After composing an email weeks ago, i waited two weeks until i was comfortable enough to close my eyes and press send. I was asking potters for spare kiln brick in order to build a high fire gas kiln. I was very timid about asking people for "stuff," but about 20 minutes after pressing send, David Toan, owner of
Terra Incognito Studio sent me a reply.
He stated that he had in his kiln yard, the old studio kiln built by Delores Fortuna, that he always hoped to put back in use but had just recently come to terms with it being one of those things he might never get to.
The kiln is a welded angle iron frame with welded iron mesh siding. The floor is made of soft brick, and the walls, ceiling, and roll away door are ceramic fiber. The kiln is a 22 cubic foot updraft. Burner system included.
I showed up to Terra Incognito with a rented 16ft truck with a lift gate and my brother-in-law (and hired gun)
Bob, ready to load the kiln. The kiln had been sitting in Dave's kiln yard for the last four years wrapped in tarps. But the plastic tarps were whether beaten and riddled with holes and rips. Upon removing the tarps we were immediately confronted with two small wasps nests; small or not, they were buzzing around are heads. At one point i caught a wasp in my hand with leather gloves and tried to squish it, but it had found a pocket of my fist were it wasn't getting squish and in turn i could feel through the leather glove, the wasp biting! Luckily no one was stung.
After the wasps were cleared, we gave the kiln a push to see what we were dealing with and found that because of a particularly heavily rainy spring and beat up tarps, the fiber kiln was completely engorged with water. Bob and i together could not rock the kiln! We ended up using a car jack to boost up one side and then prop it with bricks, and then jack up the other side in order to slide a cart under it. With the cart, we were able to roll the kiln over to the truck.....
At the truck we discovered that the kiln was almost exactly the size of the lift gate, and that the cart was just a little bite bigger. Side note, when the lift gate goes up, it goes up on a downward angle instead of flat, an added complication. In the end, we pushed the kiln and the carts front two wheels onto the lift and then braced the back end with bricks as the back wheels hung off the end. Because of the shear unbelievable weight combined with being propelled up and on an angle, and holding the suspended back end of the cart, we recruited eight other men from the studio to support the kiln as the lift gate unbelievably held and lifted the kiln up!
Through the whole process of getting the kiln onto the truck, i had almost "called it" at multiple points not only because of the whole ridiculousness of everything that was happening and how dangerous it was, but also, in the back of my mind realizing that this was only half of the process, i still had to get it off....!
After saying our thanks and goodbyes, we hit the road home and i immediately began phoning and texting everyone i know to see if they'd enjoy risking their lives with me. To the rescue came two of my hulking cousins Connor and Colin; also my friend Tyler was already waiting at the house, so including myself, there was five of us.
It seemed to be alot easier getting the kiln off the truck, then on, probably because we had the system in place of getting it on, we now had a good method for getting it off. With steady hands and strong backs, the kiln was unloaded and is waiting to be refurbished and installed.
It has fallen into some disrepair, but nothing that can't be fixed. The roofing has collapsed which can easily be fixed, but the walls and door are it pretty good shape needing minor repair.
Can't wait to high fire!
