PACKING (d) Process
Packing kilns that open at the top; use tile stands which are made in one piece, these shown in the photos below, hold 14 tiles of 15 × 15cm, and wall-stands that are in two pieces and can hold tiles of all sizes. Here they are holding corner tiles of 7, 5 × 7, 5cm and borders of 7, 5 × 15cm. They are short, so they can be held and are handmade to hold from one to six tiles.
One floor holds seven tile stands, try and place them so the wall of one is against the edges of the tiles of another, this allows them to touch as they are both clean of glazes and the small wall-stands can rest against the big stands to make them safer.
Packing and moving the wall stands should be done on the sides of the kiln or on a bar of wood that can be laid across them. Wall stands are in two separate pieces and when full are difficult to move, hold both sides firmly, lift them up and move them down into the kiln, to fill the spaces.
With big stands put the tiles into each one and level and straighten them out by putting a straight tool, like a ruler against the sides, then lift up a stand, holding it at the top and let it down into the kiln. Fill in the spaces left with small wall-stands. This kiln can hold 7 stands on each of the two floors and on the top there is enough room for odd tiles, in the photo (e) below there here are four, the last photo (f) shows them fired.
To see close-ups of the four tiles read more about: Firing – Colors before and after firing / Kiln – Furniture / Firing (b) Process
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