there's no place like home!
to information about the anagama kiln
to information about being on the firing crew
to photos of past firings
to calendar of events
to more information about Jay Widmer
to photos of Jay's pots


Space is available for the Spring 2008 firing!
Click here for more information.

The Alsea Anagama kiln is based on the anagama style kilns originally built in Korea. The design of these kilns has evolved over the last 12 centuries in Japan.

My kiln was designed and constructed in 1990. The kiln was designed by visualizing the shape of the flame and building ascending walls around the flame, thus directing the fire through the pots. Previous experience building salt fire and stoneware kiilns, along with my experience heating my studio cabin with wood, helped me trust my intuitive sense of design.

My design departs from the traditional Japanese anagama. The incline in the kiln is a steep 32%. The interior walls have sharp, radical curves that create turbulence and fly ash fall out. Perhaps the most important feature is the 4” cast tubes the bring super heated air to the fuel under the side stoke ports. The floor in the back of the kiln and the outer skins are insulated with soft brick and home-made castable. Click to see plans of the kiln.

This kiln ALWAYS reaches temperature. The standard duration of the fire is 48 hours (2 days only) with 30 hours of fire between 2300 to 2400 degrees farenheight. During the firing the kiln consumes 4 cords of wood. The woods used are a mix of fir, maple and alder harvested from my tree farm. Large fir limbs are used for “color” wood.

Cooling is slow and takes over a week. Some oxygen is allowed to enter the kiln for the first two days of cooling which seems to promote iridescence and has a large impact on the development of color, texture and crystal growth on the pots.

  
       

In addition to the large pieces of wood used to stoke the front of the kiln, smaller pieces need to be split for the two side ports. Salvage timber from logging on the tree farm is used here to split. The fir wood is used to develop special color effects.

Lee is preparing to begin splitting this trunk into smaller pieces.

  
 
Wood for the firing is sorted according to species, diameter, and moisture content. Here wood is being stacked close to the kiln in preparation for the two day firing.  
     
 

Pots are prepped prior to loading. Prepping involves placing wadding on the bottom of the pots to prevent them from glazing to the kiln shelves. Additionally, a light shino glazed is applied as a liner to the inside of vessels. Sawdust and rice hulls on the shelves are used to cushion pots as they are carefully placed upon the shelves.

Prepping and loading takes two days to complete.

  
 
  Once the kiln is loaded a small fire is started in the front of the kiln. When the fire is going, the large door is lifted into place. Inside this large door is a smaller door that can be opened to stoke wood into the front of the kiln. The door will remain in place for over a week before being removed.  
       
  The kiln is stoked continuously for the next 48 hours. Wood is added about every 6 - 8 minutes during this time. Normally a crew of around 10 will attend to the kiln in shifts over the next two days.  
 
  Firing continues through the night. Time in between the stoking cycles is usually spent relaxing and visiting with the other crew members. Typically there are three people on a shift. One person will stoke the front of the kiln while the other two stoke the side ports. This stoking process has to be carefully coordinated to prevent anyone from being burned.  
     
  After the kiln has fired for 30 hours at high tempurature, the final kiln stoke is done. As much wood as possible is loaded into the kiln. The flue and all air holes are closed off. The picture at left shows the spectacular flame display that results from this closing off of the kiln.  
   
 

It takes a week for the kiln to cool. The door is removed and the kiln is unloaded. Excitement and apprehension reign as the pots are unloaded and the magic of the fire is revealed.

These pots in the front of the kiln take the most intense flames. They will end up will big, juicy ash drips and lots of texture from their exposure. Pots in back will be more variable in their coloring.