Peek of the Future

The angle iron is not yet bolted into the cement foundation, but this gives an idea of what it will look like.
The arch will sit on the top bricks, then the front & back will be bricked up so you cannot see the arch from the outside.
Sheet metal will be added above the shown pieces once the arch, and front & back are finished.
Kaowool insulation will sit inside the sheet metal, and peek out the stoke & burner holes pictured on the left side of the doorway.

My neighbor Claude who is a major supporter in this kiln project, gave me a much needed hand today. He held the back piece of sheet metal in place, so I could go inside the kiln and use a marker pen to draw the 4 holes that need to be cut out: the back stoke & burner holes and the bottom 2 peep holes. This is the only way I could think of to get the holes exactly in the correct positions. Tomorrow, on my way to the winery, I will take the piece into town for cutting. Won't be able to pick it up until Monday, but that will be soon enough.

This afternoon, I mixed concrete for the first time ever, and filled cinder block holes on the right side at the base of the angle iron. Mixing concrete was much easier than I thought it would be. Even easier if you use the 'just-add-water' stuff, and only mix 5 pounds at a time.

I also painted primer on the front angle iron pieces. The back pieces were prepped by sanding with steel wool, and will get painted soon.

Almost rented a brick saw this afternoon to cut skewback bricks. But I got a message that I am wanted to mind the tasting room at the winery tomorrow & Saturday.
Next time it isn't raining alot, Monday or Tuesday, I will rent the brick saw. Besides the 36 skewback bricks (and probably a few spares), I want to cut some bricks for the chimney area.
The chimney is at the point where I will corbel in .75" on 2 opposite sides, on each row. This will mean a brick has to be cut on 2 opposite sides that are not corbeled in, because I'm shortening the row by 1.5" (2 x .75" = 1.5").
As soon as there are pictures, it will be clear what I'm talking about.

The kiln is starting to look like a kiln already - just wait til the arch gets on, then it really will.

Measuring sheet metal

No photos today. I sanded 4 corners of the soft brick to make it (near-) perfect level.
My arms felt like they would fall off, after 3 hours of vigorous sanding with a hand-held thing that looks like a small cheese grater. I think my brain is fried, I cannot think of this tool's name.

When I place the angle iron on the corners, each corner is now perfectly level on the vertical.
Yesterday afternoon, I took sheet metal pieces for the kiln front in to be pleated. This is so the kaowool will not get squished, and will retain its loft & insulation properties.
I brought the pieces home last night, and remeasured them in the angle iron. After much measuring, figuring and thinking, I decided where they would be cut & the other sides pleated.

Today I also, measured for sheet metal on the left - firebox - side and back of the kiln.
I must be very slow at figuring things out, because it took me quite awhile.
My next kiln would go much faster, and I would be more meticulous in my brick-laying. Then I wouldn't have so many corrections to make later on. But this will be my last kiln to build. It is an incredible amount of work.

I took my measurements and sheet metal back to the sheet metal company and hope they will have my pieces ready later tomorrow. I have yet to measure the back side sheet metal for stoke, burner, & peep holes. I think it will be more accurate after the side pleats are put in.
So I'll keep taking the sheet metal back & forth. To the kiln for measurements, and back to the professionals for cutting.

Tomorrow I'm also thinking of a trip to the pottery supply in Eugene. Need to get sodium silicate, which Howard says will "glue" the kaowool to the sheet metal. That would make it much easier to keep the kaowool in place, so it doesn't slip around when installing the sheet metal.
And I can pick up some clay while I'm there.

Progress is snailing along again, but I will stay optimistic that things will move faster soon enough. It is the prep work that takes all the time.

Angle Iron Verticals

The welder did a great job fabricating the corner angle iron pieces. I need to shave the soft brick corners so there are no protrusions. Thought I had done it, but not good enough. When the angle iron fits snug, and is perfectly vertical, it will eventually be bolted into the concrete foundation below.

The next step, before the arch, is to super-insulate the side walls. One inch of Kaowool, a spun alumina space-age insulation blanket will back all the brickwork. The Kaowool will be held in place with sheet metal. I have some pieces of sheet metal left-over from my old kiln. Some of the pieces can be used on the new kiln. Howard phoned this morning with a great idea: When I have the sheet metal cut to fit & holes cut for stoking & burner ports, I should have them pleat the sheet metal. The pleats would be in a Z-shape to fit under the edges of corner angle iron. This way the insulation blanket would not be smooshed, but stay lofty. That is the thing about soft insulation, it needs space to be effective.

Howard & I measured the sheet metal for the front of the kiln on Saturday. It took quite awhile to do this. I want to double check all the measurements before I have the sheet metal cut. And I'll have to bring in my old sheet metal for cutting before I order any new sheet metal, since I do not know what gauge (thickness/strength) it is. This is looking like a few trips to town for the sheet metal.

The photo on the left shows a mock-up of a start of the corbel-in on the chimney. Corbel-in is how the chimney goes from very wide (45" from side-to-side) to desired chimney width of 13.5". I only went a few rows up, then laid a straight-edge along the outside ladder of bricks to see where they will come together. The chimney will be at its desired width at the height of the angle-iron that supports the skewback bricks. I want to figure out the size of sheet metal that will be on the right side wall next to the corbel-in chimney. More figuring...

Rain is in the forecast after one last day of sun. I can always make pots, if I cannot work on the kiln.

