@@floriangadsby After about two months of trying and failing to fix a huge old top loader, I bought a brand new Skutt 822-3. I chalked up the price as an 18th birthday present to myself. It is a little small, but still about 16" wide and 24" deep, so I can still do some fairly big work. It also pulls very little electricity so I can run it pretty often. I've been doing production work on batches of candle forms and mugs so it has just been a treat to use so far!
I have absolutely no interest in doing this sort of work myself. However, it is utterly fascinating to watch your process and have it explained so clearly. Thank you!
Wow thanks for this video. It’s an incredibly detailed narration , explaining everything in the firing process which is so interesting. Fantastic pottery RU-vid channel, thanks Florian.
Cheers Dom! So glad to hear that. There's really just so much to explain in a video that's even 20 minutes long, I'll have to do some that are more specific in regard to their topic. My next shop update will be sometime in the spring I imagine, there shall be lots of mugs I'm sure.
I've been looking into buying my own kiln lately and this was really informative about the processes involved in firing your own stuff. Thanks Florian!
I was excited to see the mugs when you opened the door of the kiln, and wow, what beautiful work you do. I'll keep an eye on your store, I want one of your mugs for my morning coffee.
Thanks for taking the time to make this Florian. Such a clear video, and with so much useful and actionable information. E.g. blowing into the spy holes; the name of the grinding paste, your kiln log. What lovely pots, and what a fantastic kiln. Did I also notice that your ware boards fit your bench quite precisely?! :)
Cheers James, so glad to hear that. And yes.. the boards fit almost too well, sometimes they can be hell to get my fingers under to move if they're covered in heavy pots. An overhang is definitely on the cards next time.
Thank you for documenting this process. This will be a good video to show my 150 students taking my pottery class via Zoom during our remote learning times. Guess who gets to load, bisque fire, and later glaze fire all of their projects when they are delivered back to our school? 😉
@@floriangadsby I have quite a few students and I was happy to have a thorough video detailing the loading and reduction firing process in great detail. Thank you Florian!
I'm so thankful that you are posting these incredible videos! I'm learning a lot more than in my community center classes. It's like having my own super knowledgeable, meticulous and really calm online teacher. A truly good use of this platform.
Haha, thank you, there'll be more available in the future. I've got to spend the next few months preparing work for an exhibition, so mugs won't be the focus for a little bit. But thank you!
I'm beginning training to be ceramics technician next semester at my college, this video was very informative and interesting, especially now that I know I'll be doing similar work rather soon. Great video once again!
Yet another epic video that just left me smiling in awe!🤩 All hail the gas kiln guru haha!! 🙌 Thanks again for making my day, have a lovely Christmas!🎄
That was fascinating, thank you so much! The reduction firing still confuses me at the end though - crash cooling down from peak temperature adds a lot of oxygen into the kiln as the spy holes and dampers are open - does this not affect the reduction chemistry, or does it not matter once the fuel has stopped going in? I’m comparing in my mind to anagama kilns etc. where they literally seal every crack once temperature is reached to stop air getting in. I fire electric, so no such issues for me, although I would love to be able to reduction fire for the colours 😃
Reduction is more important coming up in temp. Once the glazes have melted, the glass layer hinders the kiln atmosphere from reacting with the glaze underneath the surface. Reduction on the way down really only affects the very surface of the glaze / clay
super super fantastic video, thanks Florian for putting it together with so much info. re: natural gas, I always thought that it didn't have enough energy density to fire a kiln and that everybody used LPG, can any kiln be fired with natural gas? I guess the 4 burners helps, not sure.
For a new potter like me who’s trying to learn as much as possible, it’s amazing to see this whole process. Thanks for doing it. Would this type of outcome be possible with an electric kiln?
Thank you Steve! I'm afraid these types of glazes don't work all too well in an electric kiln. The green hues especially and the depth that the glazes have is quite hard to replicate, hence why I got a gas kiln initially.
A bit of cmc gum for the glazes would help with it coming off on your fingers. It will spoil, but you're working with blues and greens, so a literal (minute!)(.35 grams per bucket) pinch of copper carb will keep bacteria away.
Cheers! Well, I started making pottery in school on the wheel potter's wheel at the age of 17 or so, then after finishing school I went to the DCCoI Ceramics Skills and Design Training course in Ireland for 2 years, which was superb. After that I did a 3 year apprenticeship with Lisa Hammond at Maze Hill Pottery and thereafter I did a short six month apprenticeship with Ken Matsuzaki in Japan. Then I finally setup on my own, so I had a ton of practice prior to starting my own business thankfully.
Lovely video as always. Thank you for taking the time to educate so detailed. I noticed that you propped up some bowls. Why is this? Are they particularly prone to dripping or does it have to do with airflow or space wise?
Thank you! The reason for the propped up bowls is to simply allow me to squeeze more pots in. The bottom shelf had to be quite open, height wise, to fire evenly, so I prop bowls like this so they overlap one another, let’s me fit in lots more.
@@floriangadsby thank you! That makes a lot of sense. I’m firing my first own kiln next week Monday and your videos and advice have been an inspiration in getting here!
Thank you for such an interesting and detailed explanation of gas kiln firing. It’s far more labour intensive than I realized. Do you make your own wadding or is it a purchased item? If you make it, would you mind sharing the “recipe”...? Seems like a good idea for me to start using too...
Thank you! I Actually do tell you the recipe in the video, it's very very simple stuff. The recipe is just a 50/50 ratio of china clay and coarse alumina hydrate. Mixed and wedged up to a clay like consistency. I would recommend adding the water to the powder very very slowly, as it tends to turn from clay-like to sludge in a matter of seconds.
Why do you reduce from 860c? The glaze won't have melted at that point. I normally start reduction around 1060 once I've passed the point of the previous bisc firing.
Some glazes benefit from early reduction and some kilns just need to be initiated earlier. When I first fired my new gas kiln I set reduction at 960ºc, but the reduction only caught a tiny amount of the work inside. So for the next firing I tried it at 860ºc and it hit everywhere, totally even. In the past I have initiated it later but who knows, if it works, it works. Famously, copper red glazes are reduced very early, even as low as 750ºc, otherwise the bright red hues won't start to appear, depending on your recipe of course.
@@floriangadsby I fire copper reds in most kiln loads. For my kiln what guarantees a good red is 100% positioning in the stack. Anywhere too close to the burners and the pots tend to lose the red as they cool due to re-oxidation from the air flowing into the kiln (it's a forced air system) I teach at a college, so I ask my students to leave a note with their pot when it's put on the shelf for glaze firing if it's copper red. That enables me to make sure I place it in the right place for it when loading. As you say, if it works, it works.
I do occasionally, generally I only ever glance in for a moment, I don't really focus my eyes in the spy-hole until after I've blown in so it's literally a second or so that I peek in. But, sometimes, if the cones are more obscured by flames or pots, I'll certainly wear goggles.
Did you speed up your audio ever so slightly on this one? I usually find your narration quite soothing but this one made me feel a bit panicked for some reason??
Neither I'm afraid. t's a natural gas fired Rohde kiln, here's all the information about it - www.rohde.eu/en/arts-and-crafts/products/gas-kilns/kg-series/kg-340-a
