Tuesday, July 17, 2007

4 am

The sun is rising, birds are singing, and the kilns are burning.


This is a special kiln that Ryoji designed specifically for creating consistent wood ash effects called a Hai Kaburi. There was a detailed article written about it in the June/July 2006 Ceramics Monthly for those of you interested. This baby eats wood like the monster it is; once it reaches temperature you stoke it for 24 hours straight firing at 1250 degrees Celsius. Below is a picture of Ryoji bringing reinforcements-- this is one of three pallets of wood we burned. When you stoke, the fire is leaping out at you and the heat is incredible. Stoking happens about every 8-12 minutes, and you need that downtime just to make sure you didn't catch on fire anywhere. I was feeling pretty dang studly when my shift ended at 8 am this morning, just in time to feel some aftershocks from the earthquake.

4 comments:

  1. i was thinking about you when i heard about the earthquake, i'm glad you're ok : ) and what an amazing firing! can you write a little about where they get all the wood - is it bamboo? i'm just wondering about the envirnmental impact - if that's considered, especially with a resource like wood. only, i'm supposing that even know it is alot of wood - they don't fire often enough for it to be a huge concern? if you have a minute or 2 and know - i think it would be interesting : ) Thank you for shairing this trip thru your blog, xoxo, linda

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  2. wow, how amazing! this makes the electrical kiln seem more like a toy. i can't wait to see the results of this firing.

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  3. It is a bit shocking at first when you see how much wood is used in the kilns here. Wood is brought in several times a week in big trucks. Most of it is scrap from the wood processing plants. When you consider what is being used here in terms of resources, you have to understand that you are seeing resources being used in action. Usually you don't see what is being used up when you use electricity at home. We should all think about the nuclear plants, the dams, the burning coal, etc that is used to power our lifestyle. Here, it's right in your face; at home it's easy not to think about it. To go a bit further on this subject, China uses coal burning as their main way to create energy, which is very bad for the environment. Everytime you buy something made in China, you are supporting that destruction. Nothing comes without a cost.

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  4. Whitney, thanks for writing back, I know what you mean with not seeing the resources used, its so hard to find a balance.

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