Fast-fire Kilns: anecdotes
SideStoke home | Fast-fire home

1. About metal chimneys. For anyone who is new to them, they need guys (wire or rope) to stop the wind from blowing them over ( the chimneys that is).. That's obvious. What might not be so obvious is that they grow during the firing. A six footer can grow 2-3 inches. So...the guy wires or ropes should be a little on the slack side or, what I do is introduce a few old bed springs to the wires, so they can accommodate both expansion and contraction. My learning curve has included:

A guy wire snapping (at midnight) and ladder to get on the roof to fix it "borrowed" by a neighbour, locked in his shed and him away on holidays.

Guy wires not snapping, so metal flue section crushing itself to accommodate the 3 inch expansion it wished to have and which I was denying it.

The stupid belief that I could squeeze one more firing out of a metal flue pipe that was obviously rusted to death. Wrong decision! When you buy one, actually buy two ( and don't lend it to your neighbour!!!!)

2. About the size of the wood for fast firing. In his Kiln Book, Olsen tells about a firing he did with Les Blakeborough somewhere a mile high in Colorado. Took 1 3/4 hrs to 1280C. Sounded a bit suss, so I checked with Les. "Almost true" said Les, "except the last 1/2 hour was a soak."  Then he told me the secret. They fired with dry roofing shakes split down to chopsticks by willing helpers. Non-stop stoking but still one firebox at a time.

At right: guy wires “ a little on the slack side”