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My Dad made a nice set of drawings for this kiln and I'd be happy to have copies made if anyone is interested. Price would be $10 to cover costs. The plans are 7 pages, black and white copies on 11"x17" paper. They show plan and profile views of the kiln, firebox and chimney construction, general steelwork layout, details and dimensions of the stoking door construction, and details of the steel frame pieces.

View all plans (7 images)

The kiln floor plan was taken mostly from the Ruggles and Rankin Rock Creek kiln detailed in Studio Potter issues from Dec 1993 and June 1994. I made several changes. First, I made the area inside the bagwall a bit larger so I could put a pot or two in there for fun. Second, I replaced their firebox design with a bourry box. I'd seen one in use once and was sold on it as the ticket for relaxed firings in my old age. And finally, I've built and used enough catenary arch kilns to know how much I dislike stacking them. I drew in some nice, square chambers with high sprung arches. Volume ratios for the firebox, flues and chambers were figured with the help of Gary Hatcher's wonderful article on bourry boxes in the Studio Potter issue from June 1991(Chariots of Fire: Principles of a Bourry Box Kiln).

These drawings were intended for our own use as working drawings. Building from them would assume some understanding of kilns and of brick construction. The Ruggles and Rankin Studio Potter articles are invaluable sources for proper building technique. We also referred often to the "AP Green Handbook" and "The Kiln Book" by Fred Olsen.

View all plans (7 images)

I've often seen pictures of kilns similar to this, but I have to admit that I don't know how it compares to other wood kilns. Before building it my wood kiln experience totaled about 5 hours over 35 years of potting, as a helper on 2 very different kilns. What I do know is what kind of pots I like to make and how much energy I'm likely to have in the future to commit to firing them.

We've found that this kiln fires easily to cone 10-11 in 16-20 hours, using roughly 2 cords of pine and spruce slabs. The firings have been even, with a 1 cone variation within the main stack. It reduces well as long as you pay attention, and doesn't smoke overly much. Pots come out well flashed but without a big ash build-up. Someone with more energy than I have could fire it alone, but a crew of 3-4 makes the day very enjoyable.