Bill
Schell's "BeachWeb" for March 2013
The "_WordPress_Pages_" look-alike(s):
04 March (Monday) 2013:
Wherein Mr. Bill discovers that 5% alcohol by volume is too much for a
light-weight-drunk:
Angry Orchard Apple-Ginger 'Hard Cider' really put me on the
floor. I had always considered myself not much for alcoholic
beverages, but this stuff tastes really great, but the effect (affect???) on
my system was phenomenal!
This guy came begging at the door over the weekend (notice the snow he's
standing on)
it was COLD this past weekend, but, perhaps, not THAT cold!...
This picture here is very (very) old (like about 6-7 years old) but it is
still very good. It was taken by the lovely and talented Ms. May, in
"Kitty Hawk", North Carolina. This is where we first took Hang
Gliding lessons, which we then completed in Groveland, Florida and did
our 'solo' flights there...
AND - we had a very good friend send us both some 'new-clothes' - I got a
fancy red jacket to use on my tricycle, and Ms. May got some new socks!
AND - here's Mr. Bill's recent challenge, to either build or arrange new
'fireboxes' for the new kiln. The ones we had failed in several
ways. So - now I'm attempting to learn enough about the failure-modes,
and how to remedy them that I'm fast becoming a ceramic engineer. -
We'll see if I learn enough to achieve the desired goal(s) for fireboxes: -
1.) to protect the floor of the kiln from the soda and 2.) to deflect the
flame away from the art-work/ pottery.
this one (lower-left) is not necessarily supposed to look like this ...
this one is not, either (note the cracks on either side???
This last picture is a new firebox from a new set of 'molds' it has
heavier walls and base, so maybe it won't crack (we hope!)
I had a lengthy, productive, learning, conversation on 28 February,
with a very very knowledgeable 'ceramic-engineer' about all this and I
learned a LOT.
AND yet another conversation with this guy again on Monday, 4th.
Things are looking up - we have 'options' now - need to discuss with our
'Kiln Master' and move-forward, we hope.
One of the items he covered was that I might not even need these
'separate' fireboxes in the future, if everything he says can be
implemented, I will cease to be in the
'custom-firebox-casting-business. I can only hope such good luck
befalls me, huh?
I HOPE I'll be able to put that knowledge / wisdom to good use and make a
better 'firebox' for the next firing of the kiln... He's going to be
sending me some mortar and some bricks that are mullite
rich, they are supposed to have better thermal and chemical resistance
values, so we hope they will last longer and do better...
This is a picture of Ms. May's new LP-gas fired kiln, which had it's
'maiden' firing over the Valentine's day weekend...
a couple of pictures of work out of the kiln:
this is what the kiln looked-like once we took-down the door on Sunday
Morning, 17th...
this picture is of the bowl that Mr. Bill 'adopted' out of this first
firing...
and - sometimes Mr. Bill does a 'bit' of 'grinding' / 'sanding' / follow-up
after a firing - this is Ms. May's art-work after a recent wood-firing...
None of this talk would be 'complete' without viewing the 'graph' that Mr.
Bill built-up about the last few hours of the firing... (for the
science-minded, the raw data came from a Fluke 54 II B digital thermometer
(and a "K type" thermocouple inserted in the very top of the kiln)).
Some will note that not only is the kiln installed underneath a wooden-roof,
but that Mr. Bill was terribly nervous about the temperature of the
roof. However, he's happy (very) to report that the outside of kiln
never got above 100F much less did the temperature of the kiln affect the
roof more than about 6-8 degrees F. So Mr. Bill's preconceived notions
& fears about the roof were TOTALLY un-warranted...
on the 'tricycling' front we have seen this,
and want-one, but since they come from Europe and are exceedingly 'pricey'
(like WAY MORE than the Trike that I now have) - we decided we'll look into
'adapting' the existing trike, and - perhaps cut-up and re-shape one of our
existing sailboard sails that we don't use any more?
and - for those of you 'in the know' - these shorts must be at least 20
years old (if not maybe more) and therefore it's a 'miracle' that I still
have them?
You can see this blog-site which may be of more 'value added' if you
are looking for Kiln Pictures (and a tiny bit of text?):
http://vikingasia.blogspot.com
and - here's the 'final-result' (well 2 of the 4 walls) of our
garage-studio exterior renovation...
AND - if you're at AALLLLLL Interested (and you may not be) - here's a
couple of charts that have to do with electronic 'frequency spectrum' that
are quite interesting. This is a
Wall Chart for the US Spectrum Allocation from 1 to 300 Gig. This
is a handy 8 1/2" x 11" chart of the ARRL / Amateur radio frequency
spectrum for the US Amateur scene.
Archived
BeachWeb monthly (and other) site(s):
Click here for a
list of the archived months
updated: 18:54 p.m. (USA-EDT)
Thursday, 10 October 2013; by: Mr._Bill on the Apple Macintosh 'Mac
Mini' - revID: 1d