A clamp kiln firing.

Here is a link to a video I made of my clamp kiln firing last summer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9mLqT6e6c0&list=UUHyKnw7pUdGLsmb6rNqyslw&index=1&feature=plcp

This firing took place last summer at the canal park in Delphi, Indiana.

Firing results from the brick clamp kiln.

As promised, some photos of fired brick and tile from my latest kiln. It worked very well for a first firing. I have some cold spots and hot spots to improve on next firing. I think nothing will change with the kiln design for now. I will modify how I push the hot coals around in the firebox and stoking in the later stages. Its a learning process, but Im excited about this. Looks like it should be alot of fun!

Picture update for Mar 18, 2011

Here are some photos of things I am working on in the shop.


Hand molded clay bricks for the historical Wabash and Erie Canal park in Delphi. I will be operating a tradition replica wood fired brick and tile kiln there. Anyone in the area is welcome to stop by and take a look. This summer beginning in May, festival the first weekend in July.

A large round Delphi paver Im working on.

Some named bricks for a new customer.

Some old style street pavers.

A doggy headstone.

New products update

Some of my terracotta style tiles laid out in a simulated wall arrangement. The color variations are partly due to kiln location and temp variations of the firing.

Small star paver bricks arranged on the floor to visualize a possible layout. These are early test pavers and the finish is rougher than I will allow in final product.

Im excited over my newest paver. The larger star pattern is more interesting with the three dimensional detail. Im gonna be making alot of these!

A fellow brickmaker

I would like to introduce to you Tony Mugridge, a fellow brickmaker and potter.

His work is at least a few years more advanced along than what I am doing now. He is fortunate in that he has access to his very own complete historic brickworks. His work can be found on Facebook as well as his own website. I invite you to take a look at what he has done.

http://www.ajmugridge.co.uk/index.htm

A brick with your name on it.

Wildcat Creek Brick Company Ok, we are taking orders for your personalised decorative old time brick. Have a one of a kind item with your name or favorite slogan that you can't find anywhere else in the world. Each brick is $10. Larger volume orders get discounts. Shipping is available for an additional cost. If you have a special need let us know!

Email to

r_w_hendrix@hotmail.com

765 490-6271 can lv msg.

Video of my latest firing of my bottle kiln.

Here is my latest brick kiln firing video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ2vs7IdjAs

Bottle kiln, firing #2, better but not good

I kept the top temp of the firing down to around 1850'F at the pryometer. But the center of the chamber still got much hotter than that! Gonna have to rethink the kiln and firing cycle some.

Improved results over first firing of the new bottle kiln, but along way from good results.

Can you tell which brick is wood fired and which one is electric fired? Both were fired to 1850'F.

Monster results. Too hot!

The bricks literally MELTED! Wow thats gotta be the hottest kiln Ive made ever.

It took me a few hours with a hammer and chisel to force remove these clinkers.

Heres what it looked like when I first opened it up. You can see that more heat was at the center of the chamber. It was cooler th the edges. Well over 2000 in the middle. Maybe 1800 by the walls.

I do like the wood glazing that occurred on the bricks. The cracking and tearing is most likely from the rapid heating of the clay in the bricks. Need to slow it down to at least double the time on firing. At least 8 to 10 hours. And max temp no more than 1850'F.

Here are a few more pics.

The firebox door.

A look down thru the chimney.

A cutaway diagram.

New brick bottle kiln. The 'Monster'

My latest clay furnace is a small bottle updraft named 'Monster' by my daughter after an energy drink she says it looks like.

Ive wanted to experiment with a different design, hoping to gain easier firings and higher temps.

Just a bunch of firebricks surrounding an old cut up 55 gallon barrell. That surrounded by red brick.

It took me only 4.5 hours to reach 2000'F, and it could have went further if I pushed it. May have went too hot for the clay I was using for the test bricks inside.

Looks to be a real improvement so far though. I will post the results soon.

I pressed out 12 clay bricks last week just for this test firing today. Finished drying them in my electric kiln last night.

Heres a peek inside at the end. See the brick slumped over. Got too hot I think. Gonna have to slow down this beast and run it to 1850 - 1900'F max.

My electric kiln works great!

I have used my electric kiln today for the first time. Everything went smoothly. About 8 hrs to make 2000'F. The clays have much more reds to them, save the one creek clay brick I fired. That one may need to go to a higher temp. My first experience with electric kilns. This one has a humm or buzz sound when the elements are being electrified. Guess thats normal. Pulls about 12 amps when one coil is on, 24 amps when they both are up and running at 240v AC.

Whats easy about this, comming from wood firing, no wood stoking!!!! Dont get me wrong, I like the connection with the earth and wood firing. But sometimes its nice to just plug it in and let it buzz for 8 hrs with less effort. Lets see how good I feel when I get my electric bill! lol

I am next gonna fire a bunch of clay tiles for a house project. I will let you know how it goes.

Got myself an electric kiln!

Hey I found a great deal on an old Duncan electric kiln off of craigslist. So now I have this to play with too. Yippie!!!!!

Making some more clay tiles.

Im still always on the lookout for common objects that can be used to make cool patterns on my tiles.

This old water valve handle was a throw away item now reborn as a clay tile stamp.

Playing around with low fire glaze.

I bought some used glazes off of Ebay awhile back and have been trying them out to see how they effect my clays. Some glazes turn out very clear, while others add some interesting colors to the result. All of them are in the low fire range at cone 04 to 05 by the instructions on the bottles.

This platter has a nice glossy wet look.

This rough bowl ended up blue with some reds in spots. I am gonna play some more with this one.

This is a combo glaze job on the candlestick holder. Blue down the flutes and throat with a bit of red on the raised parts.

This one has some redish spots on it that the photo dosn't give justice too.

Dont know why the picture flipped like this. The little square bottle is something new im trying.

New stuff for the kiln.

My new pyrometer thermocouples came in yesterday! Thanks once again for Ebay. Ive been fighting using crappy old thermocouples and even went as far as making my own. Funny think was I learned alot about how they are made and work. Having these should make my kiln temp monitoring a bit easier now.

8mm type K thermocouples

Ive also made up some new clay mix. Just waiting for warmer temperatures and motivation to make some new pottery. I have some new ideas I want to try. Thinking about small clay bottles.

4 parts field clay, 1 part glass dust

Fire and snow.

Heavy snowfall tuesday. Spent the day on another 6.5 hour quickfire of the kiln. Salt glazed the last hour and half. Very good day watching the snow fall while gathering firewood and stoking the kiln.

I am very excited about the heat this firebox can generate in the small chamber.

I actually have to hold back on stoking speed sometimes. Thats still a new one for me.

And it can make alot of really black smoke if I put to much in to fast.

When I start in the morning, I use a kerosene heater in the barn for warmth. But after about an hour, the heat off the kiln becomes plenty in itself. So I turn off the heater for the rest of the day.

There were two pots on the left from the last firing that I refired to get a better glaze effect. I put in a few tiles too. They came out nice.

I liked this pot and plate.