Second Firing Results

I just lost about four thousand dollars. no, not in the market crash, just trying to make real things, for chrissake. I made a lot of mistakes for this firing, simple ones like trusting a new idea, gambling ones like praying a trusted glaze will react well with different color, stupid ones like not washing plates before glazing them, but I felt confident that the big pots would be all right. Tested clay, well-constructed, no glaze, all that. My dear friend and firing partner took them out at about 500* by suddenly going 200* an hour. Every single fucking one has the surface stress cracks that might look great on the craggy pots that get hammered in long woodfire but on my simple forms- unacceptable. I am sick about it. They were going to go to the only gallery that sells my work- a good one in the art district.
There's nothing to do but let go. It is all gambling, the first few firings of a new kiln, we're firing greenware, and cooling in reduction, there are many places where it could all go to hell. It is life on the high road.
The most important thing is that not only does the kiln fire BEAUTIFULLY but that Tin Man out there just lavishes affection all over the bare clay. I am delighted to report that the scum problem seems to have been solved by Joe at Clay Art Center by re-pugging the whole ton of it in Barium water. Thank you, Joe! Really, the kiln is a great pleasure to fire, most of the excitement of woodfire with a fraction of the work. You don't experience the wild intensity of stoking the front of an anagama, it's more like side-stoking, but it's lots of fun. Basically, we figured out in the first firing that the coals built up in the first part of the firing, done this time in little bourry-boxes, get shoved into the heart of the long firebox and act as a wick for the oil. With the pyrometer reading about 1000* this time, I turned on the oil and kept the coal bed healthy by side-stoking. The oil droplets sprayed into the coals and it was quite simple to find the right balance of oil, air, and amount of wood. It helped a lot to have the coal bed good and hot, though. To experiment, this firing, I established a good fire in one half of the kiln first, good hot coals, but then on the other side, I pushed in a few paltry coals and turned on the oil just to see if it would catch. It did catch but not very well. That side limped along for a while, the oil burning poorly with an acrid smell. I was worried about too much reduction, actually, but of all the problems, carbon core doesn't seem to be among them. I will rebuild the bourry-boxes a little smaller and with a proper door now that we've figured out how big they don't need to be...
As far as even heat goes, the back is still cooler by a few cones. This time I built a trick brick in the flue so that I could open it more. At cone 7 in the hottest spot, I pulled it but I think it was too little too late. Next firing I will have air openings in the back of the floor only, none towards the front. And as far as reduction-cooling goes, I think it effected a small area of the kiln, the front, and closest to the firebox, even though I had flames reaching through all upper parts of the kiln and few low places in front. The celadons show a surface puckering only there, and the same eggshell glaze that I used with success in grad school foamed in the front of the kiln but not the back. (even on the inside of boxes, interestingly). I think I do definetly need to tune clays to this kind of firing- Timmy had some gorgeous test tiles showing the black and iridescence with yellow and red reflashing that I remember from my best firings at school. I put a large bowl of "coot" clay in also, and it showed the same potential.
What else to say? I'm going to refire the dishes in a soda kiln. Pdx open studios is coming up this weekend. I got written up in the Portland Tribune, the article will come out in a few days. ironic, eh? well, with my sick sense of humor, I popped a bottle of champagne last night and shared it with Jack and April.
and the world keeps turning.