About 2 years ago I was contacted by the (now retired) President of Vancouver Island University about a wood-fired pottery kiln that needed a new "home". After a lengthy negotiation process, the Tamagawa Canada Campus (my employer)is the new site of an incredible Tozan pottery kiln.
The kiln was dismantled brick by brick from its original location, trucked over here on 60 pallets and is now in the process of being rebuilt by a devoted group of potters and artists.
Tozan pottery is unique in that there is no "glaze" added prior to the all-wood firing. Because of the extremely high burning temperatures, ash from the burning logs adheres itself to the finished piece in a glaze-like finish. Of course this is part of the attraction because a potter is never entirely sure how his or her finished piece will actually look after it is taken out.
The completed kiln will hold roughly 800-1200 pieces of pottery. A burn lasts from 3-4 days, 24 hours per/day and will consume between 7 or 8 cords of wood. It takes another 4 days to cool.
Anyway, here are some photos of the early reconstruction process I took this afternoon.
