Construction of a Gas Fired Soda Kiln Part 1

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3 жыл бұрын

Welcome to The Potter’s Round Table slideshow of the construction of a gas-fired soda Kiln at Washington Street Studios. The slideshow will walk through the design, features, and construction step-by-step with photos and explanations. This is part one of the three-part series and we will cover the kiln design, kiln base and building the walls. Part two will cover raising the chimney, completing the end walls, planning the arch, constructing the arch form and completing the chimney. Part three will add the metal framework, build the arch, completing the side walls, adding burners and propane supply, door construction and final kiln dimensions.
We have created an eBook as a companion to this video and it is available at the following link: www.hfclay.com/product-page/c...
The Potters’ Round Table is a production of Washington Street Studios. As a result of the pandemic the Round Table is hosted as a KZfaq livestream event and then edited to be added to our video library.
Show notes, including handouts, can be found at www.hfclay.com/the-potters-ro...
The Potters’ Round Table is brought to you by Washington Street Studios, a community pottery studio, gallery, and pottery school located in Harpers Ferry / Bolivar, WV. We exist to provide ceramic artists an affordable, fully equipped studio space for aspiring, emerging and established artists to share their creative energy and knowledge in an environment designed to support the ceramic artist. If you want to learn more about Washington Street Studios, visit our website at www.hfclay.com/.
At Washington Street Studios, we believe the sharing of creative energy and knowledge will improve the quality of our art and increase the appreciation of art within our community. We are striving to create an environment where the arts are shared and appreciated. We want to grow as a family of artists and contribute to our community.
This video is one of our steps to share our passion for the ceramic arts, creative energy and knowledge with other artists and art lovers. We also created an audio version to expand our audience. If you are looking for the podcast of our show search for the ‘The Potters Round Table’ on your podcast platform of choice or go to anchor.fm/thepottersroundtable.

Пікірлер: 21

@EverythingIsPhysics 3 жыл бұрын

great video, looking forward to part 2!

@WashingtonStreetStudios 3 жыл бұрын

Great handle EverythingIsPhysics, I'm trying to finish part 2 before Christmas, so hopefully it will release tomorrow around 10am eastern.

@erikhunsinger4937 3 жыл бұрын

Sound is a lot better. I was thinking you could have just done a voice over. Thanks for redoing.

@WashingtonStreetStudios 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Erik, we found a bad cable in our audio setup! Hopefully I'll have part 2 out for Christmas!

@mikeh6172 3 жыл бұрын

These videos are so in depth and so helpful! I was wondering though, why have you used two layers of brick for the kiln body and chimney? I see a lot of kiln designs with only one layer of bricks. Are there 2 layers because it’s a soda kiln? Does it make the kiln more insulated and efficient?

@WashingtonStreetStudios 3 жыл бұрын

Since it is a soda kiln we couldn't use insulating brick. Hard brick holds up well to soda but does not insulate very well, so we doubled up the wall. That said, if it were a reduction kiln without soda we would have used two layers, one insulating brick for efficiency and one hard brick for structural integrity. The two layers on the chimney reduces the heat transfer to the exterior wall. I hope this helps!

@mikeh6172 3 жыл бұрын

@@WashingtonStreetStudios Super helpful! Gave me a lot to think about. Thank you. Would the softer insulating brick on the inside hold up to wood firing conditions as well? I’m hoping to build a hybrid gas/wood kiln. Similar idea to this kiln but I won’t be using soda.

@WashingtonStreetStudios 3 жыл бұрын

I'm going to send this one to Phil, he has a lot more experience in this arena than I do. I'll post his response.

@mikeh6172 3 жыл бұрын

@@WashingtonStreetStudios oh that’s great! Thank you so much!

@andrebraha 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for great content, definetely the best I've found on KZfaq so far. I am planning to build a kiln similar to this in the near future, but I am having some difficult sourcing the right bricks in Brazil. Are the ones used in the inner walls those high temperature insulating bricks (ones that are very light weight)?

@WashingtonStreetStudios 3 жыл бұрын

The lightweight insulating bricks are only used on the floor of the kiln. All of the bricks exposed to the atmosphere are super duty, very high heat and very hard brick, since it is less susceptible to the soda. This is a soda kiln and soda is very corrosive. If you are building a gas reduction kiln without soda or salt you can use the light insulating bricks. Hope this helps.

@andrebraha 3 жыл бұрын

@@WashingtonStreetStudios Thanks! It helped a lot. In fact, I am not planning to use soda or salt. I guess i'm going with the light insulating bricks than. Should I use them for both layers? Are they strong enough to hold the weight, specially on the chimney?

@WashingtonStreetStudios 3 жыл бұрын

The insulating bricks are not strong enough to support any weight. You should only use them on the inside of the chamber. And your arch span must be wide enough to be supported by your outside layer of super duty bricks. The insulating bricks will improve kiln efficiency but structurally they are not 'building' bricks. You can use them to create a door since the door does not support the weight of the arch. Best of luck with your kiln build and if you want to share your plans when they are ready we will be happy to review them and make recommenations.

@andrebraha 3 жыл бұрын

@@WashingtonStreetStudios That makes sense! Super duty fire bricks on the outer layer and insulating ones on the inside than. We are currently relying on another person to fire our pieces, which I think reduces a lot of the cool possibilities and reproducibility. If all goes well, we should start buiding our own kiln in about 6 months. For now I've been studying some, reading some books and watching all your amazing content. Having you reviewing our project when the time comes and helping with some advice would be of great value, I will definetely be up to that. What is the best way to get in touch when our project gets ready? Best regards.

@WashingtonStreetStudios 3 жыл бұрын

Email: washingtonstreetstudiosinc@gmail.com

@FinancialHealth88 2 жыл бұрын

Are there plans/drawings available that I can follow to construct one of these kilns?

@WashingtonStreetStudios 2 жыл бұрын

Leighton Durney, Here is a link to our ebook in our store. It is $10 and has pictures every step of the way. It will be easy to count the bricks to determine what you need to do to build the kiln. www.hfclay.com/product-page/construction-of-a-gas-fired-soda-kiln-at-washington-street-studios-ebook

@ShopperPlug 3 жыл бұрын

Why do you call them "high heat" bricks?? It's called fire bricks. Also what is the valid reason you are not using refractory mortar? To save on costs?

@WashingtonStreetStudios 3 жыл бұрын

Max, there are a variety of fire bricks and each type has a different heat tolerance. High Heat is a type of firebrick that is dense and handles temperatures up to ^10. Super Duty bricks are dense bricks that handle even higher heat. We used super duty bricks whenever they would be exposed to the heat and atmosphere in the kiln. Super Duty bricks handle the heat and the corrosive properties of the soda.

@WashingtonStreetStudios 3 жыл бұрын

And we didn't use mortar for two reasons. Damaged bricks are easier to repair and kilns are easier to rebuild, if there is no mortar. Also refractory mortar can handle the heat but can break down when it comes in contact with the soda atmosphere. When it breaks down it can fall on pots in the firing chamber. Since the kiln is sturdy enough dry stacked and framed, mortar isn't required.