4b) Shuttles and kiln productivity Having decided on the design of our kiln, what else can we do to improve productivity? One area is reducing turn-around time. In most kilns bricks are hand set, and also removed by hand. This means that both the kiln chamber and the bricks must be sufficiently cool for humans to work. However, economics rears its ugly head once again. Every degree the kiln cools is another degree the brickmaker has to expend fuel to recover. This means workers will be sent into the chamber to unload as soon as the conditions are bearable. Then we have brick setters working in confined s.p.a.ces with poor illumination as they race to empty the fired batch and reload the chamber as quickly as possible. There is a way around the problem however. We can use shuttles or trolleys. A shuttle is a cart with a metal frame and metal wheels, and decked with brick, often firebrick. Green brick is set on a waiting shuttle outside the kiln. When a batch of bricks is finished being fired and cooled to a safe temperature (such that it won"t crack when exposed directly to normal air temperature) it is simply wheeled out, and the new batch wheeled back in its place. Not only can setting and unloading be done in the open and relative cool, but the kiln is out of service for a much shorter period of time and doesn"t lose as much heat. By using shuttles, handling of green and fired brick and the a.s.sociated costs can be reduced considerably.
Shuttles can not be used in clamps, scoves, Scotch kilns or most up-draft kilns. Either the uncontrolled nature of the firing or the fact that the fire must pa.s.s up through the brick means they are not suitable techniques. Down-draft kilns (and their close cousin, the cross-draft kiln) can use shuttles. The Bull"s Trench kiln, because of the hole-in-the-ground nature of the design, is not suitable for using shuttles, besides, the open air nature of the loading and unloading removes many of the benefits available. The tunnel kiln, of course, needs shuttles to carry the bricks through the tunnel. The VSBK does actually have a place for the shuttle, although its shuttle doesn"t need to be decked with brick. The VSBK is unloaded by lifting the loading deck of a trolley up to the bottom of the stack of bricks using a screw jack. Once in contact with the stack of bricks the steel poles holding the ma.s.s of bricks are removed and the trolley is slowly lowered until the next specially arranged layer of bricks appears. The steel bars are once again threaded through the gaps in the rows of bricks and the trolley is slowly lowered until the poles once again rest on a pair of heavy steel girders on either edge of the shaft. With the weight of the shaft of bricks taken on the girders, the trolley is lowered to the ground and wheeled out.
Conclusion Unless they are prepared to spend a lot of time and resources to develop the knowledge base, up-timers will need down-timers to provide the detailed knowledge of clay and firing if they want bricks. Up-timer technology and knowledge would help down-timers increase brick production, but a simple increase in demand for brick will be sufficient motivation for down-timers to develop improvements. Put bluntly, we need down-timers; they don"t need us.
Who in Grantville will have the knowledge that will help the great step forward in brick production? We know there are going to be people in the Ring of Fire area who are potters or ceramic artists. For a start, on the grid of up-timers, we have Garth Freeman and his wife Melba Sue. They have "... a very elaborate ceramics and pottery setup." This is sufficient to suggest they have at least one kiln, and some clay preparation machinery, such as a pug mill. This being West Virginia, they probably built both the kiln and the pug mill themselves. This suggests that they have books and magazines describing kilns, ceramics, and machines for preparing clay. Also, Grantville is set in an area of West Virginia were ceramics were manufactured. There is good clay inside the Ring of Fire, maybe even China clay (suitable for porcelain), for this reason Garth and Melba Sue won"t be the only people in the Ring of Fire area who are into ceramics.
The small hobby ceramic artists and potters can get the industry started, but when it comes to the heavy extrusion machinery, specialist books will be desirable. This brings us to the late George Bowers. George died in about 1945, however his legacy survived through his daughters until June 2000, when his acc.u.mulated collection was auctioned off. George is important to us because he made his fortune from the manufacture of ceramics (mainly bathroom porcelain). The earths around Grantville can be a.s.sumed to be similar to those around Mannington where George made his fortune. It is reasonable to a.s.sume that, although George"s ma.s.sive collection of books (some twenty thousand volumes on a range of topics) does not exist in Grantville, someone in Grantville is likely to have some of the same turn of the century ceramics books and treatise on brickmaking that George might have had.
