The Hawkagama...this kiln was my first anagama. Constructed in 2007 and made of castable 12" thick...you could put your cheek up to the kiln wall at top temperature. The draw-back...it did spit chunks on to pots here and there...enough to nudge me in the direction of a firebrick-lining for the next kiln. I'd still like to build a kiln, someday, with a refractory castable liner. The Hawkagama was 30 cubic feet in stacking...fired in a day and a half with 1.5 chords of wood. This kiln yielded some amazing results. (I miss this kiln and actually build another very similar one in 2022, the BelugaGama). The HawkaGama's quick turn around time, less prep regarding wood, 500# of clay filled it...just a great kiln and I would be happy to share the plans and rules of thumb for the design of this and any other kiln with any interested parties.
Background: Visiting potters and firing kilns first-hand was, in the late 1990's, the primary way one might uncover the "secrets" of kiln design. Even though I visited a few kiln-sites...I was left with a feeling of being overwhelmed by complexities of kiln design. Thanks to Jack Troy's Wood-fired Stoneware and Porcelain, I had something to go on. Louise Harter's kiln design was published within Jack's book and, finally, I had something concrete to go on with regards to kiln design! In search of a kiln site, timing worked out perfectly. In 1999, I met my friend Dan Tressler of Easton, CT. He resided on his family farm. Dan threw pots was keen to build and fire a kiln on his family property. We soon began the construction of Louise's kiln design. Turns out, Louise is now a friend, firing-mate and neighbor...living in an adjacent town to my family residence in Woodbridge, CT. Crazy! Dan and I finished and fired the kiln on his property for a couple years. Louise's kiln design featured a raised-grate design and fired beautifully.
The thing is, almost immediately after finishing the construction of the "Easton-kiln", I discovered the power and beauty of anagama-fired ceramics. One thing led to another...With the encouragement of my father, I purchased a house with my brother...we were bachelors at the time and home ownership was a good next step for us. I reveled in opportunity to work the yard...building stone walls, felling trees, creating a clearing for a kiln, building a timber deck....I could not have been happier to have a place to work and build after years of warehouse studios.
Featuring a wooded lot and abutting a vast expanse of electrical company property...the construction of a kiln of my own, on my own property, became a primary focus. Down came the Easton kiln and, like the Phoenix, up went the Hawkagama.
Other than impeding ash to the chamber with its tall bag-wall, the main design issue I had with Louise's design was the firebox's stainless steel grate-bars. They worked wonderfully for combustion and a deep ember bed formed naturally...creating a powerful heat source for the kiln...problem was, they needed replacing after just a few firings and were expensive. The raised grate was definitely a feature that would remain constant in future kilns. The huge benefit of Louise's published design was schematics. Including dimensions of the firebox, chamber area, exit flue opening, collection box and chimney height. The Hawkagama is basically Louise's kiln design stretched out into a hybrid-anagama.
Regarding anagama design itself: I visited Svend Bayer in Sheepwash, Devon, U.K. in 2000. Amazed by the beauty and simplicity of his kiln and kiln-yard...I returned home...determined to find a way to construct a kiln of my own...a kiln and kilnyard inspired, in large part, by his facilities. I loved the order of the kiln's work area. Neatly stacked wood...clean and sparse. Another takeaway from my visit with Svend, one design change. The elimination of the "firing pit". Having both visited other large kilns and experienced the exhaustion of high-temp stoking...I wanted a ground-level address to the kiln. Stepping down into a hot firing pit would definitely be avoided when designing anagama's of my own. At the time, kiln designs and clear images of key features of kilns were hard to come by on the internet.
Then came Mark Lancet's Japanese Wood Fired Ceramics. Although in a pit, Mark's firebox grates confirmed a design idea I had for replacing the stainless steel grates of Louise's firebox design, indeed, a firebrick permanent grate system worked. Thanks to Mark, I could confidently move forward with the intensity of building a new-for-me style of kiln. Svend set and reset bars within the firebox and I understand Peter Callas does something similar...but these approaches struck me as unnecessarily laborious. Spaced low arches were definitely the solution. I raised the kiln floor so that the firepit was eliminated and bingo. Kiln designs, for me, are a creative process....one which I take great satisfaction in exercising. Each kiln is a special combination of features that suit the fancy of the builder/designer. Like pots themselves, they are influenced by the past while, at the same time, are our own creations. I'm not aware of any kiln that featured a raised kiln floor (eliminating the pit) and firebrick grate with a side door up until after 2007, which is when I started construction of the Hawkagama...a kiln style that has gained popularity in recent years and is certainly due to a natural evolution in kiln design. My kiln designs are largely unknown by the larger wood-fire community.
