This spring I am building a multi-purpose wood/gas, kiln at Ramapo College of New Jersey with my childhood friend and head of sculpture, Joel Weissman. The kiln will be suitable for ceramics, glass-blowing, and blacksmithing. It will be constructed over two weeks and be adaptable to the needs and resources of each particular firing.
The Kiln consiststs of four total chambers. The first chamber is the firebox and is at ground level. The second chamber is a step above and contains the ceramic wares in order to collect the fly ash which both enhances the surface of the ceramics and prevents ashes from continuing into the glass chamber. The third chamber is another step above the second and holds the crucible for glass. This chamber serves as both the glory hole and the furnace to gather glass in. It has a welded glory hole door in the front for quick, easy access to the crucible. The fourth chamber is another step above and consist of the annealing chamber. It is held at an even 1000 degrees through the employment of vents, and passive/active dampers.
The chimney, yet another step above the fourth chamber will have both active and passive dampers as well. There will be a coil of copper pipe as a heat exchange unit. Water will be heated and cycled through to feed a hot tub ;)
Experimental fuel sources will be employed such as: vegetable oil, biochar, and methane gas
The Kiln consiststs of four total chambers. The first chamber is the firebox and is at ground level. The second chamber is a step above and contains the ceramic wares in order to collect the fly ash which both enhances the surface of the ceramics and prevents ashes from continuing into the glass chamber. The third chamber is another step above the second and holds the crucible for glass. This chamber serves as both the glory hole and the furnace to gather glass in. It has a welded glory hole door in the front for quick, easy access to the crucible. The fourth chamber is another step above and consist of the annealing chamber. It is held at an even 1000 degrees through the employment of vents, and passive/active dampers.
The chimney, yet another step above the fourth chamber will have both active and passive dampers as well. There will be a coil of copper pipe as a heat exchange unit. Water will be heated and cycled through to feed a hot tub ;)
Experimental fuel sources will be employed such as: vegetable oil, biochar, and methane gas
