Pilchuck Furnace Builders: Catch-up & Heading to Texas!

Ok, so writing daily turned out to be challenging! As my jet-lag waned, staying up with the rest of the group became easier, which meant I was too tired to write by the time I went to bed. I left off with installing the furnace pot. We then mixed and poured refractory between the pot and the brick layer. In Fred Fashion  we slotted in strips of metal that were bent into an L shape so that the refractory would not be a solid ring around the pot, but in sections. This is so smart! If ever there would be repairs needed, one can just replace a section rather than taking the whole thing apart. However, in the case of this furnace, we made an invested crucible and the body was welded back together. This means that the furnace would have to be completely rebuilt when they decide to change the pot. Fred said a good pot should last 7-10 years. Unfortunately, our pots have been cracking and we’ve been changing them on a yearly basis. This workshop taught me a lot and I wish I had taken one like it 13 years ago before opening the studio. Perhaps we could have saved a lot of money that was spent over the years. Firstly, all my peeps that have electric furnaces: install a flue! All glasses have a certain degree of water content that needs a way to evaporate. It won’t affect the elements, but it will find a way to make deposits on the door making it sticky. This is another thing we’ve struggled with over the years.

When we finished surrounding the crucible with refractory, we added a layer of frax to the level of the body’s rim. Then we attached the hood of the super structure and Tak-welded it to the lower body. We then all worked on the control panel. Fred was amazingly patent as we all took turns following the schematics and adding the wires. By Tuesday, we had finished wiring the panel and Fred was able to plug the controller – a Watlow F4T - to give us a demonstration on how to configure it. It was now Tuesday the 13th and I was leaving the following day for Arlington, Texas. The pressure was on to finish the super structure and get the new top cage that would cover the elements.

I was happy to learn that the super structure had walls that were precast and did not need a layer of bricks like the lower level. On Monday night, I cut enough microporous to surround the walls of the super structure and so when we installed the pre-cast walls (with mortar in between each slab) and the two layers of microporous was lined up, Carolyn and I climbed into the furnace to stuff it with Frax. As messy as this type of work is (very toxic, very dusty, itchy skin if it gets on it), it was so streamlined between the two of us. Once we stuffed around 6 layers, we cut bricks that would rest between the wall of the super structure and the interior wall. There would be two layers of bricks that would support 6 sections of the upper wall. This will provide support for the roof/ dome of the furnace. We were ready to install it!

Six of us worked on mortaring and shimmying each piece down, securing the dome with a cast hexagon. How does that work? Well, before we just mortared and let the dome float, Slate built a collapsible support that was sitting inside. Once we were sure that the mortar set around the hexagon, we removed the support and voila! The dome was on!

More frax was layered around the top until it reached the rim. It was now Tuesday night – my last night – and I wanted to do as much as I could before leaving. I worked on the metal cover through which the element bricks and thermocouple would rest. Emery and I traced the holes we needed to cut and then took it outside to make it. We stopped working at 10:00pm – our usual – and then went to the Flat Shop where there was a part for Ruth Tamura. After saying goodbye to the other participants in the workshops, I went up to the dorms where my class was sitting on the deck with beers.  We hung out for a while, took pictures, swung on the swing, and finally, I said bon nuit to everyone.

What a great class. I learned so much and made so many new friends. I need to give a special shout-out to the Alexander Tutsek Stiftung which gave me the funds to take the class. This relieved the studio from having to support me and I am particularly grateful for their on-going support.

Next stop: the Glass Art Society conference in Arlington, Texas!