Firing two. It took much longer than planned to get to this point, some work on the kiln was very much required and it meant the whole thing had to come down and be rebuilt. Why? Mostly, I wanted a layer of insulating bricks under the floor (which budget did not stretch to 6 months ago), as it was a mistake to have two layers of heavy firebrick without any insulation at all down there. Whilst the opportunity was there, it made sense to add some extra ports, and move some of the spy holes etc that had been less than ideal, so all in all a worthwhile activity. Clicking the images below will open the gallery, making the captions easier to read explaining what was going on.
I had even planned on upgrading the roof, but though the materials are in hand that is a job for the new year. For now, backing up the roof with ceramic fibre and insulating bricks will be enough.
Rebuild begins properly. The new floor has a layer of heavies, then a layer of 26 grade insulating bricks, then another layer of the high alumina heavies which should provide good soda resistance for dumping on to.
Layer by layer the kiln slowly came back up.
The studio was so full of bricks, which I had laid out totally illogically when we took the kiln down, meaning I kept having to walk around stuff, stepping over piles of bricks, and just generally cursing my lack of fore planning…… One of those moments when your past self really comes to haunt your current self…. Also, did you spot the beautiful roof over the kiln now?!
Rebuild done. I had thought it would look a lot less janky this time, but it didn’t…. But what you can’t see is all of the key areas that are now mortared in, the rearrangement of the laying pattern on the floor, the re-positioning in a much more logical way to marry with prop heights (meaning I can actually see the cones now, brilliant!).
I was very nervous about this firing. More unknown bodies, a real hope that that the effort of unbuilding and rebuilding the kiln would be worth it (now under a roof I may add thanks to the wonderful Rich and his son Mitch).
The kiln was much better to fire this time, like an in tune orchestra all of the components worked. The draw rings, easier to read in their new position, the cones (readable from kiln right) in one motion, the pyros on kiln left, made for a kiln that sang a tune easy to follow even for those who don’t know the song. And the song is unfinished. The pack and the firing went very well, but the notes of the tune are not known yet, and some adjustments at the chimney end have meant that a total inversion has taken place: last time, under-fired at the top, this time, under-fired at the bottom. That, at least, is more ‘normal’ and hopefully some more tweaks will solve that one.
Before then, one final experiment. The next firing I will shoot both burners from the short end of the kiln, rather than having them ‘opposing and interfering’ with one another as they do in the current configuration. My reluctance to do this was always based on the suspicion the results will be too unidirectional, though I am sure the kiln will fire ‘better’ from the point of view of ease of firing progression and fuel economy. I will be curious to see if this hypothesis comes good. Whether it does or does not the philosophy remains unchanged – all fuel is wasted if the results are not as your mind has conceived, and any efficiency savings at the expense of outcome are a comprises that no serious artists can make: I would go so far as to say what gives the work the character is bound in the inefficient in some way. Well, a point to end on that was not the intention of this post, but, the kiln now improved, will see a succession of firings over a short period and I am looking forward to sharing the results. For now, here are some photos from the unload and some rough photos of pots from firing two. Thanks for reading!
This firing I packed and fired with Emily DB, who keeps a blog here https://emilydavidsonbrett.co.uk Though her work is not photoed on the blog she had some amazing glaze results out.
Pascal Nichols work can be followed here https://www.pascalnichols.com/2025
The sculpture at the bottom back was made by Daniel Smyth, who’s work you can follow here https://www.danielsmythstudio.co.uk/
Though the work is not photoed here, I also had the pleasure of firing some of Jessica Mason’s amazing pots in there with some very lovely results coming out – her work can be seen here https://www.jessica-mason.com
Callum Forbes 