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While outside, the wind blows, tarps flap, and the shed rattles, inside is warm and cozy. The kiln cats are especially fond of the stove although after snapping this shot, I moved Stripe back from the fire a bit. Cats are flammable after all, and they are worringly inclined to snuggle right up to the glowing ceramic briquette (this shot is actually from yesterday but it snowed yesterday as well):

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A word about the heater. I used to have a “Dyna Glo” heater which looked very similar to this one. Apparently however, it was designed to accept fuel only from the small disposable bottles. After 1.5 seasons of use connected to a 20 pound propane tank, it quit working altogether.

My new stove is a “Mr. Heater” and it’s designed to use propane from a bulk tank. As with any Mr. Heater device though, it’s rather noisy — it hisses quite a bit on the “high” setting, but tolerably so. On the “low” setting however, it makes such a painful high pitched whistle that I’ve decided the stove is either on “high” or “off” — “low” is unusable. Nothing is perfect: the Dyna Glo is quieter but only works with disposable bottles. The Mr. Heater is noisy but works with bulk tanks. Now, if someone would just build a quiet heater that could be connected to a 20# tank, I’d pay double!

And on the topic of fuel sources and payment — here is a shot from inside the studio looking out on the last few bits of the woodpile before I chopped it up. The payment? My wrists and fingers hurt after excessive bouts of repetitive stress, e.g., chopping wood. I think the picture is pretty though:

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At four years in and not done yet, it’s plain I’m the slowest construction worker on the planet! Still, I really love how it is coming together and I feel I’m nearing the home stretch on the galley area (FN1). Here are some pictures of my (glacial) progress on the kiln shack:

From the outside with my “Re Store” window (it swings open on hinges — $16 for the window, $2.50 for the hinges):

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Vantage point from atop the kiln. To the left is a kitty ladder — out of sight behind the kitty ladder are the steps entering the galley area. The steps into the work pit are to the right side of this picture, but not visible:

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FN1: I call the middle level the “galley” because Furutani likened anagama kilns to an overturned boat hull. The lowest level is for working the ship, the middle level for cooking and relaxing. Here is a sideview of the pit, roughly to scale:

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The current galley configuration:

This configuration wasn’t designed, it was simply hastily made before the first firing. The blue chair is in front of a shelf on which I set the campstove. A 20# propane tank currently sits to the right of the shelf (not shown in this picture obviously). With the stove, tank and the hose, very little of the galley deck remains usable. Worse, there is virtually no storage space for food and drinks. Enough, I say!

Today I built a corner wall to the right side of the galley and a floor. Well, I almost finished before running out of wood. The floor is at ground level which makes it waist high when standing on the galley floor. I will move the stove to the new space, put the gas tank outside and run its hose under the floor, and put up some shelves for storage. Stove space will go from about three square feet to 16 — we’re talking a Taj Mahal class shack kitchen. And even better, the galley deck will become more than than a mere walkway — I’ll be able to put chairs up there for a nice bird’s eye view of the action.

Check out the new construction:

Note, the blocks are on the plywood to weight them while the glue dries. I know I should fill the cinderblock holes with concrete and plant bolts to fasten a cap to the foundation. I’m so sick of mixing concrete and carrying it around I figured I’d take a chance and cheat — so I spent $11 on construction adhesive that’s supposed to bond everything. We’ll see how it goes — if it doesn’t work, I will grudgingly buy a couple sacks of concrete and go that route.

No matter what happens with the glue experiement, I’m still exceptionally pleased that I’m going to have such a capacious cooking area and extra sitting space. Yeah — I’m stoked!!