Saturday, February 22, 2014

Oops

The illusive cones now sealed behind the bricks
I woke up in the middle of the night last night, and a thought rushed through my brain, "Brenda, you forgot to leave an open brick to see those cones in the front!" After a pause this thought was followed by, "AGAIN!" Bricking up the front of the kiln is usually at the end of the day, likely just before dusk, and I tend to rush it. This is not the first time I have not left a peep hole to see the cones in the front of the kiln. The cones in the bottom left of the above photo are now invisible until I open the kiln. I suppose, on the bright side, they will still tell me whether that corner made it to temperature!  C'est la Vie. At least I remembered to put the tube in for the lower pyrometer. Another "oops" for this week was discovered when I was loading the kiln and I saw this on a flowerpot:
Upside down "stoneware"
I have been waiting for the day when this made it to the kiln stage. I've accidentally stamped upside down while demonstrating, and have chuckled over more than one piece of historic ceramic with upside down letters or names, but did not even realize I had done this until it was getting ready to go in! If you want some other great "oops" stories, check out Radiolab's show on other "oops" situations.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

The upside down stamp means that you've now created a unique collectors item!

Barbara Rogers said...

Was going to comment, but I just wish you didn't do the "please prove you're not a robot" with word verification...so that's my comment. Nah, no mean spirit needed, just wanted to wish you a happy and successful firing! Barb

Dennis Allen said...

Cones, schmones, you'll know it's done when it smells right or you run out of wood ! Happy Firing.

Liberty Stoneware said...

Does a unique collectors item mean I can charge more for it? Ha! Dennis, I've actually been wondering if this style of kiln is conducive to know when it is done without cones and a pyrometer. It doesn't give you the chance to really see in the chamber like a tunnel kiln, and the fireboxes and chamber can vary so much in color and movement. I'm thinking the next kiln has to be verging on historic in order to have a better sense of what it is like to fire without these other tools! Barb, I wish I did not have to do the "please prove you're not a robot" but I get enough spam traffic that I cannot block, so I cannot imagine what it would be like without that small filter.

Liberty Stoneware said...

p.s. forget this part- thanks ya'll for the good wishes! We shall see!

Liberty Stoneware said...

p.p.s That should have said "forgot this part"!