Fired up

 
I'm firing/curing the cast kiln today:we're up to the 500's,still on pretty low gas pressure,not going quite as slowly as the recommended 50 degrees/hour,but still taking our time.I plan on carrying on 'til the evening,aiming for somewhere between 800 [the end of the curing process] and 1000 degrees.The kiln is empty,apart from 2 cast circular and one thrown shelf and various insulating bricks masquerading as props.The 2 cast halves are standing on a floor of hard brick on a concrete-block base,wrapped in ceramic fibre blanket held in place by chicken-wire.The roof is just kiln-shelves with strategic gaps for controlling atmosphere[since this picture I have put a loose layer of insulating-brick on top],on the right is the single burner,on the left the lying pyrometer,in the middle Sydney's kindly donated wee gas-tank with its conveniently-controlable pressure-valve,which I am using [as opposed to the tap on the burner] to run the firing..The black pipe in the left background is not part of this story.