NON-PROFIT
ORGANIZATION
US POSTAGE
PAID
PENLAND, NC
PERMIT # 1
PENLAND
LINE
PENLAND SCHOOL OF CRAFTS ■ PENLAND NORTH CAROLINA 28765 ■ SPRING 1991
CERAMICS CLASS BUILDS A NEW WOOD KILN
WOOD KILN:
FROM INSIDE OUT
It's a kiln that de-mystifies
woodfiring" said instructor
Will Ruggles who together
with Douglass Rankin
supervized the design and
construction of a new climb
ing wood kiln at Penland as a
part of the Spring Concentra
tion. This ceramics class pro
vided students the opportunity
to learn woodfiring from the
inside out by first building the
kiln and then taking part in
many firings during the session.
A total of 22 people, including
the instructors, the class par
ticipants and four Core stu
dents, worked on the construc
tion over a three week period.
The group was divided into
four crews, each of which
worked a half day on the kiln
and otherwise were free to work
in the studio. At times all crews
were working at once, depend
ing on the job to be done.
Once the kiln was finished,
students continued to take re
sponsibility for firings in crews
so that everyone had the op
portunity to follow the process
through to completion several
times.
Typically, wood kilns are hard to adjust. In designing
Penland's kiln. Will and Douglass drew from years of
experience and built a kiln which is powerful, respon
sive and very economical.. It is possible to even up the
heat quickly, thereby exercising greater control over
the outcome. They have developed a firing manual
which will assist future instructors and classes to make
the best possible use of the kiln.
STUDENT
REACTIONS
The participants had various
reactions to the experience al
though all were laudatory
about the information they ac
quired and the patience of the
instructors in answering end
less questions. Some felt that
they had absorbed enough so
that they Could go home and
build their own kiln. Others
felt that because they had
worked in crews and had not
actually been a part of every
single step, they would be re
luctant to try on their own.
Several students felt that it was
too much information to grasp
all at once. How much each
student absorbed was prob
ably related to their overall
level of experience in ceramic
kiln use and construction.
The class included several stu
dents who had studied at Pen-
land previously and used the
old kiln. They were delighted
wi th what was termed th is "vastly
improved" kiln and spoke par
ticularly of the efficiency.
SITE PREPARATION
Harold Jones and the main
tenance crew spent a chunk of the winter removing the
old kiln and preparing the site. They poured a slab and
a retaining wall and constructed the new housing for the
kiln. The area under roof provides much larger working
and wood storage areas. S]