Soda Firing 8-5-25

This will be our 22nd 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

Lisa and Chris helped load! What a team!
The right bag wall was rebuilt (again). We are hoping for no more learning. This load was a little light. Tons of space around all the wares.

Everything fit into the kiln that was brought by participants!!!

Kiln Log:

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

Tuesday August 5th

  • 9:45pm - estimated KILN START TIME - South pilot/ burner lit

  • 11:00pm - Top temp 611ºF/ Bottom Temp 170ºF
    Air on LOW, Damper 1”

    Wednesday August 6th

  • 7:00am - 1248ºF/ Bottom Temp 863ºF - Lit North Burner.
    Both candling not reading on dial. Air on LOW, Damper 1”

  • 8:00am - 1363ºF/ 1078ºF
    Both burners at 1#, air on almost medium, damper at 3”

  • 10:00am - 1587ºF/ 1428ºF

    Both burners at 2#, air on medium, damper at 3.5”

  • 11:00am - 1701ºF/ 1593ºF
    Both burners at 2.5#, air on medium, damper at 3” body reduction - C/010 down on top

  • 12:00pm - 1781ºF/ 1708ºF
    Body reduction complete. C010 down top and bottom.
    Gas bumped up to 3#, air on high, damper at 4”

  • 1:00pm - 1907ºF/ 1854ºF
    Holding everything the same. Good climb. Evening temps.

  • 2:00pm - 1990ºF/ 1958ºF
    Great Climb. The kiln continues to even out. Holding steady.

  • 3:00pm - 2065ºF/ 2047ºF
    Good Climb. The kiln continues to even out. Opened damper 0.5”

  • 4:00pm - 2124ºF/ 2107ºF
    The kiln is slowing as it reaches peak temp.
    Cone five is bending on top. Getting Soft on the bottom.
    Hope to see you at the soda-introduction!

  • 4:45-5:45pm - 2177ºF 2165ºF
    It took about an hour to introduce all the soda to the kiln.

    We added 3 pounds of soda dissolved in 1.5 gallons of water to the kiln at peak temperature. 2-3-second intervals with 15 minutes of reduction at the end.

    This is the most even firing we have had. The shorter soda introduction helped the kiln stay at temp instead of getting cold. The kiln held temp during the final reduction. After reduction I shut off the kiln and left the damper open and the blowers on for about 10 minutes. Then turned off the blowers, but left the damper open for about 40 minutes before shutting up everything for the evening.

Front Stack

Back Stack