May 3 Firing

The last time we fired this kiln, we had a tough time keeping it in a sufficiently strong reduction. This I blamed on a very loose door of castable bricks, so we took steps after we loaded to address the problem. Using door mud (50% fire clay, 50% alumina) we filled in the gaps, then papered over the door with newspaper dipped in a slurry of recycled clay:




Relaxing while waiting for cones to fall:

Adding the soda mix:

We had no trouble reducing this time! Unloading Sunday. In the pouring rain, probably. I'll keep you "posted."