Kilns

If you make some clay pots, dry them out and then cover them with straw, wood and grass and set alight to it all so that the clay of the pots turns into pottery then was that smoking heap a kiln?

Basically a kiln is no more than a fire in a box. An electric kiln is a set of electric heat producing elements that are placed around the internal walls of an insulated box the idea being to keep the heat inside the box for long enough to have the desired effect on the pots.

It is the same with a wood, coal or gas fired kiln except that there is an opening at one end, the firebox, to let air and flames in and another opening, the flue, to let smoke and fumes out.

As with glazes there are many different types of kiln but their reason for being is the same, to produce heat and to direct it and keep it in one place long enough to fire the pots and melt the glazes.

I use my electric kiln 6.5 cu /ft for the smaller pots and fire this kiln on a regular basis so that the turn around time is fast. My gas kiln 120 cu/ft is reserved mainly for the large garden pots and is fired about twice a year. By the time that I have enough work ready to fill the gas kiln the whole workshop is totally full of pots ready to be packed in and fired.

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