THE SVARAM KILN
Many choices to be made…
If you want to start to work with clay, one of the most important tools you need is, of course, a kiln that fits your desires. So we decided to try to build a kiln with local materials within the 3 weeks I had. It was a bigger challenge than I could have imagined. Materials that are easy to find in my home country were in some cases impossible to find in India. Buying a new, electric kiln was completely out of our budget and also the power consumption at SVARAM was already on the edge of the existing power grid. In SVARAM’s case, the only 2 options were a kiln on wood or one on gas. We decided to go for a barrel style kiln on LPG gas, as this system was used in the kitchen and in the workplace too using big bottles. We visited local potteries to learn from the local systems they used and I scrolled around through many villages and towns in the neighborhood to find the right materials. finally, we collected everything to start building the SVARAM kiln! A local blacksmith helped us with the welding process. And last but not least: the unique setup of this kiln made it possible to use it for smoke firing too!