The kiln has been built into the very clayey hillside behind the house at Sandfly, Tasmania. It has a 60cm cubed chamber for the pots and the fire box is 60 X 60 by 75cm deep. The chimney is over a metre of heavy cast iron pipe. The grate is made from two broken pieces of cast iron drain cover. The walls of the firebox and the top to the chamber are made out of 4 parts of the clay soil with 1 part normal cement - a recipe derived from an application note from the cement manufacture for what they call 'cement stabilised earth'. It appears to be very heat tolerant. The pottery pieces can be loaded in through either the 60 X 30 cm aperture in the front or lowered in from the top after first lifting the slab of cement off that forms the roof. The side and rear walls of the chamber are the native clay and have now fired 'in situ' to a beautiful salmon pink terracotta colour. Some crumbling has occurred but is easily repaired between firings with plugs of more local clay. It can easily be fired up in a day - start at 9am - stop loading fuel at 4pm ! Very civilised.
