Kiln Building

For years I have wanted to build a kiln. Today I got the chance. A friend of mine is building a wood fired kiln on her property and I was invited to come help. Being the extremely helpful person that I am, I brought along my husband, my two kids and our coyote proof 85 pound retriever to help.

We started by building a form for the arch that was then placed inside the kiln. After the form had been positioned properly inside the kiln we used good ol' duck tape to seal the edges then lubed the form with petroleum jelly so that the form can be removed after the cement has set. This was the fun, messy part since those corners were tight!

Next came the cement. We used over 300 pounds of cast-able high fire material to create the arch. This being Colorado (in a drought) we had to use much more water to mix the cement to the correct consistency than the bag suggested, but everything should be OK. This is where it comes in handy to have some strong guys around! My poor husband wound up with several blisters, though!

During all this time, the kids and the dog were having fun exploring the property, especially the dog! Once we got home, our wee little puppy-kins was totally zonked! We had the most peaceful dinner we had since we got her this evening!

Tilla enjoys a well earned rest after a hard day's work!