technicalities, Penny and I were excited that the project had begun.
5th September Meeting with Sue, Andy, Mike, Sarah and Penny
Part One
We met to discuss the building of the kiln. The restoration of the buildings was proceeding rapidly and the time had come to renovate the roof structure. Andy and Mike were looking at ways of incorporating the kiln chimney which would have to be built at the same time, as the plan was for it to come up through the roof. The height of the chimney was a concern for Andy and Mike who wanted to ensure that it was safe and complied with Building Regulations. Given the tight schedule it became clear that their thoughts were to build the chimney first, with the kiln being built subsequently to fit in with this. Penny and I were beginning to feel a bit alarmed at this point, as compromises were being made to the design, although we could see their point of view. They needed to build the chimney as a solid structure on a base – they were not happy with the idea of the kiln structure itself supporting the chimney, as in the Kusakabe/Hungarian design. Andy suggested placing the chimney at the side of the firing chamber. This would mean a change in the draught through the kiln. We wondered how this would affect the efficiency of the firings – being aware of how the slightest change to the design can mean the difference between success and failure. If we proceeded with this idea the challenge for us would be to ensure the structure would be flexible enough to expand and contract with temperature fluctuations and have modifications that would allow us to experiment with airflow through the kiln by having a couple of dampers and air vents in the base of the chimney.
Meeting tomorrow to discuss details of the kiln. Green Estate have not yet seen the new design for the kiln and we have not seen the progress made at the site, so its going to be exciting to see what’s new and to plan the actual building of the facility. We are hoping to have the kiln built by mid November at the very latest, in time for Open Studies (18th and 19th at Persistence Works and 20th at Manor Oaks.) Lots to do though – considering it took 10 – 12 people 9 days to build the kiln in Hungary. That’s quite a lot of manpower but we are hoping for NVQ students and volunteers to help out. We need to source the materials and equipment and start thinking about where we will source the wood which will ideally be very thin and well-seasoned. The wood in Hungary was offcuts from a flooring company and ideal.
We also need to start planning out our schedule of workshops and firings. We are of course hoping we will get a couple of firings in before Open Studios too but that may be optimistic – especially as we have to make sure we have the time to make some pots to put in it! We are not quite sure of our exhange with the North Wales potters at the moment as things have been rather quiet so we are trying to find solutions to that.
I have been trying to collate the photos from my trip but its been quite an onerous task – with digital one tends to take far too many photos! Still it means I do have photos of almost every step of the way. The problem then though, is to isolate out the particularly important relevant ones!
More updates after the meeting.
