March 9 - Kiln loading

Friday I had the opportunity to help load the ground hog kiln.  I'm glad Hal went inside since I don't think I could have spent that much time scrunched up in there.  We were on the outside handing him work, shelves, bricks, and cones.

It's quite an ingenious method of loading the kiln.  Since the firebox is so deep, two boards are placed across it and we used a laundry basket to slide the pots in on the boards.  Once Hal had most of the kiln full, we took the boards out and he stood in the firebox to place the final pots on the kiln floor.

Chad came by to help load along with Hal, Corine, and me.  Though there were a lot of pots, it was a fairly quick process using the bridge method.

Saturday morning Hal and Corine will light the fire at about 5:30 am.  Chad is planning on arriving at around 8:30 and I hope to be there by about 10:30 since I've got a couple of stops first.  I've been told it starts slowly and the real work happens in the afternoon when we have to really stoke it to bring it to temperature.

Hal loading pots.

A pot.

More pots outside waiting their turn.

Corine and Chad sending pots in to Hal.

The loading continues.

More pots.

He's worked his way from the back to the front
and is now standing in the firebox.

The cone packs.

The finished load, just waiting for the heat.

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