Unloading the kiln 10/13/09

We unloaded the kiln tonight and were pleased with the Classics. The glaze was very nice.

Tomorrow is a day off for hiking in the gorgeous fall colors we have here in the North East. It is at zenith now and won't be much when we return after our show this weekend in Bethesda Row.

You might want to check out Century Studios blog right now. They are showing a beautiful stain glass shade of Daffodils they made on a pottery base we made for them. You can get to the blog by clicking on their image in the friends section below. At the end of their studio description, click on their blog link.

Unloading kiln

With one kiln cooling and the pots for the next firing waiting to get in. Here's what was in there.

Tonight we fire the second kiln load.

Unloading kiln

We unloaded the last firing. The kiln has to be slowly cooled for 12 hrs. before we prop open the lid to facilitate the process. Once it is around 250 degrees, we open the lid all the way.

Then using hot pads, we carefully unload the top shelves, remove those shelves and allow the next section to cool off. Eventually all the pots and shelves are removed from the kiln. This kiln was filled with our 'Classics' for orders and anticipated sales at our final two retail shows in October.

Kiln firing 5/25/09

We just unloaded a kiln firing and wanted to share some photos.

Here's Steve glazing some pots before they are fired and then unloading the finished pieces. Glazing usually takes us two sometimes three days, depending on the detail of the pieces.

The firing is done overnight. Steve usually gets up 3-4 times during the night to check on its progress even though it is in a programmable kiln.

Most of the pots in the kiln were for our upcoming retail shows but a few were orders.