Sunday, February 17, 2013

Snowy February Firing

Snow on the ground in the early morning
I may have complained a few times yesterday about the cold weather we had for the kiln firing. However, I was reminded on several occasions that it is better than the blazing hot days of August!
Kiln mostly loaded up
I loaded the kiln last weekend and kept it warm during the cold nights. I think this also helped with drying things out and perhaps making my temperature ramps go more smoothly.
Fluffy snow on the trees around the farm
 The snow fell fairly consistently all day yesterday. It was that lovely, fluffy snow that sticks to the trees. It was refreshing to step out and feel the snow on your face after being in front of a firebox!
Firebox opening
With a nice hot kiln and hot fires by late morning though, you could forget about being cold! Here are a few photos from the tail end of the firing peeking in to see some of the pots:

Decorated mugs

Decorated mug behind glowing cone pack


3 comments:

Dennis Allen said...

Looks good! I fired a wood kiln in single digit temps one time (one was enough). The good part was that if a wad fell off you could just spit on it and it immediately froze to the pot.

Liberty Stoneware said...

Oh, man! I am glad that we (hopefully) do not reach single digits down here enough to worry about that! I imagine one time would be enough! The nice thing about loading in the cold was that at least the wind was kept at bay by the kiln walls!

Jeffs Wine Toasti said...

Man that looks hot! Looks cold out side too. Nice work! We don't have constant below zero here thank goodness.