Row 25

It has taken awhile to get this far. Photo on the left is the back wall with part of the left side wall. That is a fluorescent green, 4-foot long level resting on the back wall.
Photo on the right is 4" angle iron (L-shaped) that has bricks set on the iron.
Back 2 blogs, on Sunday, October 4, I posted a photo similar to the one on the right above, but without the angle iron. The photo from Oct 4 also showed a sample of skewback brick which is cut at an angle. The skewback bricks, cut at an angle, will also have to have a notch cut into them to set on the angle iron. It doesn't show in the photo, but the 4" angle iron is holding the 2.25" side of the brick. Therefore over 1" of angle iron sticks out - this is the brown strip seen below the vertical side wall bricks.

The edges of the angle iron had to be ground smooth, I got a sliver in my thumb right away.
Then they were lifted onto the side wall - they were so-o heavy!
Each brick that is sitting on the angle iron had to have one edge ground down. Because the bricks have sharp corners, and the angle iron has a rounded corner.

Howard says I want to make a wooden box to put a brick into so I can cut the skewback angle the same for all 36 bricks that will be used. Makes sense to me. Sounds like the best way to get the exact same cut on each brick.

The top row on the back wall is not yet mortared. I'm checking to see if I set the arch up to the already mortared back wall, or I brick up the back wall to the already set arch.
I'm thinking the former is the best idea: mortar the back wall, then set the arch against the wall.
I'm planning on mortaring the front wall to fit against the already set arch. Seems that the bricks have the best chance of fitting snuggest that way.
Hard to think of bricks being snug, but the word seemed to fit.
One more day at the winery, then Howard comes over on Saturday with the first installment of angle iron.
I'm excited. There will be big changes to see then.

Shopping for Metal Supplies: Tie Rods and Valve Springs

Monday morning Howard brought Steve, his welder friend, over to see the kiln.
It was so-o-o cold, about 38 degrees F. I must have been wearing 5 layers of clothes.
Such a change from the 100 degree weather of just a few weeks ago.
Anyway, much discussion and measuring occurred. They were there just over an hour - in that weather, decisions get made fast.

That afternoon, my husband took a truckload of angle-iron pieces from my old kiln over to Howard's then to Steve's for reassembling.
I went to a near-byl town to pick up more angle-iron, in another size.
And consulted with Dave, my local car mechanic, about valve springs. Howard had said to find "valve springs" that would go on expansion rods above the top of the kiln. Dave told me that 20 years ago he would have buckets of them around, but no more. Nowdays he replaces more parts on cars that he used to repair. But he did tell me where to look for them.

Tuesday morning was even colder: 36 degrees, (there goes the basil in the garden).
So I drove to the next larger town for more metal supplies.
I phoned first, and got a quote of $1 each, for used valve springs. Not too bad, I figured, since I was advised that new ones run about $10 each. When I got to the shop, the man I had spoken to was out, and luckily another had heard I would stop by. He picked out my 8 used springs, and threw in a few more for good luck. I offered a large porcelain mug instead of cash, and after a moment deliberation, he went for it.
Monday had been a tough day for me mentally - hey it happens to lots of us - and Tuesday was looking up already.

Wednesday I got lots done at the kiln site, and took lots of pictures.
But, I forgot my camera at the studio, so will talk about today's progress tomorrow.
Since tomorrow, I will be at my part-time job pouring wine at the Winery tasting room down the road & on Friday.
This way, I will have something to blog tomorrow.
Progress is coming...

Skewback bricks

The grey bricks laid on end here are the 24th row. They are arranged in what is called "soldier" bricks. Skewback bricks are cut to fit on the grey, "soldier-laid" bricks. The angle side of each skewback will support the arch, as it lies across the kiln from left to right/right to left. 18 skewbacks will be cut to fit on each side of the kiln.
Pictured is the left side wall, the firebox side of the kiln.
The 2 pics on the right were taken from the inside of the kiln.
The angle-cut brick is a sample of skewback. These are custom for every kiln. There used to be sold skewbacks made from hard brick. While particular angle-cut skewbacks, often 45 degrees, may still be made, a brick company in Portland offered to sell me castable to make 1 large custom skewback to fit each side of the kiln. To support the arch. They said this is how things are done more often, now.

The photo on the left is on the right side of the kiln, the chimney side.
The bricks that are vertical on the top row will back up the skewbacks.
The vertical bricks will also be supported by angle iron.
The horizontally running iron angle will then be supported by vertical angle irons on each corner.
Harder to explain, will be able to show this soon, I hope.

Tomorrow morning, Howard, kiln guru extraordinaire, will bring by Steve, his neighbor & angle iron "Man". I have questions of what pieces from my old kiln are really usable.
And how will angle iron supporting the stoke holes & kiln door be designed.

Stay tuned....

24th row

For this kiln the 24th row is where the skewbacks will sit to support the arch.
Before the arch goes up, angle iron needs to be on each corner, and on the top row pictured. The angle iron on the top row will be on each side, and it will support the arch. So when the kiln is heated, the arch will expand up and not out.
I have a quantity of angle iron from my old kiln. The old soft brick kiln was held together with many lengths of angle iron. It has been cut into lengths and many of the old pieces will be able to be used in this kiln. The longest lengths needed will have to be purchased (of course).

Here are some mortar qualities that I have learned:
I like using mortar is a sort of soupy consistency. When I purchase mortar it is in a trowel-ready consistency. I trowel about 1/3 to 1/4th of a bucket of mortar into a separate bucket & add water to near soupy consistency. In the very hot weather - I've been working in the summer heat waves of 100 degrees F + which is conducive to more liquid mortar - the hot air dries the mortar quickly. The last couple of days have cooled off dramatically. I can use a touch stiffer mortar on the hard bricks.
The hot face bricks on the inside of the kiln are hard bricks and absorb little water from the mortar. The back-up bricks on the outside of the kiln are soft bricks, and are held in water ( the half of the brick that will be mortared is immersed) just before being mortared. This way the porous brick does not absorb too much water from the mortar & dry it out before it is properly set.