Soda Firing 2-5-25

This will be our 19th Kiln Firing. Follow along with the firing as I update this page on the hour.
Cones in our cone packs 012, 010, 06, 1, 4, 5, 6, 7

Every item brought for the firing fit into the kiln 🔥

Kiln Log:

I will log at the top of the hour here what temperature, gas, damper, and notes pertaining to the firing.

  • 9:30pm - 68ºF, KILN START TIME - South pilot/ burner lit.
    It was a long day. Just finished teaching and came home to light the kiln./

    I will just be candling overnight with one burner.

  • 10:30pm - Top temp 326ºF/ Bottom temp 107ºF
    Gas bumped up to 0.5#, air just above low on the dial.
    Damper at 1” open.

  • 11:30pm - 742ºF/258ºF
    Holding everything else the same as I head to bed : )

6:00am - 1251ºF/ 838ºF
Lit north burner - candle flame/ air on low. bumped south burner to 1#. Damper at 1”
Good clib overnight

7:00am - 1306ºF/1030. Both burners at 1#, Air just above low on dial, damper at 1#

8:00am - 1360ºF/1154ºF. Both burners at 2#, Air at medium on dial, damper at 2#

9:00am - 1593ºF/ 1430ºF. Both burners at 2.25, Air at medium, damper at 1.5”

10:00am - 1656ºF/1533ºF. Both burners at 2.25, Air at medium, damper at 1” - body reduction time.
The damper is pushed in a little to get those toasty colors in the clay bodies. This also helps the kiln even out.

11:00am - 1702ºF/ 1598ºF. Both burners at 3, Air at high, damper at 1.5”
(This is a very rough guess, but I am shooting at around 8pm for soda introduction.)

12:00pm - 1790ºF/ 1702ºF. Both burners at 3, Air at high, damper at 2”. 88º climb in an hour

1:00pm - 1894ºF/1819ºF. Both burners at 3, Air at high, damper at 2.5”. 104º climb in an hour.

2:00pm - 1962ºF/1901ºF. Both burners at 3, Air at high, damper at 2.5”
Keeping the damper in tight to help the kiln continue to even out.
Back pressure out both door ports. 68º an hour climb.

3:00pm - 2041ºF/ 1989ºF. Both burners at 3, Air at high, damper at 3”
79º Climb last hour : )
(This is a better rough guess, but I am shooting at around 5pm for soda introduction.)

4:00pm - 2107ºF/2064ºF. Both burners at 3, Air at high, damper at 3”
Cone 4 is down on top. It’s HOT, HOT, HOT!
(I am shooting at around 5:30pm for soda introduction.)

5:00pm - 2155ºF/ 2114ºF. Both burners at 3, Air at high, damper at 3”
Cone five is bending top, four is bending bottom. Cone 6’s in back are still up as well as in the cone packs. So now it’s the check more often and watch the cones game. We will wait for cones in the back to get soft before we soda. Still likely to be around 5:30pm : )

The kiln is getting more and more even from top to bottom as the firing progresses. Fewer kiln adjustments this time around. I just let the kiln it take its sweet time. We will be spraying 4 pounds of soda, and doing lighter reduction during the soda-introduction phase.

5:30pm - 2176ºF/ 2138ºF - Soda Commenses with Hanson, Irene, Jody and me!
4 pounds of soda was5 rounds of spraying in the ports (sans the ones near the burners)
I reduced for five minutes after the last round, then opened it up and got to 2180ºF.
The temp would drop about 20 degrees with soda application.

7:00pm - Shut off the kiln!