Ben and Mia's Oven

[SpringJim]

This oven is going in at my daughter's house and will be great to educate a couple of new babes about wood fires and cooking.

Should be a blast!!!

[SpringJim]

Re: Ben and Mia's Oven

So here's the start.

Got a call from a demo friend tearing down an old pottery school at a university in Kalamazoo

Firebricks
Insulating Firebricks
Some Concrete Blocks
Some Thin Concrete Blocks
Some Castable Refractory
Even some field stone to split for the oven facing

A whole truckload....

[SpringJim]

Re: Ben and Mia's Oven

and even some pottery.....I'm going to use an abandoned pot for the chimney cap!

[SpringJim]

Re: Ben and Mia's Oven

And there was a wood fired Raku kiln on the property...built underground.

Took 5 days to fire up....2450 degrees!

Hot stuff!

[asudavew]

Re: Ben and Mia's Oven

And there was a wood fired Raku kiln on the property...built underground.

Took 5 days to fire up....2450 degrees!

Hot stuff!

Wow.. most Raku I have done takes about 1 to 2 hours.

Nice post Jim.

I assume we will get pics of the build?

[SpringJim]

Re: Ben and Mia's Oven

You know Dave, I called it Raku because it was wood fired and earthen, but the higher temps are more for stoneware. The chart on the wall next to the kiln showed it going to cone 10 after 5 days.

Who knows how many times the kiln was used or at what other temps.

Those three pots were in the rafters above the kiln and looked like raku to me.

[egalecki]

Re: Ben and Mia's Oven

Wow what a haul! I love getting great used stuff!

Good luck with the build-

Are those big jugs???

[dmun]

Re: Ben and Mia's Oven

Raku is big fun. I can't believe they let us high school students grab red hot pots out of the kiln and throw them into oil soaked sawdust! Wouldn't happen in any public school today, I suspect.



So, are you going to re-work the existing shed as a bakehouse? Stick the dome out the back like they did in the 18th century? That would be way cool.

[cvdukes]

Re: Ben and Mia's Oven

Jim,
That kiln is what is known as a goundhog kiln and was for stoneware.
It might take a potter months to make enough wares to load one... and typically it would fire for a few days ....maybe a week to 10 days before it cools enough to unload. There were supposedly some in Asia that would take an entire village of potters over a year to fill.

I spent a couple hours chatting with a potter last month who moved a groundhog kiln over from SC to an old textile mill museum down in Augusta GA. He was planning to fire it up that night, but I couldn't stick around. He said that he starts firing it at 3 a.m. because there is less traffic on the interstate about a mile away. Said that it never fails that someone will end up calling the fire department because the flames shoot so far up out the chminey, they think the old mill is burning. Bought a great jug from him.

[gjbingham]

Re: Ben and Mia's Oven

Really cool pics of the kiln SJ. Thanks for posting. I can't wait to see what you build. I wish I lived next door. I'd be over there every day.

[SpringJim]

Re: Ben and Mia's Oven

Jim,
That kiln is what is known as a goundhog kiln and was for stoneware.
It might take a potter months to make enough wares to load one... and typically it would fire for a few days ....maybe a week to 10 days before it cools enough to unload. There were supposedly some in Asia that would take an entire village of potters over a year to fill.

I spent a couple hours chatting with a potter last month who moved a groundhog kiln over from SC to an old textile mill museum down in Augusta GA. He was planning to fire it up that night, but I couldn't stick around. He said that he starts firing it at 3 a.m. because there is less traffic on the interstate about a mile away. Said that it never fails that someone will end up calling the fire department because the flames shoot so far up out the chminey, they think the old mill is burning. Bought a great jug from him.

Groundhog kiln, that makes sense....and the stoneware part too!

I'm guessing it was a build project for the students one year and they filled it up with pottery from their class as part of the build.

The blocks covering the dome and the chimney were interesting. They looked like homemade bottle bricks....you can see them on the chimney.

It's kind of a nice start to a recycled oven project!

[SpringJim]

Re: Ben and Mia's Oven

Raku is big fun. I can't believe they let us high school students grab red hot pots out of the kiln and throw them into oil soaked sawdust! Wouldn't happen in any public school today, I suspect.

So, are you going to re-work the existing shed as a bakehouse? Stick the dome out the back like they did in the 18th century? That would be way cool.

I like that idea!

The shed was going to be torn down....holes in roof, full of rodents (coons last year, now squirrels)...but you got me thinking! I'm going to tear off the siding and see what we have...it will at least give me a shelter to build the oven under!!!

and the sheathing is all wood boards....wonder what I can do with that??

[jbaker]

Re: Ben and Mia's Oven

Here's some other links concerning a "hillside" kiln for pottery

Definition of an Anagama:
Anagama kiln - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Take a look at Moby Dick here. Incredible oven build.
Anagama: Building 'Moby Dick'

[SpringJim]

Re: Ben and Mia's Oven

that drawing in Wikipedia is spot on...I climbed up inside the monster!

Is Anagama japanese for groundhog

[SpringJim]

Re: Ben and Mia's Oven

I can get some new common brick for the outside enclosure for 25 cents a brick....is that a pretty good price? They are leftovers from a house build.