Firing notes from a two-chamber wood kiln. Kept mostly so I stop repeating mistakes.
Firing 14 — log
Hour
Temp
Note
0:00
ambient
Lit small, back damper wide
3:30
610 °C
Steady climb, softwood only
7:00
980 °C
Switched to split oak
10:15
1180 °C
First cone bending
12:40
1265 °C
Held two hours, side stoking
15:00
—
Clammed up, left to cool
Total 15 hours, roughly a third of a cord. Two people, four-hour shifts.
What went right
The climb between 600 and 1000 was the most even I have managed. Smaller, more frequent stokes did it.
Ash deposit on the front shelf was heavy but even — the shallower stacking helped.
No reduction stall this time. Keeping the damper a finger wider through the middle stretch seems to be the trick.
What went wrong
Back chamber ran roughly 40 degrees cool the whole way. Everything glazed there is underfired and slightly dry.
Two pieces cracked on cooling. I opened too early, as always. Patience remains the hardest variable.
Ran short on split oak around hour 11 and padded with pine, which spiked the temperature and cost me an hour of stability.
For next time
Split and stack a full extra barrow of hardwood before lighting, not during. Load the back chamber with the pieces that want less. And do not open the door before the pyrometer reads under 150, no matter how curious.