Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Kiln repaired




Today I climbed inside my kiln with a 2 X 4 and a rubber mallet and got ta tappin'. Tappin' bricks, that is. My kiln is eight years old and has been fired roughly 75 times or so. This kiln was built without mortar and has metal bracing around the base of the kiln. I recently have seen a bunch of movement. The worse place was on the arch, closest to the chimney, shown in this photo. Of course, this is the after photo. I was anxious to jump on the task and forgot to snap a before photo. The wall was "bellying in." tapping them in with the 2 X 4 and a rubber mallet sure did do the trick. I may have to repeat this every few firings. We'll see.



I'm watching these two kiddos during the day while my wife is at work. I thought I would be able to get something done during the day, like decorating cups or something. Nada. No way. This kids are consuming me. I am getting to do a bit more computer work (iPad!) now that I'm in my living room so much. It is wonderful, though. Today, my daughter took three steps and is getting close to walking on her own. Children are just amazing, and I do feel lucky to be able to care for them at this age. My wife and I are both working our tails off. We are both up with the sun and work until 11pm or so. It's tiring, but very much worth it. So, now we sleep.

7 comments:

Kari Weaver said...

Cherish your time with them while they're little. Mine are 12 and 9 and already don't want to spend as much time with us.

Ron said...

I've had to do the tap thing on my salt kiln, except I was using a bigger board and a 3# hammer. Yes, it had gotten pretty bad! Fun though to be in there pounding away and praying that the arch does not fall in on top of you.
Great pic of you and the kids. Ready for some videos!!

ang design said...

yeh bring on the vids....and nice work pounding and juggling the kids...

FetishGhost said...

Soon enough they'll be out in the studio giving you a hand.

klineola said...

Those are some precious kids! Enjoy them while you can! But I know it's not easy, sometimes, when there are pots to be made.

Good work on that kiln. I know you have been anxious about it. Was there an issue with the door? or did you just need to work on that arch?

klineola said...

Yea, lets see some video, cap'n.

cookingwithgas said...

Our kiln was built in 1986 and we are doing some tapping and finger crossing!
But look at those sweet kids!
Enjoy them they look like loads of fun!