Howdy all -- on the scrounge for yet more advice (and more requests to come). This one was 'fired' by the thread on transporting Calor gas...
A friend of mine is a potter (hobbyist grade so far), and she'd like me to help her make a DIY kiln for firing low-end ceramics.
She sent me this Youtube:
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and I found lots more: apparently it's a popular thing among potters worldwide.
I'm very interested to know what the relevant experts in the uk.d-i-y club would say to a project like this. My own initial reaction was: propane gas? Firing for hours? Temperatures of *well* over 1000º? No bloody way!
Well away from your main house, in a reasonably fireproof building (i.e. not a wooden shed!), no inflammable materials around, long hose from the gas bottle, no kids or animals around - and with someone checking up on it reasonably frequently - the risks might be acceptable.
Depends heavily on careful use and a watchful eye.
Compare it with the tar boiling rings used for road repair - they could be upset easily (or when the guys heat the gas bottle up *on the ring* on cold mornings).
It might be other less obvious dangers that need thought, good ventilation to avoid dangerous fumes etc, that needs extra care.
is a Ron Reil propane / natural draught design, but built by the Christian guy in the USA who makes them very nicely, for a reasonable price, and includes little tracts when he ships them. Bless.
Insulation and stuff comes from Bath Pottery Supplies (I'm in the South West). Used to be Purimachos too, but they seemed to have closed in Bristol and the site turned into a knocking shop.
For small enamelling work, and stuff where you want precise temperature profiles, consider electricity with a good programmable controller. Kilns are cheap, running them is expensive, so it can pay to have multiple kilns and only use the smallest / simplest you need for the job. Quicker too, as they heat more quickly.
Wow -- impressive links there Andy! And I'm encouraged by the general lack of horror reactions.
I think I must be a wood spirit rather than a fire spirit. Which is another way of saying I prefer to work with pieces of wood, with 2" nails, rather than welding and cutting metal and using fire (except to get rid of my debris).
I was worried about the safety of propane cylinders, leaving a burner on for hours, and poisonous fumes -- Dom has mentioned and adequately dealt with those. (I didn't specifically mention them because I had no idea of what other risks there may be in addition.)
Do you know if she's intending to fire stoneware or raku? Raku is a lot simpler; a kiln could consist of a box of loose-laid refractory bricks, sides and bottom, perhaps with another layer of ordinary house bricks on the outside and some loose perlite between. No cement. Leave a hole low down on one side for a burner. You could assemble it on an area of flat earth in the corner of the garden. A sheet of refractory material backed by ceramic fibre would form the lid, with a central hole to let out the combustion products. The burner would just be a high-capacity propane torch, lit outside the kiln and then introduced through the hole in the side of the kiln, and supported/clamped in some way. Firing these types of kilns is fast, usually to around
1000°C in two or three hours, but you need some sort of indicator to tell when the kiln has got to temperature. Then either let it cool naturally, or gingerly lift off the lid and remove the red-hot contents with long tongs. Plunge into water or a bin of wood shavings or newspaper, depending on the results you want. All great fun and very spontaneous.
Stoneware is more involved. Given the right materials, construction is not difficult. See if she can get a copy of 'The Self-Reliant Potter', by Andrew Holden, pub. A&C Black, 1982, ISBN 0-7136-2244-X. Long out of print, but she may get a copy S/H on the Advanced Book Exchange:
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