Kilns and Firing

Late Nights in the Studio

Firing is something we take for granted here at the rcboisjoli studios. With a very large oval kiln on perma-loan from the very nice Coe & Waito team and two other kilns at our disposal, we never have a shortage of firing space to use. With two digital kilns though, we get into the habit of punching numbers and going home, opening the kiln the next day to shiny good wares. The third kiln, is an older manual kiln, with actual knobs and dials, which means you have to kiln sit. We love the effect of the kiln, it is just the right size to cool at just the right speed to achieve the perfect results for most of our glazes. 

 

The romantic feelings we get from a manual kiln are reminiscent of old college days, and of late nights in the school studio, patiently waiting for cones to bend, fingers crossed for beautiful things to come. They usually weren’t at all beautiful, and often down right ugly, but the excitement of opening up a kiln of new glazed wares never goes away.  

Below, you can just make out the cones falling through the peephole. Glowing hot? Absolutely,  it's 1200°C in there. (2200 °F)