We unloaded the wood kiln this morning. Overall the firing was successful. The only exception being the failure of two shelves in the back stack which triggered a massive collapse of the upper shelves of that section into the fire-box during the firing. The back door of the fire-box had to be opened while the kiln was still being fired and pieces of broken shelves and pots had to be pulled out while red-hot so as not to block the primary air intakes. While the carnage was impressive the kiln gave up some real treasures, including a few pieces from the fire-box, covered in chunky ash, an effect usually achieved in a very different style of kiln. Here are some before-and-after pics along with a shot of a couple of artifacts of the destruction.

Jason, Priscilla, and unloaded wares