Overall the prospects for the Grantville brickmaker are favorable. If they can find a down-time master brickmaker to do the hard work of selecting the clay and judging the firing of the bricks, there is sufficient knowledge within Grantville to rapidly increase the supply of bricks. Even without the advantage of reference material, the brick extruder should be developed. Knowing bricks were made with an extruder will be sufficient to set inventive minds on the right track. The idea of using shuttles should be obvious, as n.o.body really likes double handling of goods when they don"t have to. It is in the design of kilns where Grantville will have to be lucky. With all those chambers that have to be built to take high temperatures, the full Hoffmann kiln is going to be expensive to build. Either someone is going to have to suggest making a smaller version of the Hoffmann (say, four chambers set in a square), or someone is going to have to know about the tunnel kiln, or better yet the VSBK. The Tunnel kiln is likely to be thought of, but it is going to be expensive to make all those trolleys. Also, it is less efficient than an equivalent capacity Hoffmann kiln. I still like the VSBK because it is cheap to build and run; also it can easily be constructed with down-time resources. All it needs is someone to have seen one in operation, or to have done a little research on them for some reason.
Glossary: Burnt: Bricks are burnt or fired in a kiln. It doesn"t mean they have anything wrong with them.
Clot: A clot of clay is a tempered lump of clay that is thrown into a brick mold. Ideally a thrown clot of clay will just fill the mold.
Continuous kiln: A kiln where the fire is kept going. The fire may move through the kiln complex, or remain stationary letting the bricks pa.s.s through the fire zone, but the fire never goes out.
Earth(s): The technical term used to refer to soils as opposed to rocks.
Extruded brick: When clay is forced through the end of a pug mill in the form of a continuous block which is then cut into small slices using wire cutters, those slices are called extruded brick. The size and shape of the nozzle defines the shape of the block extruded and thus the shape of the brick.
Fired: Bricks are fired, as in, exposed to the heat of the fire. See also "burnt."
Fire zone: Where ever the fire is burning in a continuous kiln. The fire zone can move from chamber to chamber or stay in one place.
Frog: Another name for the "kick."
Green brick: Brick that has been molded to shape, but has not yet been fired. With the addition of a little water, and a little hard work, plasticity can be restored to the clay in a green brick.
Grog: Take a broken previously fired brick or other piece of ceramic, grind it up, and use it as a filler. Grog does not regain plasticity and will not undergo chemical change when re-fired. Grog is useful for padding out supplies of expensive clay, or when the available clay needs certain additives.
Hack: To closely stack drying bricks edge on top of edge. Usually the stacks are arranged with about a finger-width distance between them. They are then left to dry a little longer. A hacking ground is an area where bricks are hacked (stacked).
Intermittent kilns: Kilns where the fire is lit anew for the firing of each separate batch.
Kick: The insert in a brick mold that causes a depression or hollow to be formed in the top of a brick. Often the brickmaker will have his name, or his company"s name set into the kick. The kick helps force thrown clay into the bottom corners of the mold.
Mellowed: Made pliable and plastic, usually by tempering.
Pallet: A board sufficiently large enough to hold a single brick with s.p.a.ce left over. For a 9" x 4.5" x 3" the pallet would be something like 12" x 8".
Plastic: This describes the condition of properly tempered clay. It can be easily worked (shaped and reshaped). If left alone it will hold its shape sufficiently long to be fired.
Setting: The careful stacking of bricks within a kiln so that they will be properly fired.
Strike: Basically a piece of wood with a straight edge that is used to smooth off any excess clay from the top of the mold Tempering: The art of making clay plastic and pliable by breaking it down so that water is in contact with every molecule of clay.
References: Daniel Rhodes (1968). Kilns: Design, Construction, and Operations.
As the t.i.tle suggests, a book telling the ceramics worker the history of kilns, how to design a kiln, build it, and run it. The book also provides plans for a selection of small ceramics kiln. Almost a must have for the Grantville home ceramic artist.
