Thursday 1 July 2010

Making My Dustbin Raku Kiln.

OK here are all the elements needed to build the kiln.
I had some 3mm ceramic paper left over from building
my large gas kiln 2 years ago.
so I decided to line the dustbin with this first as an extra insulation layer.
and tied it in place with these ceramic buttons I made. and tied it with nichrome wire.

To cut out a base I sat the bin on the Ceramic fibre and pushed it down to make a circle of the perfect size. I then cut it out using a sharp knife.
a perfect fit.

I tied the top with the wire.
Then I cut out a hole for the gas burner.
This is the Ceramic Fibre.
Caution needs to be taken when handling this stuff.
I got some disposable plastic gloves from the local petrol station.
and put on a respiratory mask and goggles.
I had the idea, that if i wrapped the fibre around the bin and then cut it
it would fit.
It doesn't work.
It gave me enough for the inside and the lid.
I cut out a hole in the lid.
unfortunately not as square as i would have liked.
I fixed the fibre to the lid with the buttons.
and fixed the fibre in the bin with more buttons.
put some fire bricks in the base and a small 12" round kiln shelf.
I spent a couple of hours watching raku videos on You Tube yesterday morning
to give me a better understanding of the process.
But what worried me , was that most of the video's were titled
"Naked Raku"
I can tell you I paused for quite a while before clicking on the video.
you never quite know what's going to come up
with a title like that.
Luckily they all referred to the Naked flame.
This is the finished Kiln.
It took me about 2 hours to put all this together.

14 comments:

ang design said...

hehehehhe paul you crack up! do you always measure that way??? glad to see you found some buttons...'cookies'... are you going to use a pyro, we've found much more accurate results using one.. anna has some really cool recipes i'm sure she'd send you a few..http://wwwannacouper.blogspot.com

Lori Buff said...

As a potter that does naked raku on occasion I love to mess with people about the name. Really it's a raku done with slip, no colored glazes. Lot's of fun and gets attention.
Google Wally Asselberghs or Linda & Charlie Riggs, they are the experts on the subject.
Enjoy, I'm looking forward to seeing the results from your firing.

The Brookfield Potter said...

Looking good, it'll be interesting to follow your progress and see the resulting pots.
Mark.

Until We Bead Again, Beth Murr said...

Great job. Will follow.

Mr. Young said...

Thanks for the pictures! It will help when I do my 55 gal. drum kiln. Can't wait to see the results!

Tracey Broome said...

I have some really good, simple ingredient recipes if you want some and they get nice results. My kiln is pretty manual so I turn up the heat every ten minutes just a tiny bit until I reach 1850f. Some of my glazes fire to 1900. I have lots of trials and errors and successes so feel free to email if you want to hear horror and happiness stories! I love the simplicity of this kiln!

Claire said...

hi paul, i have recently had a go at raku, and i was suprised at how much i enjoyed it, having done that i have decided i want a raku kiln :o) your page has been extremely useful, and has made me see that i CAN do it! Thank you

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

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Maxwell said...

what temperature does your homemade kiln get to? how do you read / adjust the temperature?

tim said...

Hi Paul,

thanks for the interesting and fun post!

I'm a bit stuck, could you tell me where to buy round fire bricks (like the one you put into the bottom of your kiln?

I can't seem to find them anywhere and need them for a sculpture I'm trying to make.

Thank you!

Peter

rampantelephant said...

Can you include pictures of some of the pottery that came out of it?

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