Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Kiln Unloaded. Thumbs Up.


Waiting is hard. It was a cold, rainy day with temperatures in the low 60’s. And my kiln had heated up to cone 06, which is about 1,700 degrees. So I waited an extra 12 hours to open my kiln until it cooled to room temperature. But it was well worth it!

Here’s a peek I took, very briefly. I was looking to see if there were pieces of clay inside the kiln or obvious cracks in the two faces I’d sculpted. I was so relieved to see everything looked good!

The next day, I unloaded the kiln. I lifted out the first two layers, and inspected. No chips. No cracks. Then, I carefully removed the kiln shelves and stilts to get a good look at the two lower levels in the kiln. Again, no chips and no cracks.

I rolled the cart over to the counter across the garage where I stacked the bowls, colanders, cups and faces ready for glazing. Then, I took a deep breath, sighed with relief and gave thanks to the gods of fire.

No explosions. No cracks. No problems. I am very happy and grateful!

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