My second attempt at firing the wood kiln was both better and worse. Safe in the knowledge that I could reach temperature I allowed the process of firing to be far more relaxed. I got up early and began a small fire under the grate around 6am, stoking every 20 minutes or so. By 9ish I was firing on the grate. The pallet wood burned nicely. I closed the flue around 900C to get more pressure in the kiln and to attempt to achieve more reduction in the clay body. This causes more flame and smoke as the fire seeks oxygen from wherever it can be obtained, including the clay itself. Opening the flue at 1000C the temperature climbed rapidly. I soaked for a while at cone 9, trying to keep Orton cone 10 up. I'm not sure it was hot enough - there is a wide variation of temperature in this kiln and I'm happy to accommodate that, but I was measuring in the hottest place. I fired the kiln down to 950 with small sticks, finally getting to bed around 3am.

On opening the kiln a few days latter I found the work to be somewhat bland. The ash had been minimal, perhaps a product of pallet wood, which, good as a fuel is somewhat lacking in fly-ash I'm led to understand. The main concern however was the black dust that had settled on the pots. On a hunch that it was iron I tested it with a magnet and sure enough it was iron, either from the grate or from the nails in the pallet wood. Further research seems to indicate the latter. Not too big a problem - I'll just take care to avoid wood with nails in the future. 

I'm not working on creating pots for another firing in October. I'm planning on using salt and wood in the next firing. I love the effects that some people get with their wood firing, but I just don't have the capacity to fire for the 3+ days that such a firing requires. I have done some salt and soda firing in the past and loved it, and I recall Mick Casson telling me that he thought the combination of wood and salt to be the ultimate ceramic surface, and if it was good enough for him then it should be more than enough for me.