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The Hog Barn Baby was commissioned for
Monica Johnston at
Frantic Farms Clay and Glass Works in
Ontario, Canada. It was the first kiln that I designed that was to be
constructed in a workshop setting. Kiln building workshops are
particularly challenging because of the tight schedule. In this case the
plan was to not only built the kiln, but to load, fire, cool down and
unload it all in an 11 day period. Even small problems can cause delays
that might wreck the schedule. In a workshop format everyone has paid to
participate, so they need to feel like they have learned at least the
basics about kiln building. This means that as the workshop leader I can't
just tell people what to do, I need to explain why we do it that way.
The Hog Barn Baby was aptly named as it resides in an old hog barn at Frantic Farms. One of the main challenges to this kiln was that the roof of the barn was 20 feet up. Instead of stacking this with bricks, Monica's husband Paulus Tjiang designed and fabricated a stainless steel ,double walled insulated chimney that we pieced together on site. We worked long hours each day on this kiln and were still welding on it while we stoked. The kiln was extremely responsive as we were able to quickly even out the temperature with a damper adjustment at the end of the firing. I had to leave for the airport before it was completely unloaded, but it was plain to see that the kiln fired beautifully. This was a great workshop with a wonderful group of people. We have remained great friends every since. |
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