Excellent news to report.

We went to our kiln this morning and attempted to slake some of the shells on
site.There were essentially two types of material in the kiln this morning. The
well burned portion of shells that were to the rear of the kiln had broken down
into a white powder. The lesser burned portion still had their shell shape and
were dark grey but easily broken.

We added water to samples of both on site and nothing visible happened. Not
surprising. We had a very heavy rain on Sunday and although the kiln was tarped
I expected that the high RH might have impacted the shells. We scooped up
several pints of material and took it back to the lab for further observation.

When we arrived in the lab I could tell that the bottom of one of our containers
containing the burned shell was getting very hot. We quickly ground and sifted
the fine material and put it into a large beaker and added water. Nothing
happened at first but after about 15 minutes the beaker was very hot to the
touch and it was clear that we had achieved the creation of quicklime from the
oyster shells burned in our kiln. The resulting slaked material was extremely
fine and pure white. I poured the mixture into a plaster mold we had in the lab
to see how the material would set overnight.

Not bad for a bunch of dumb college boys who had never even built a kiln before
last week. Thanks to all BPers for your helpful suggestions and encouragement.
Next step, perfecting the kiln process and continuing with rick burning
experimentation. I'll keep you posted as to progress.

Brian

Brian Scott Robinson, MHP
Professor
Savannah College of Art and Design
School of Building Arts
Historic Preservation Department
P.O. Box 3146
Savannah, GA 31402

912 525 6940 office (Tues/Thurs)
912 262 2650 home (students emergency only)
>[log in to unmask] <BR><BR> <BR>

--
To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the
uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to:
<http://listserv.icors.org/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>