Raku Kiln Takedown

Due to unforseen events this summer we, the clay studio, need to move our soda kiln to the area where our raku kiln lives.  In order to accomplish this, we had to remove the raku kiln.  This does not mean the end of raku here at the craft center, just an adjustment in kiln use.  

Yesterday was the day of demolition for our very old, and remarkably still good raku kiln.  Here Vince Pitelka, head of clay at ACC, is using the cutting torch to remove the steel frame from around the soft brick.  John Cole is lending a hand. 

We were concerned about the roof collapsing once we cut the frame off.  Fortunately it did not.  The bricks at in the bottom of the kiln have been pulled out of the roof.

Here it is in mid-takedown.  We were able to salvage quite a bit of soft brick.  Yay!  More to use for other things and kilns.

Now we are down to the floor of the kiln.  All kinds of thing melted into it.  Some of the debris had amazing sculptural qualities. 

Instead of pouring a pad of concrete to level the kiln, whoever built the raku kiln used mortar on each cinder block to level it.  After many years of bearing the weight of the kiln, those cinder blocks adhered themselves to the concrete beneath.  We had to use a chisel and a pry bar to remove them.  Here the chisel caught the tip of the glove holding it in place.  Luckily Vince's fingers were not caught.

With the raku kiln gone, we now have an area to pour a concrete pad for the soda kiln.  I'll document the demolition and rebuilding of the soda in another post.