As a side note, Jack Troy too has become a friend and mentor since the summer of 2022. I can thank Jack for many things...he's pushed me to become better while sharing a fount of knowledge and insight with me. Our friendship has influenced my path is so many ways ;)
Background: Visiting potters and firing kilns first-hand was, in the late 1990's, the primary way one might uncover the "secrets" of kiln design. Even though I visited a few kiln-sites...I was left with a feeling of being overwhelmed by complexities of kiln design. Thanks to Jack Troy's Wood-fired Stoneware and Porcelain, I had something to go on. Louise Harter's kiln design was published within Jack's book and, finally, I had something concrete to go on with regards to kiln design! In search of a kiln site, timing worked out perfectly. In 1999, I met my friend Dan Tressler of Easton, CT. He resided on his family farm. Dan threw pots was keen to build and fire a kiln on his family property. We soon began the construction of Louise's kiln design. Turns out, Louise is now a friend, firing-mate and neighbor...living in an adjacent town to my family residence in Woodbridge, CT. Crazy! Dan and I finished and fired the kiln on his property for a couple years. Louise's kiln design featured a raised-grate design and fired beautifully.
The thing is, almost immediately after finishing the construction of the "Easton-kiln", I discovered the power and beauty of anagama-fired ceramics. One thing led to another...With the encouragement of my father, I purchased a house with my brother...we were bachelors at the time and home ownership was a good next step for us. I reveled in opportunity to work the yard...building stone walls, felling trees, creating a clearing for a kiln, building a timber deck....I could not have been happier to have a place to work and build after years of warehouse studios.
Featuring a wooded lot and abutting a vast expanse of electrical company property...the construction of a kiln of my own, on my own property, became a primary focus. Down came the Easton kiln and, like the Phoenix, up went the Hawkagama.
Other than impeding ash to the chamber with its tall bag-wall, the main design issue I had with Louise's design was the firebox's stainless steel grate-bars. They worked wonderfully for combustion and a deep ember bed formed naturally...creating a powerful heat source for the kiln...problem was, they needed replacing after just a few firings and were expensive. The raised grate was definitely a feature that would remain constant in future kilns. The huge benefit of Louise's published design was schematics. Including dimensions of the firebox, chamber area, exit flue opening, collection box and chimney height. The Hawkagama is basically Louise's kiln design stretched out into a hybrid-anagama.
Regarding anagama design itself: I visited Svend Bayer in Sheepwash, Devon, U.K. in 2000. Amazed by the beauty and simplicity of his kiln and kiln-yard...I returned home...determined to find a way to construct a kiln of my own...a kiln and kilnyard inspired, in large part, by his facilities. I loved the order of the kiln's work area. Neatly stacked wood...clean and sparse. Another takeaway from my visit with Svend, one design change. The elimination of the "firing pit". Having both visited other large kilns and experienced the exhaustion of high-temp stoking...I wanted a ground-level address to the kiln. Stepping down into a hot firing pit would definitely be avoided when designing anagama's of my own. At the time, kiln designs and clear images of key features of kilns were hard to come by on the internet.
Then came Mark Lancet's Japanese Wood Fired Ceramics. Although in a pit, Mark's firebox grates confirmed a design idea I had for replacing the stainless steel grates of Louise's firebox design, indeed, a firebrick permanent grate system worked. Thanks to Mark, I could confidently move forward with the intensity of building a new-for-me style of kiln. Svend set and reset bars within the firebox and I understand Peter Callas does something similar...but these approaches struck me as unnecessarily laborious. Spaced low arches were definitely the solution. I raised the kiln floor so that the firepit was eliminated and bingo. Kiln designs, for me, are a creative process....one which I take great satisfaction in exercising. Each kiln is a special combination of features that suit the fancy of the builder/designer. Like pots themselves, they are influenced by the past while, at the same time, are our own creations. I'm not aware of any kiln that featured a raised kiln floor (eliminating the pit) and firebrick grate with a side door up until after 2007, which is when I started construction of the Hawkagama...a kiln style that has gained popularity in recent years and is certainly due to a natural evolution in kiln design. My kiln designs are largely unknown by the larger wood-fire community.
As a side note, Jack Troy too has become a friend and mentor since the summer of 2022. I can thank Jack for many things...he's pushed me to become better while sharing a fount of knowledge and insight with me. Our friendship has influenced my path is so many ways ;)
