The first few loads of finished pottery

The first pieces are always a delight but these even moreso. I had wanted to produce pottery and other art here for some twenty years and this was something never done before.

First Firings

The kiln went right into production after the approval in August of 08.

Kiln passes inspection

The Kiln was put up in only a few days built on a 2.5x.25inch welded angle iron steel frame. The interior was K26 insulating fire brick with two 1" layers of 1800º block insulation that comes in 1'x2'x1" pieces. The outer protection layer is .25" hardiebacker cement board. the stack is a combination of insulating and hard brick about 14" tall.  The above is the drying of the kiln bricks.

Kiln Construction

This propane kiln was designed in the 1970's and was altered only slightly to fire at this location using propane. The setup is unique in that I am on an island and have only small portable tanks to work with. So the set up is like that of a roofer 4 tanks strung together for each two burners wth 4 burners in total. The tanks a 20' apart and connected by high pressure hoses.

Now for the Kiln

The construction took one spring and summer. Then we could build the kiln which has been waiting 15 years under the beloved orange tarps.

The last of the roof

Adding the last part of the roof.

Nailing

The air nailer is a must have fro one handed nailing.