Stove top bisque?

Sam: I've successfully bisqued things in my oven, set for 500, and left for a few hours. Go slow through the 200s to allow water to evaporate. Wouldn't recommend it for things that will have food contact, but since you mentioned small carvings (I am assuming decorative only here), I don't see why that won't work.

Since you mentioned that you're on a limited budget, have you considered trying to pit-fire them? Scrap wood is easy to come by, and a hole in the ground costs only time, unless (like me) you have an overzealous "nazi" building department watching everyone like hawks. (sorry, I'll stop ranting now)

You can also use a woodstove or a fireplace .

Hope that helps, Wayne Seidl

How about a minigama kiln? I've seen them being made at the craft center I attend and take classes, but I've never actually seen one in action. They look small enough for the OP's purposes, and use charcoal to fire them.

Has anyone here used or made one?

Deb R.

The year before last the Auckland Studio Potters made and fired a Mercedes gama and the year before a Mazda gama. In each case a load of pots and combustable material and was set on fire. Sort of an above ground pit firing. Exiting and with some pleasing results.

JW

I have a small electric kiln I purchased through e-bay to fire test tiles. It is 110 volts and measures about 7" square inside. I have not unpacked it and probably will never use it. If you are interested, I can send you additional specs. I bought it for about $120. I will gladly sell it for $100 plus whatever shipping and insurance costs. It is complete except for the peep hole plug/bung. Those can be bought via mail order cheaply. Let me know if you are interested. I don't know if my return e-mail has any anti-spam additions. If it does, my address is snipped-for-privacy@tampabay.rr.com Steve in Tampa, FL

----- Original Message ----- From: "Sam" Newsgroups: rec.crafts.pottery Sent: Sunday, April 04, 2004 11:43 AM Subject: Stove top bisque?

i like that: minigama, Mercedes, Mazda gama. perfect names to modernize the concept, but also the idea of making a small wood fire stile kiln is useful. a mini beast, or baby dragon to fire! fix the size based on what can be done in a day.

add that to my list of home projects...

see ys

steve

steve graber

I'm picturing loading up some old cars with pots and combustibles and firing them! Is that what you mean by Mercedes and Mazda gamas? If so, it's an interesting thought... I'd hate to do that to one of those nice little Minicoopers, though.

The minigama kilns I saw being made were kind of sculptural little table-top sized kilns made from clay and fired with charcoal. Something big enough for a cup and saucer, or some saki cups. That's why I thought of it when the poster was asking about a way to fire his one-inch carvings. I'm tempted to try making one of these kilns if the class is offered again.

Deb R.

This would be perfect, but my search for "minigama" sent me to images of room sized ovens. I would appreciate any additional details you can remember.

Well, I have been thinking about it (I have to agonize over every decision). I have saved up a few bucks for a kiln, but if I am going to make that kind of investment, I think I should think a little further ahead. Once I get past the testing phase, I will be wanting to fire 20-30 of these things at a time. So I think I should save my money for a larger kiln.

But thanks for the offer! I live fairly close to you, do you mind if I keep it under consideration for now?

I think you can do this with a propane torch, if the kiln is small enough, or well-insulated enough. I've seen plans for homebrew kilns fired by propane, so you would just need a smaller version to use a torch. You'll probably want to make it out of firebrick for insulation, both to allow higher temperatures and to keep your fuel costs down. Firebrick isn't cheap to buy new, so look around for used bricks from places with industrial furnaces, etc.

You might find it cheaper to use a big propane tank instead of the little Berz-O-Matic torch tanks.

If all else fails, consider going to a single-fire operation to avoid half of your commutes!

Bob Masta dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom D A Q A R T A Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis

I found this bit of information on a Clayart archive:

was a student at the Worcester Center for Crafts, so I'm sureshe is talking about the same kilns I saw being made there. The kilns are made from a refractory clay body, and fired with charcoal (or wood). Maybe the book in the above link is still available.

I should've taken the course the last time it was offered...

Deb R.

