We used two large and two small pots in the furnace at the same time, although in practise only one main and one small pot were filled each day for most days as we had only one glassblower. On the last weekend of the project, Tracy joined us to blow some glass, so we were able to use all four pots.

The number of pot breakages we had was lower than at Stourbridge. We lost six large pots and two small pots. We can perhaps put this down to better pot-emptying at the end of each day, and only one of the main pots we had left empty were among the breakages.

We tried to preserve the main pots by wrapping them with an insulation layer of ceramic fibre cloth, but this did not help. Nor did covering the tops of the pots with a piece of 1" thick ceramic fibre blanket. What has appeared to help is to raise each pot off the shelf with two small offcuts of kiln batt to allow the flames and hot gases to heat the base of the pot. This should give a more even temperature rise for the pot, and together with emptying the pot as well as possible appears to have contributed towards lowering the number of pots lost.

NB: The main pots after firing measure 34cm long by 17cm wide. They are 11.5cm deep at one end and 14.5cm deep at the other end, and hold 5 litres or 7.7 kilos of sand.