In This Issue
* While the Smoke Clears - Poll was a Success, Finally
* Open Air Raku?
* High Alkaline Frits
* I Raku the Body Electric
* The Perfect Setup
* Sun Fired Raku?
* Raku Links
* Workshops
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* The Perfect Set up

A reader emailed me a while back about the "perfect" Raku setup. She was getting ready to build an area for Rakuing and wanted to know my thoughts.

Well everyone probably has a different idea of what would be considered a "perfect" setup. Usually there is a financial influence on what we can do for our setup, but if money were no object, I would have the following setup:

First I would have a computer controlled electric kiln for bisque firing. I think it is much easier to bisque fire in an electric kiln than any other kind.

Now for the Raku glaze firing, I would want two gas kilns that had lids that could be operated by a single person (so I can Raku solo). Why two kilns? Well with two kilns I could have one load firing while the second is being unloaded, cooled, and reloaded. It would allow for much higher production than using a single kiln.

Finally I would want one or two dozen reduction chambers of various sizes including a sand pit. Why so many? Well, I find I get better results if the reduction chamber is just slightly large than the piece. Also I want to always have a prepared and cooled reduction chamber available to receive a hot piece.

Now if money were really no object, I would want an extra large electric kiln and a really large gas kiln. This would allow me to make much larger pieces than I can today. Currently I'm limited pieces no larger than about 17 inches due to the size of my kilns. I would love to have the kilns to support firing much larges pieces.

Well that would be my wish...