Olsen Fastfire Wood Downdraft Kiln
Don Curtis
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I've wondering if anyone out there has experience with building and firing an
Olsen Fastfire Wood Kiln. In "The Kiln Book" he describes firing this kiln in
3-1/2 to 4 hours using 1/4 of a cord of wood. Also that this kiln can be
fitted w/gas burners.
Sounds like what we're looking for. Thanks for info on Minnesota Flat Top
Kiln.
Don Curtis
DCu...@aol.com
dan...@ns1.koyote.com
on glazes.
ARTM...@acs.eku.edu
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With the exception of saving costs by using available wood instead of
purchasing gas, oil or electricity, why fire a wood kiln in 3-4 hours?
Seems like a lot of work and none of the benefits of wood.
Another wood kiln design to look at that we are most pleased with here
at EKU is the Phoenix wood kiln. It fires in about 20 hours and gives
good results. It too can fire fast, but we work to stretch out the
firing to take advantage of working with wood.
Joe
*************************************************************
Joe Molinaro INTERNET: artm...@acs.eku.edu
Department of Art BITNET: artmolin@eku
Eastern Kentucky University VOICE: (606) 622-1634
Richmond, KY 40475
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jeremy nudell kalin
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A few years a go, a good friend was looking to build a wood kiln after making
pots for a little over a year. He did a little bit of reading, mostly in Fred
Olson's book, and found the easy easy answer that Olson gives in the book. It
has taken us the last 3 years, maybe 35 firings, to find the appropriate way to
fire the kiln in under 16 hours- with a MAJOR adjustment. He put blowers into
the coal bed of the firebox to introduce more air- basically turning it into a
forced air wood burner. My observations about this kiln are that there are too
many cool spots (because of the fireboxes being poorly located), the fireboxes
are so low to the ground that one is likely to have a sore back for the next
week, and there is just too little air available for combustion. Basically, the
nature of a wood flame does not seem to work well with this kiln design.
My understanding of the evolution of the Freddy Fast Fire is that it once was a
smaller design (3 cu ft) used in Japan to fire enamels (cone 018-022). There's a
big difference between 3 cu feet and 30 cubic feet and between 800 F and 2400 F.
If you are really interested in building a fast-firing gas-adaptable wood kiln,
I strongly suggest you check out Peg Udall's single chamber internal firebox
cantenary arch kiln. She has generously shared her detailed plans; they can be
found in Jack Troy's recent book, _Woodfired Stoneware and Porcelain_. The
internal firebox cantenary kiln can be fired in as little as 7 hours to cone 10,
or can be dragged out to about 14 or 15 hours for 30 cubic feet of stacking
space. I have fired this kiln before- and we had to work carefully to make it
fire longer than 8 hours!
Joe Molinaro's comments were right on. But, if wood is the fuel of choice for
political/philosophical reasons, then go for it. Find people in your
neighborhood who are firing with wood or have at some time and work teh network.
See what peopel have used before and how they feel about their kilns. Keep an
open mind and question everything. Good Luck!!!!
Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to the studio I go....
Jeremy Nudell Kalin
Richard Burkett
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Jeremy Nudell Kalin notes it:
>has taken us the last 3 years, maybe 35 firings, to find the appropriate way
>to fire the kiln in under 16 hours- with a MAJOR adjustment. He put blowers
>into the coal bed of the firebox to introduce more air
I talked to Fred Olsen about this once, and basically it comes down to having
a proper grate. Once I had rebuilt the grates for the Olsen kiln here at SDSU
it worked MUCH better. One inch diameter rebar spaced one inch apart, welded
to a frame of the same material works well. The grates should be at least in
the middle to slightly in the top of the firebox, vertically, and run the
length of the firebox, or close to it. Be sure to pull these out at the end
of the firing before closing the the firebox off, and keep the ash and coals
raked so that they never build up against the bottom of the grate. If this is
done the grates will last a reasonably long time. With good dry pine as fuel
it's hard to keep this kiln from firing in less than 8 or 10 hours - and you
could hit cone 10 or more in way less time if that was your inclination.
Richard Burkett -
School of Art, Design, & Art History, SDSU, San Diego, CA 92182-4805
E-mail: richard...@sdsu.edu <-> Voice mail: (619) 594-6201