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EliWhitney3140 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 07, 2023 4:12 am Hey Jerry, yeah I would love to explain the difference. I assume you have an understanding on how an electric kiln works. Woodfire kilns run off of wood alone for it's fuel source.There are different kinds of woodfire kilns but the one I am familiar/fire with is an Anagama kiln. It is a traditional japanese kiln that came from china and korea.

It takes two to three days to load the kiln with ceramics. It is a very tedious process, we try to pack the kiln as tightly as we can to take advantage of the kiln. Also the amount of space can affect the way the kiln fires, either by temperature or overall outcomes of the work. The firing itself is 5 days long. We are stoking the kiln the full 5 days about every 10 to 15 minutes and go through about 6 cords of wood. 40 hours of Fir, 40 of alder, 40 of maple. There is a main chamber in the front that we put full logs into and also side stokes on the sides of the kiln where we put fir kindling into. We are constantly trying to keep the front and back of the kiln heating up about the same pace. Although the back of the kiln is usually cooler.

I personally like to fire as many pieces as I can in the sidestoke box because of the aesthetic that is creates on my pieces, very crustry and matte finishes. I tend to like my pieces drier and less glassy. So the wood ash is actually what creates the finish on the ceramics. The fire gets so hot that the ash lands on the pottery and melts onto the clay. You can also tell the way the pieces are facing by the way the fire and ash hits the pieces.

So after we get the kiln to temp and keep it there for 5 days we shut everything for a reduction finish and let the kiln cool for another week before we open it. There is a lot more to it but this is the general information. It is a lot of work but I love the whole process of it. I hope this helps.