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minnesota flat top repair

updated tue 25 nov 03

 

The Sherman's on fri 21 nov 03


Just had a great weekend helping one of our older local potter fire her gas
kiln. She has MS with optic nerve damage and recruits a couple of
"youngsters" to help her fire her propane kiln to ^10R several times a year.
The rest of the time she fires to ^10 electric, which she can do on her own.
The gas kiln is almost 30 years old and looks it. While none of the bricks
have fallen in from the roof it does have several kind of hanging there.
Also it looks like the shed building has been racked at some time, with many
of the kiln bricks cracked in half in both the kiln and the chimney. My
hubby (a mechanical engineer) and I would like to help her repair the kiln
but she has a tight budget. I have Nils' book on order but thought I'd do a
bit of research and have been out on line, done a google search, and checked
the archives. My basic question is can the soft brick be repaired, rather
than replaced? Many of the wall/chimney bricks are simply split in half.
I've seen a number of mortars/cements advertised and am not sure how they
would hold up over time on soft brick. Any suggestions would be greatly
appreciated.

Thanks,
Marcey Sherman
Zephyr Pottery
Half way out Long Island where the sky has finally cleared. Will have to
eat lunch in the back yard. Maybe I'll grab a bucket and pull handles out
there today, too, rather than in the "cave", the basement studio.

Tjo62@AOL.COM on mon 24 nov 03


Hello,
I built a MFT 4 yrs ago. This spring I built a sprung arch. It may be that
I just didn't do it right, but I just didn't want to keep trying to redo the
roof. I would get 6-8 firings before the bricks were falling out. I love the
sprung arch!