I had a productive week last week being able to spend 2 days pretty much dedicated to working on the kiln. The fire brick floor has been laid lining both fire boxes creating the base from which the vertical walls can be built and the structure can begin to look like a kiln rather than a random pile of building materials. All the measurements and calculations have been made and laid out with respect to the firebox / chamber dimensions / flue and chimney dimensions and this week will be building up the side walls in preparation for the start of the arch.
From this point the walls are started, using a fireclay and water slurry with a little sodium silicate added for spreadability as a bedding motar. This will not cement the bricks together but just even out any uneveness and will also allow the structure to freely expand and contract. Small expansion gaps are also left on every course also to facilitate the kilns movement when heated. The vertical walls are laid stretcher, stretcher, header and then repeated.
The last image shows the progress as of Friday 2nd December, it should now be straight laying for about 5 or 6 rows to reach the wall height from which the arch will spring. I'm documenting the kiln after each days work on it and will try to update this blog with images at the end of each week.
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