Hi Adam, Unfortunately, I didn’t count the bricks. They were salvaged from a previous kiln. My guess would be about 1500 - 2000 bricks. Good luck, Phil
The last brick it's a very top center of an arch is supposed to be cut into a trapezoidal shape it's called the keystone and it is basically the key to supporting the whole Arch you're not supposed to lift up on anything you're supposed to take a Mason saw and carefully cut it so it fits snuggly cut the whole course exactly the same and fit it in that way that's the proper way to do it and those bricks on the end that are cut into a triangle state I have rebuilt Coke ovens 1,000 times and I have never seen pre-cut custom brick from any manufacturer we've always since the seventies cut them ourselves.
Sorry to disappoint you, the pots in the firing belong to the artists and not to the studio. Many of our members don’t want their work included in the video.
9:05 - This is unbelievable, how is that arc "freestanding" without any kind of mortar... this does not seem like a great idea to do. I'm assuming you're not using mortar so that the fire bricks can expand and contract, but special mortar designed for kilns can prevent fire bricks from cracking due to expansion and contraction when heating. It's just bizarre how you got that arc to freestanding, really hard to do lol I really gotta see your photos of when times of the arc just collapsed.
It is amazing, and if you really want to be amazed, search for catenary arch kilns on the internet. They are dry stacked and two of the side walls are actually part of the arch. They don't even need framing to support the walls. The only time we've had an arch collapse was when a tree fell on the wood kiln we used to have. Even then the walls were standing after the tree was removed and we used the same bricks to build this kiln. Phil has designed and constructed a dozen kilns using this technique at Hood College, his private studios and several community studios in the area. Great questions!
Hello. ^^ I would like to give a proper thanks to you guys for the great content since this channel has become my greatest teacher on the matters of pottery. I, a complete novice on pottery, am sketching a gas kiln to build myself since the closest studio available to me is more than 3hrs away. After reading a bit about how to design one I have decided to implement a miniature version of this soda one to be used for basic firings. If possible, It would be lovely to get an opinion if this cross-draft design is the best way to go for a 40x40x40cm firing chamber and what should I expect or adapt by simply reducing the scale of the kiln. Thanks again for the amazing free content! My best wishes! :)
l am sorry for not responding sooner, for some reason I didn't see this comment. The problem with using gas in a small chamber kiln is gas takes time and space to mix with air, ignite and produce heat. If you build tunnels for the firing ports it should work. it may be difficult to slow the heat down long enough to heat the ware chamber. You will want to obstruct the exit flue somehow. I think it's worth a try, and if it doesn't work very well, tear it down and build it a little bigger! Our kiln is a little on the small size and we loose a lot of heat up the chimney, but it's fun!
