KILN REBUILD

I've been plugging away at the kiln site. I have had to stop to get more bricks, silica sand and Hawthorn 40 fire clay for the mortar, etc.  I do have some pictures of the latest progress I've made. 

 Gate from above. There will be removable grate bars for the whole door width front to back, I have the just the front half removed here. I will be able to just walk in to load the kiln.

 

Door arch is done.

 First support...

 Support frame ready for lath.

Lath on and wall started.

Fire box door frame with pavers.

 Door arch and chamber arch in place. I'll cut and fill the gaps on each side, after. Super duty's on the inside and IFB's on the outside.

 Walls going up, both sides at the same time. I've got angles to the pavers for iron framing to grab on. I have approx. a 5/8" gap between the wall and the chimney filled with Kaowool to allow for the expansion of the bricks.

You can see how high the back top of the old chamber was. With this taper, I will keep the back hot with out over firing the front. 

More progress on the kiln rebuild...

I have more done on the enlargement and reshaping of my manabigama. I had all the excavating done and was ready for stone dust base to put my concrete blocks on.  I took my time and got them all leveled up and ready for the expanded steel mesh or lath as some masons call it.                      

Now I started the layout, in brick as I had everything done on paper, making room for my shelves and the firebox. I made the necessary adjustments and it's looking good.  I moved the level for the grates up one brick as I know it's good to leave enough room for lots of glistening embers without choking the primary air intakes.

Now i can get the brick saw and make up some special mix mortar consisting of 50% fireclay and 50% grog. I'll make it the consistancy of peanut butter for troweling and like a milkshake for dipping. It will setup nicely when we fire. No Portland cement on the inside of the kiln though. I will add 10% to the outside's insulating coating (as a binder) of the course sawdust, fire clay, vermiculite and sand mix.  I will also use chicken wire to hold the insulation together as it will crack. 

I will remove the placed bricks and "mortar" them in place. This was a "dry run" to make adjustments where needed and get the layout right.