Edward Dobson (1903) (11th ed.). A Rudimentary Treatise on the Manufacture of Bricks and Tiles Containing an Outline of the Principles of Brickmaking.
This book examines brickmaking in England. It provides good descriptions of the process and also includes ill.u.s.trations of many of machines for tempering clay and extruding bricks and sewer pipe.
Charles Thomas Davis (1895) (3rd ed.). A Practical Treatise on the Manufacture of Bricks, Tiles, and Terra Cotta: This book describes the industry in America. It fully covers brickmaking, the machines that can be used, and many of the kilns.
Alfred B. Searle (1924) (2nd ed.). Refractory Materials: Their Manufacture and Uses.
Searle examines the refractory industry in England and Wales. There is a lot of information on where to find the various fireclays, and how to mix them for desired refractories.
Colonial Williamsburg Brickyard: Eighteenth Century Brickmaking in the USA.
Vertical Stack Brick Kilns (VSBK) The Vertical Shaft Brick Kiln (VSBK) In Nicaragua An article on a group constructing a VSBK in Nicaragua using only the information they can find on the internet and in a few pamphlets. There are a few good photographs of the VSBK being built.Brick Clamps Hoffmann Kiln Bull"s Trench Kiln Clay Preparation Clay Drying Clay Firing Clay Molding Lots of other interesting doc.u.ments on brickmaking. A history of Isle of Wight Brickmaking IMAGES.
Note from Editor: There are various images, mostly portraits from the time, which ill.u.s.trate different aspects of the 1632 universe. In the first issue of the Grantville Gazette, I included those with the volume itself. Since that created downloading problems for some people, however, I"ve separated all the images and they will be maintained and expanded on their own schedule.
If you"re interested, you can look at the images and my accompanying commentary at no extra cost. They are set up in the Baen Free Library. You can find them as follows:
1) Go to www.baen.com 2) Select "Free Library" from the blue menu at the top.3) Once in the Library, select "The Authors" from the yellow menu on the left.
4) Once in "The Authors," select "Eric Flint."
5) Then select "Images from the Grantville Gazette."
SUBMISSIONS TO THE MAGAZINE.
If anyone is interested in submitting stories or articles for future issues of the Grantville Gazette, you are welcome to do so. But you must follow a certain procedure: 1) All stories and articles must first be posted in a conference in Baen"s Bar set aside for the purpose, called "1632 Slush." Do not send them to me directly, because I won"t read them. It"s good idea to submit a sketch of your story to the conference first, since people there will likely spot any major problems that you overlooked. That can wind up saving you a lot of wasted work.
You can get to that conference by going to Baen Books" web site www.baen.com . Then select "Baen"s Bar." If it"s your first visit, you will need to register. (That"s quick and easy.) Once you"re in the Bar, the three conferences devoted to the 1632 universe are "1632 Slush," "1632 Slush Comments," and "1632 Tech Manual." You should post your sketch, outline or story in "1632 Slush." Any discussion of it should take place in "1632 Slush Comments." The "1632 Tech Manual" is for any general discussion not specifically related to a specific story.2) Your story/article will then be subjected to discussion and commentary by partic.i.p.ants in the 1632 discussion. In essence, it will get chewed on by what amounts to a very large, virtual writers" group.
You do not need to wait until you"ve finished the story to start posting it in "1632 Slush." In fact, it"s a good idea not to wait, because you will often find that problems can be spotted early in the game, before you"ve put all the work into completing the piece.
3) While this is happening, the a.s.sistant editor of the Grantville Gazette, Paula Goodlett, will be keeping an eye on the discussion. She will alert me whenever a story or article seems to be gaining general approval from the partic.i.p.ants in the discussion. There"s also an editorial board to which Paula and I belong, which does much the same thing. The other members of the board are Karen Bergstralh, Rick Boatright, and Laura Runkle. In addition, authors who publish regularly in the 1632 setting partic.i.p.ate on the board as ex officio members. My point is that plenty of people will be looking over the various stories being submitted, so you needn"t worry that your story will just get lost in the shuffle.