Sam,

This link will take you to some images of the mini-gamas Deb was talking about. It loads slow - lots of images.

have a copy of the translated book (can get you the e-mail addressfor it - the book's at school being used by one of the students). This is what I used as a guideline for the one I just finished. Amwaiting for it to dry so I can bisque and then fire it. Will be usingwood along with the charcoal to fire it. One of the ClayArt members has built and fired hers successfully. I'll see what information I can dig up later this evening.

Lori

Yes, those are exactly the type of little kiln I meant! How did you ever come across that link? I did massive googling and couldn't come up with much information. I did, however, post a link to the address and email for Naoko Gomi, who translated Mr. Yoshiba's book on making these kilns. I noticed the information is a year old, so it might be outdated. Naoko is still at the Worcester Center for Crafts, though, so maybe I can find out if the book is available if I happen to see her.

Deb R.

I appreciate that, the images seem like exactly what I am interested in.

Hi, Deb!

I purchased 2 in December for Christmas gifts, so hopefully, she's still got a few laying around - $14 each. Had them within the week. The link should still be good.

I googled for images - just used "minigama" - and, then bookmarked the search.

Good luck! Hope you can lay your hands on a copy - it's a real, little treasure.

The clay I used for my "Baby Beast" is a commercial stoneware with tons of grog - wouldn't want to try throwing with this stuff - it'd take your fingerprints off... We've nicknamed it "Baby" until we see what kind of characteristics it displays.

I built the one with the double fire-box - our student is building the original. His will only hold maybe a teabowl. The ware chamber on mine is a bit larger.

Will look for the clay recipe that one of the others used later tonight - have to get back to school for now.

(We have one East Indian lady in the class who wants me to make Tandoori Chicken with it - claims it's perfect for not only the chicken, but for baking the Naan (bread) as well. We'll see!!)

Lori

Well, Sam, there's not too much out there, but this is what one of the ClayArt members used for hers:

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the mix is equal parts of fireclay....ball clay... and kaolin...then I add two parts of sawdust... top off with grog if you have some around.... It seems to make a durable body for the minigama kiln....it stays soft....porous...able to re-heat in the next firing...but durable for a few firings...

The walls of my kiln were about 1/2 inch thick... I bisque fired the kiln in a regular gas kiln...

******************************************************

A very heavily grogged clay is recommended. I built it with one inch walls. Depending on the style, you'll need at least one blow dryer and some charcoal. I believe she said she used about 40 pounds of charcoal and reached top temp in 3-4 hours.

Good luck! Keep us posted.

Lori

(I don't want to put information out where all the nasties can find it, so I'll send you the contact information for the book off-list from my business address.)

Sam,

My message to you wouldn't go, so here's the contact info for the Minigama book: Naoko Gomi PO Box 311 Princeton, MA 01541

snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com I'm pretty sure it was only $14 for the book, which included postage, but just to be on the safe side you might want to e-mail her first to make sure. Also, if you can get to a library, see if you can find a copy of "Low Fire - Other Ways to Work in Clay" by Leon I. Nigrosh. Page 16 has a write-up for a "fireclay kiln" that can be done in your back yard. I don't know how hot it will fire - you didn't state what cone you're firing to with your carvings - but it will certainly be a low-fire technique. Looks like fun, too! Lots of interesting information. If you can't locate a copy of the book, send me your mailing address off-list and I'll get you copies of these pages. And, if there's anything else we can help with, please don't be afraid to ask -we're all in this together. Take care, Lori

Lori,

I think I tried emailing her at that address a few months ago and had no response. Can you post it again? Perhaps I copied it wrong.

Thanks,

Janet

Lori wrote:

Janet,

This is the only e-mail address I have for her:

snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com

I guess the only thing to do is keep trying to contact her.

Here's the link from the original posting on ClayArt -

price for the book is $14.00. You can simply mail her a check ormoney order for your copy with mailing information. She's such anhonest soul that when I ordered my 2 copies for Christmas and sent acheck for $28.00, she included with those 2 copies the change for thedifference in postage. I did e-mail her ahead of time to let her knowI was sending the order. And, come to think of it, I don't remembergetting a response - just the books. Lori