Re Historic Kilns
I am months behind in my e-mail so I have only just found the messages on
historic kilns. I have a number of works by A.B. Searle who wrote a large
nimber of technical works on brick and ceramic manufacturing notably "Modern
Brickmaking" and the  "Clay Workers Handbook" which I have, as well as
"Kilns and Kiln Making" which seems to be fairly rare. All Searle's works
give illustrations of various kilns and machinery. Searle is British and so
relates to the British clayworking scene. However  Kiln technology was
fairly standard in both the UK and USA, although the dates and type of
technology used vary, so he could help with identifying the fire box.
 
Having inspected a number of kilns I would be happy to give advice on the
fire box issue if Kris (or anyone else) contacts me either via e-mail or fax
on 61 2 9884441.
 
I am constantly looking for material on brickmaking and I would love to know
when the frist Hoffman kiln was built in the USA.
 
Iain Stuart
PHA.
University of Sydney
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