As more and more lumber mills add chippers to their production, finding wood for my kiln has become trickier than I'd like. My fuel of choice: soft wood offcuts with plenty of bark...but I end up using all kinds of things. The lack of a consistent source is maddening because it means that each firing has yet another variable to deal with.
When Rudi mentioned the chance to visit an old lumber yard I was a bit skeptical, and maybe I should still be, but I think he discovered the holy grail of fuel for me! Beck lumber was a big, sprawling mill producing hardwood flooring and frames for box spring mattresses with the lower grade woods. Mr Beck passed away and his wife has sold off most of the equipment and inventory, but no one wants these pine 'stickers' and there are mountains of them!!! 'Stickers' are used as spacers between all the boards as they were cut to allow them to dry evenly. They are all cut to length (4' x 1 1/2" x 1 1/2") and should be perfect for my use. I will see for sure in November when I fire, but mostly I'm trying to figure out how to move a substantial amount of this to my place. I got two trailer loads, which is close to a firing (I think), but if it works there is years worth of wood here!!! My only complaint is that it is still TOO BLOODY HOT!!! The evenings are nice, though.
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| Lifetime supply... |
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| All these gears for an old table saw. |
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| A hell of a saw... |
I have been moving along in the studio as well, making baking dishes and small jugs and lidded casseroles...more of the basics if you will.
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| Getting ready to pour slip over a baking dish. |
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| Slipped and combed. |
8 comments:
Congratulations on finding the mother lode of firing fuel. It's nice to think that this would just be going to waste if you weren't using it.
And won't it be firing some lovely pots!
what a find!
i am so jealous. i'd hire a flat bed semi and load it all up.
All that wood looks a little daunting to me....but what a prize it is!
The kiln I help fire uses hickory dowels that do not make grade.Burn baby burn.
I say that you round up all of your friends with pickup trucks and start a caravan! Trucks with trailers would be even better! This is a wonderful piece of luck!
Eureka!!! nice one and some lovely baking dishes too nice to see the slipware bug catching..:))
Totally envious of the wood stash! I was wondering though, with your baking pans-- are you throwing and altering those? Separate bases? Are you cutting the rim, or doing that on the wheel? I really like the look of them, can't wait to see them finished!
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