Boneshakers

  I plan to fire the wood kiln in October. This will be my first firing of 2020. I will be putting together a skeleton crew that I will call "The Boneshakers". I can't have The Cactus Lounge Flame Throwers due to keeping the bubble small and tiptoeing to the cliff. 

A skeleton walks into a bar and orders a beer and a mop!

On a positive this will be the first firing in 40 where I have had over 20% of the kiln.  I'll actually have over 50% of the kiln. The kiln and I have been for hire. Last October I looked at the kiln wear and considered that 2021 I will be age 70. I only have so many more pots left in my hands and I want them wood fired. I  was spending months each year collecting, splitting, stacking and firing mostly for someone else. How long can I do this and how many more firings can I expect from the kiln? 

I'm trying some new things since I am not firing for someone else. I plan to add an entire day to the firing. I want more jam!

Also in an effort to add the jam I have taken the advice of one of the guru's of juice- Dick Lehman. Thanks Dick. I had resurrected my Uncle Jimmie's 70 year old ball mill and attempted to grind blue gin bottle glass. It was taking forever. Dick contacted me and suggested I ball mill wood ash and add some cobalt. I did that and one mill of ash with 1% iron. The ash is being sieved on to the pots. 

Another tip from a friend was to make a solution of a gallon of hot water, 50 grams of soda ash and paint the solution on the pots. Being a get er done kinda guy I held the pots upside down and  I poured the solution on the pots. 

So if all goes well my friend and retired IT person Dawn Ellis is helping me put together a website. i hope to have some fired pots to show y'all by end of October. Be safe and well my brothers and sisters of clay. T

Here is a dish of wood ash ball milled with 1% RIO.