I was attending the National Conference for Educators in Ceramic Art (NCECA) several years ago when John Neely of Utah State University presented slides of his innovative new kiln design. It’s called a train kiln because the positioning of the bourry box and the chimney at opposite ends of the ware chamber make it resemble a steam engine train. The pottery fired in his kiln resembled anagama pottery which I fell in love with while studying in Japan. But anagama kilns are large and require many people to fire. A train kiln is more manageable, with similar results.
At that time I lived in New York City, where building a wood kiln is not possible. But my desire was strong, so in 1999, we moved to a semi-rural area of New Jersey where I could fulfill my wood kiln dream.
Judith Duff also saw Neely’s presentation and built a train kiln at her studio in North Carolina. My kiln is a smaller version of Duff’s kiln, and was made using plans purchased from her. As a first-time kiln builder, I found these plans invaluable for gathering materials and understanding the kiln’s layout. My kiln is 12.5’ long with a 13’ high chimney. The bourry box measures 4’ long by 7.5’ high. The bourry box contains stepped levels, where wood ash lands before getting pulled into the kiln and onto the pottery. The interior of my ware chamber is 4.5’ x 2.5’ x 3’. Stoking takes place on one side of the bourry box through a sliding soft-brick door. Additional stoking takes place through a mouse hole on the side of the ware chamber.
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| During the firing, ash from the burning wood lands on the pottery inside the kiln. It melts and becomes a glaze. |
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| Salt is added to further glaze the pots and produce an orange-peel surface texture. |
My kiln lid is made in five sections from a low-cement, ceramic castable material. The edges of each section are beveled to fit snugly together and retain heat. Each section weighs approximately 150 pounds. Metal loops imbedded into the castable allow an overhead pulley to lift and stack the lid sections at one end of the ware chamber when loading in the pottery. The underside of each lid section is coated with ITC 100 to resist the corrosive effects of wood and salt firing.
My first firing, in September 2002, lasted 35 hours. It was terrifically over-fired (cone 12 flat) and one of the kiln shelves broke (smashing the ware). The surviving pots, however, were breathtaking. Covered with drippy ash and orange-peel salt surfaces. The next several firings varied dramatically, and I came to appreciate how radically the wood affects the pottery. I continue to learn more about this kiln with each firing, and though I don’t fire this way exclusively, I love the process of firing with wood.