4) At that point-and only at that point-do I take a look at a story or article.
I insist that people follow this procedure, for two reasons: First, as I said, I"m very busy and I just don"t have time to read everything submitted until I have some reason to think it"s gotten past a certain preliminary screening.
Secondly, and even more importantly, the setting and "established canon" in this series is quite extensive by now. If anyone tries to write a story without first taking the time to become familiar with the setting, they will almost invariably write something which-even if it"s otherwise well written-I simply can"t accept.
In short, the procedure outlined above will save you a lot of wasted time and effort also.
One point in particular: I have gotten extremely hardnosed about the way in which people use American characters in their stories (so-called "up-timers"). That"s because I began discovering that my small and realistically portrayed coal mining town of 3500 people was being w.i.l.l.y-nilly transformed into a "town" with a population of something like 20,000 people-half of whom were Navy SEALs who just happened to be in town at the Ring of Fire, half of whom were rocket scientists (ibid), half of whom were brain surgeons (ibid), half of whom had a personal library the size of the Library of Congress, half of whom . . .
Not to mention the F-16s which "just happened" to be flying through the area, the Army convoys (ibid), the trains full of vital industrial supplies (ibid), the FBI agents in hot pursuit of master criminals (ibid), the . . .
NOT A CHANCE. If you want to use an up-time character, you must use one of the "authorized" characters. Those are the characters created by Virginia DeMarce using genealogical software and embodied in what is called "the grid."
You can obtain a copy of the grid from the web site which collects and presents the by-now voluminous material concerning the series, www.1632.org . Look on the right for the link to "Virginia"s Uptimer Grid." While you"re at it, you should also look further down at the links under the t.i.tle "Authors" Manual."You will be paid for any story or factual article which is published. The rates that I can afford for the magazine at the moment fall into the category of "semi-pro." I hope to be able to raise those rates in the future to make them fall clearly within professional rates, but . . . That will obviously depend on whether the magazine starts selling enough copies to generate the needed income. In the meantime, the rates and terms which I can offer are posted below in the standard letter of agreement accepted by all the contributors to this issue.
Standard letter of agreement Below are the terms for the purchase of a story or factual article (hereafter "the work") to be included in an issue of the online magazine Grantville Gazette, edited by Eric Flint and published by Baen Books.
Payment will be sent upon acceptance of the work at the following rates: 1) a rate of 2.5 cents per word for any story or article up to 15,000 words; 2) a rate of 2 cents a word for any story or article after 15,000 words but before 30,000 words; 3) a rate of 1.5 cents a word for any story or article after 30,000 words.
The rates are c.u.mulative, not retroactive to the beginning of the story or article. (E.g., a story 40,000 words long would earn the higher rates for the first 30,000 words.) Word counts will be rounded to the nearest hundred and calculated by Word for Windows XP.
In the event a story has a payment that exceeds $200, the money will be paid in two installments: half on acceptance, and the remaining half two months after publication of the story.
You agree to sell exclusive first world rights for the story, including exclusive first electronic rights for five years following publication, and subsequent nonexclusive world rights. Should Baen Books select your story for a paper edition, you will not receive a second advance but will be paid whatever the differential might be between what you originally received and the advance for different length stories established for the paper edition. You will also be ent.i.tled to a proportionate share of any royalties earned by the authors of a paper edition. If the work is reissued in a paper edition, then the standard reversion rights as stipulated in the Baen contract would supercede the reversion rights contained here.
Eric Flint retains the rights to the 1632 universe setting, as well as the characters in it, so you will need to obtain his permission if you wish to publish the story or use the setting and characters through anyone other than Baen Books even after the rights have reverted to you. You, the author, will retain copyright and all other rights except as listed above. Baen will copyright the story on first publication.
You warrant and represent that you have the right to grant the rights above; that these rights are free and clear; that your story will not violate any copyright or any other right of a third party, nor be contrary to law. You agree to indemnify Baen for any loss, damage, or expense arising out of any claim inconsistent with any of the above warranties and representations.