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protecting a wood kiln chimney

updated thu 4 sep 03

 

=?iso-8859-1?q?lance=20millward?= on mon 1 sep 03


My ceramics teacher has built a wood fired kiln from
heat proof bricks. He is worried how the chimney will
survive the weather. it is about 4 feet high and then
stainless steel higher than that. I think he is
worried about the mortar between the bricks possibly.
Can you plaster the chimney in sand and clay slip as I
heard some people do on some kinds of kilns? Is it
even necessary?

I am a New Zealander living in Japan. My teacher is
Japanese, which is why I am posting for him.

Sincerely

Lance Millward.

--- Maurice Weitman wrote: > Lance
Millward wrote:
> >[...]
> > > I've seen lots of comments and questions go
> unanswered
> > > on this list so far. My question about
> protecting a
> > > wood kiln chimney from the weather didn't get
> even one
> > > response. Where are these 'masters' when you
> need
> > > them?
>
> Tony Ferguson replied:
> >Lance,
> >
> >Please resend your request as I did not see it.
> Many of us are very busy at
> >similiar and different times and tend to scan
> quickly through the postings.
> >All of us, gurus or not, try to answer what is
> applicable to our experience
> >as all of our experiences have value--your question
> will have been aimed at
> >a very small % of clay art folk I think.
> >
> >I use kiln shelves to cover the stack of my anagama
> wood kiln with fiber
> >blanket under neath (that is how I seal it at the
> end of a firing).
>
> Lance,
>
> When I first saw your complaint about "masters" not
> responding when
> you need them, I (being a newbie and nothing like a
> master) thought
> I'd have something with which I might identify.
>
> I, too, was surprised that some of my posts,
> including my first,
> introductory message, went unanswered.
>
> But let's get real here; the thousands of folks here
> are Humans With
> Lives (sm), and it might just be the case that none
> of the usual
> suspects who post to answer queries or acknowledge
> introductions were
> available. There are hundreds of messages each day;
> it's easy for
> individual posts to be missed.
>
> I've found an enormous font of generosity and
> goodwill from the
> clayart community here, even though nobody is
> obliged to respond to
> anything, whether one "needs" a "master" or not.
>
> BUT... your unanswered "question about protecting a
> wood kiln
> chimney" is a mystery to me. I searched the
> archives for it and
> could not find it. In fact, the only messages in
> the archives from
> you were those from the last two days. Were you
> using a different
> name?
>
> Is it possible that you posted your original query
> to another list?
> I also searched the Internet with google looking for
> any record of
> your name with anything to do with chimneys and
> found nothing else.
>
> Regards,
> Maurice
>
>
______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change
> your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be
> reached at melpots@pclink.com.

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steve harrison on mon 1 sep 03


Hi Lance,
I'm a great believer in building kiln chimneys with a mortar of clay
and sand 50/50.
Some of the mortar will wash out at the edge, due to rain etc. However,
this will not penetrate too deep.
If you don't seal the chimney masonary with some sort of mortar you
will loose some draft that the chimney is meant to create.
The stainless steel pipe will need to be secured with guy wires or some
other means.
regards
Steve Harrison

On Monday, September 1, 2003, at 07:36 AM, lance millward wrote:

> My ceramics teacher has built a wood fired kiln from
> heat proof bricks. He is worried how the chimney will
> survive the weather. it is about 4 feet high and then
> stainless steel higher than that. I think he is
> worried about the mortar between the bricks possibly.
> Can you plaster the chimney in sand and clay slip as I
> heard some people do on some kinds of kilns? Is it
> even necessary?
>
> I am a New Zealander living in Japan. My teacher is
> Japanese, which is why I am posting for him.
>
> Sincerely
>
> Lance Millward.
>
> --- Maurice Weitman wrote: > Lance
> Millward wrote:
>>> [...]
>>>> I've seen lots of comments and questions go
>> unanswered
>>>> on this list so far. My question about
>> protecting a
>>>> wood kiln chimney from the weather didn't get
>> even one
>>>> response. Where are these 'masters' when you
>> need
>>>> them?
>>
>> Tony Ferguson replied:
>>> Lance,
>>>
>>> Please resend your request as I did not see it.
>> Many of us are very busy at
>>> similiar and different times and tend to scan
>> quickly through the postings.
>>> All of us, gurus or not, try to answer what is
>> applicable to our experience
>>> as all of our experiences have value--your question
>> will have been aimed at
>>> a very small % of clay art folk I think.
>>>
>>> I use kiln shelves to cover the stack of my anagama
>> wood kiln with fiber
>>> blanket under neath (that is how I seal it at the
>> end of a firing).
>>
>> Lance,
>>
>> When I first saw your complaint about "masters" not
>> responding when
>> you need them, I (being a newbie and nothing like a
>> master) thought
>> I'd have something with which I might identify.
>>
>> I, too, was surprised that some of my posts,
>> including my first,
>> introductory message, went unanswered.
>>
>> But let's get real here; the thousands of folks here
>> are Humans With
>> Lives (sm), and it might just be the case that none
>> of the usual
>> suspects who post to answer queries or acknowledge
>> introductions were
>> available. There are hundreds of messages each day;
>> it's easy for
>> individual posts to be missed.
>>
>> I've found an enormous font of generosity and
>> goodwill from the
>> clayart community here, even though nobody is
>> obliged to respond to
>> anything, whether one "needs" a "master" or not.
>>
>> BUT... your unanswered "question about protecting a
>> wood kiln
>> chimney" is a mystery to me. I searched the
>> archives for it and
>> could not find it. In fact, the only messages in
>> the archives from
>> you were those from the last two days. Were you
>> using a different
>> name?
>>
>> Is it possible that you posted your original query
>> to another list?
>> I also searched the Internet with google looking for
>> any record of
>> your name with anything to do with chimneys and
>> found nothing else.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Maurice
>>
>>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> _______
>> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>>
>> You may look at the archives for the list or change
>> your subscription
>> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>>
>> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be
>> reached at melpots@pclink.com.
>
> http://mobile.yahoo.com.au - Yahoo! Mobile
> - Check & compose your email via SMS on your Telstra or Vodafone
> mobile.
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> _______
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>

Steve Mills on wed 3 sep 03


Lance,

We use a mixture of scrap clay, sand and sawdust in more or less equal
parts. If you want it to be more permanent add some cement powder to the
mix.

Steve
Bath
UK


In message , =3D?iso-8859-1?q?lance=3D20millward?=3D
writes
>My ceramics teacher has built a wood fired kiln from
>heat proof bricks. He is worried how the chimney will
>survive the weather. it is about 4 feet high and then
>stainless steel higher than that. I think he is
>worried about the mortar between the bricks possibly.
>Can you plaster the chimney in sand and clay slip as I
>heard some people do on some kinds of kilns? Is it
>even necessary?
>
>I am a New Zealander living in Japan. My teacher is
>Japanese, which is why I am posting for him.
>
>Sincerely
>
>Lance Millward.
>

--
Steve Mills
Bath
UK