Jann Kesby's Bourry box kiln

Jann's notes on her kiln:
My bourry box is the one that I salted in and still can't resist putting in a small amount. Small amount being 2kgs. The pots that I want to receive salt are placed on the bag wall and on the front of the shelves so that they will pick up the lustrous effects that salt can give. Glazed work is placed towards the back of the shelves.

The throat arches have been repaired a couple of times as well as the hot face wall. My new kiln under construction will be for straight anagama type firing with some glaze and glaze on glaze work towards the back. This will allow for more salting in the bourry.

Jann says of her wood supply:

I have been using Ironbark in the last couple of firings. I find that it has incredible heat value however the ash is heavy and needs good heat, and soaking at top temp to melt. It is good when landing onto glaze as it can give a soft pink purple colour. Very feminine! I have been experimenting soaking at top temp for up to 6 hours+ as I feel that the marriage between clay and glaze is softer and more lush. Another reason why I am building a tunnel kiln and
wish to fire longer.

I have a 'wood man' who cuts it to length for me, 46cm to be precise, and then splits it with a hydraulic splitter. The trees are always dead, sometimes he may have to fall them otherwise they come down in storms or winds. He is quick and charges a reasonable $65 per large tonne. Enough for 1 firing. I use off cuts from a recycle hardwood manufacturing company just down the road from me. I can collect this for nothing and stockpile through the summer
months. I get the kiln up to 700-900 degrees on the floor with this.

Note that sometimes a "tonne" of wood can be a flexible unit of volume, meaning whaever fits in the tray of 1 tonne ute. An Australian ute is smaller than a United States full-size pickup. There are several Australian Eucalypts commonly called Ironbark. They are characterised by a thick, corrugated bark, which looks dark grey or black from a distance. Ironbark wood is extremely hard and dense.

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