Blog #13, Fall 2025

I had spent what little time last week to get everything ready for loading. Cleaning all the shelves, washing them, vacuuming out the kiln, etc. I got out of work a little early that day, which was a big help to get the back stack started. We loaded for a few hours before calling it a day. My goal was to get the back stack finished so that on Tuesday, we could brick up the kiln and be ready to light off the next morning. I felt a decent amount of pressure this load since I was in charge, and every piece that went in, I placed. I felt pretty decent about the back. The only issue we ran into was the top cone back, but we came up with a decent solution. Tuesday, I was off from work so I could spend the rest of the day loading. We picked a good couple of days to load :) (it rained and was freezing both days). I didn’t feel as confident in the front stack just because it was a little looser than I would have liked. We just didn’t have enough work from everyone like usual, but we made do with what we had. Bricking the door went smoothly until I got to the top. Bricking the top added an extra two hours. The arch of the kiln and the bricks themselves had just become so warped that it was hard to see a pattern that would work to fit everything. It took quite a bit of magivering to get it all closed up. Tarra and I slipped the door in the pouring rain, cleaned up the kiln pad, and called it a night. I wasn’t there for light off, but my shift was noon till midnight, so I knew I needed the rest for the day ahead. Hosently, the firing was a blur. It’s always a week of grinding to get it done, but overall, it was a great firing. The only mishap we had was losing the cone pack on the top in the back. We managed to move a lot of wood through the kiln, so I am really hoping for some good ash deposit