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Bristol
Studio
Noborigama 60 c.f.
1992-2007
"Sorry to see her go" |
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Noborigama 1992-2007
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Two Chambered Noborigama
60 c.f. loading area
This kiln
was constructed on an existing concrete slab.
Since the slab was flat, the inclination of the chambers was accomplished
using cement blocks.
An
unexpected advantage of this design made the stoke holes of the salt chamber at eye level,
which made for easy feeding.
Standing Up For Wood Firing,
is
an
article written by Robert for the International Conference of Wood Fired Potters.
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Noborigama
1992-2007
| This modest sized wood
kiln served Robert's studio well for fifteen years.
It fired easily in about twenty hours,
one of the drawbacks was it's small size, which prohibited firing large pieces.
Robert built his
Noborigama 250 c.f.
to solve those issues.
He built a smaller
Wood Kiln
16 c.f for testing
ideas and doing glaze checks. |
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An aspect of this particular kiln was it's
lack of firebox grates.
Coals tended to build up thus reducing the supply of air.
Raking the firebox became part of the firing cycle in this kiln. |
Noborigama 1992-2007
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The height of this firebox is at eye level,
making stoking easy on the back.
It also means the feeder stands below the heat and smoke. |
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2000
Bryan Mattraw, apprenticed at the pottery for three years,
shown here stoking & salting the second chamber.
Salt is being added on oak slats, thus feeding the fire
and creating a sodium infusion. |
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2004 The wood kilns sleep for the winter.
Robert does his throwing in the winter and his firings in the warm months of
spring and fall.
The first wood firing is in June, and the last firing in September. |
Nothing Lasts Forever
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| March 2007 Christine and Robert bid
farewell to the tried and true Noborigama. It served them well for 15
years and produced many fine pots, but its limited size, and the
construction of Robert's
Noborigama
250 made this obsolete. |
March 2007 The deconstruction of this kiln allowed the open shed
that sheltered it to be enclosed for use as a storage building. |
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Noborigama makes way
for Storage Building at the Pottery
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| March 2007 The Salt Chamber hangs on the wire of the cement
shell that protected it from the weather and gave the kiln an exoskeleton
like covering. |
April 2007 No potter ever seems to have enough storage room and
this new building (on the site of the old Noborigama) has made life at
the pottery much easier. |
Robert Compton Pottery
2662 North 116 Road, Bristol,
Vermont 05443, U.S.A.
Phone: 802-453-3778
E-mail: Robert & Christine
02/16/08
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