About

We’re located in the village of West Gouldsboro, ME.

For 50 years—the ceramic design & and artisan Makeshops of Maine Kiln Works have created beautiful durable objects for everyday use, to encourage traditional artisanship and process engineering in a variety of mediums.

Maine Kiln Works is located in the coastal village of West Gouldsboro, Maine (between Jones Pond and Jones Cove) on the way to Winter Harbor and Schoodic Point—home to Schoodic Institute | Acadia National Park.

In 1971—Dan Weaver turned down a university teaching position and moved from north Texas to rural Maine determined to make a living as a “maker”. Five decades later—Maine Kiln Works believes the only way to fully explore any idea is to conceive, design and build it (virtual model or tangible object).

In January 2018—Dan established a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational to metamorphose Maine Kiln Works to Artisan Lab. Our goal is to empower a new generation of Artisans to work with both hands & minds, despite cultural and economic disincentives. The Mission is 10 Finger Thinking—inspiring personal growth through craftsmanship & technology by providing an immersive, resource-rich environment to develop individual creative capacity, enrich local & global communities and serve all races, genders and ethnicities.

Explore Maine Kiln Works | Waterstone Sink | Artisan Lab Instagram Feed — to shadow ’10 Finger Thinking’

Homemade casting-slip and glaze blunger. TIG welded from 1/4 inch 304 stainless cold roll rod. Driven by battery powered drill to mix test batch of porcelain casting slip.

#handmade #ceramics #tenfingerthinking #10fingerthinking #processdesign #processengineering #Maine #downeast #artisan #craft #slipcasting #maker #makersmovement #fabrication #tools #gouldsboro #route1 #castingslip #mainemade #mainething #mainekilnworks #skills #learnbydoing #migwelding #tigwelding #welding #tigweld #diy
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Indigenous tribe of soup / stew tureens tries to relax and exhale as they imagine the fire next time. Bath sinks (drying rim down) behind.

#kilnfired #ceramics #ceramicprocess #claystudio #ceramicprocess #studioceramics #handmade #mainemade #handmade #glaze #design
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Iron pigmented pair of 1.5 quart stoneware cassoles to bake & serve traditional Cassoulet.

Cassole originates from the French form of the Occitan word caçòla and is the ceramic baking form used for the famous French casserole dish called cassoulet.

Chocolate brown to rust kakai glaze and bright iron red both fired in oxidation with slow crystalline cooling cycle.

#handmade #pottery #potterystudio #ceramic #clay #ceramics #10fingerthinking #craftswomanship #tenfingerthinking #processdesign #processengineering #Maine #downeast #artisan #craft #maker #pulledhandle #craftswoman #tools #gouldsboro #route1 #schoodicpoint #mainekilnworks #skills #learnbydoing #craftsman #craftsmanship #cassoles #cassoulet #cassouletmaison
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Gaggle of teapots trying to whistle.

I throw the spouts and after drying a bit trim the spout angle (hoping it won`t drip) and then the body joint contour with a fettling knife - handles as you see are pulled in place - lid knob also thrown in place - lid lock (not seen) under the little star (to remind user to position at back). You will also see the vent hole above the pulled handle thumb knob. Capacity for each of this group is 1.5 quarts.

Working potters will note and acknowledge the thrown spout `unwind` inevitability. I simply cut the leather hard spout at a twist angle I guess (based on making many) will unwind to end up close to the desired horizontal plane.

As my engineer father used to caution "you have to sort of hold your mouth right when you do it"

What Lance Lee (who launched The Apprenticeshop in Bath, ME 1972) described as "growing in direct contact with raw materials"

#handmade #pottery #potterystudio #ceramic #clay #ceramics #10fingerthinking #craftswomanship #tenfingerthinking #processdesign #processengineering #Maine #downeast #artisan #craft #maker #pulledhandle #craftswoman #tools #gouldsboro #route1 #schoodicpoint #mainekilnworks #skills #learnbydoing #craftsman #craftsmanship # teapots #theapprenticeshop
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Emily`s lemony imagination drives Kakai glazed stoneware pie plate to make a tart happen.

A bit of Bell Dark ball clay added to your stoneware might look like this ? the lemons from that tree in your backyard not yellow like these ?

#handmade #pottery #potterystudio #ceramic #clay #ceramics #10fingerthinking #design #tenfingerthinking #processdesign #processengineering #Maine #downeast #artisan #craft #maker #makersmovement #fabrication #tools #gouldsboro #route1 #wabisabi #schoodicpoint #mainekilnworks #skills #learnbydoing #onlyin207 #mainething #mainelife
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Pyronics naturally aspirated venturi burner (green with silver primary air @ photo left) feeding manifold with 16 retention tips (4 burner entry ports per side).

Red winch and cable (vertical photo center) to raise and lower stainless kiln shell (fiber lined) to silicone seal cast refractory kiln floor.

#advancerkilnshelves #fiberkiln #hankmurrow #ceramic kiln #potterykiln #gaskiln #tophatkiln #mainekilnworks #downdraft #updraft #artisanlab #artisanengineer #eclipseburner #tigwelding #handmade #ceramics #tenfingerthinking #10fingerthinking #processdesign #processengineering #maine #clay #artisan #craft #fabrication #tools #gouldsboro #route1 #plasticclay #mainemade #mainekilnworks
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Night firing - Top Hat Kiln - 1 naturally aspirated burner - 16 manifold retention tips - very quiet and efficient.

Lump (on the floor right of center) is the worm gear mechanical cable hoist used to raise and lower the fiber insulated chamber over the `Lug Post` stack of pots.

#advancerkilnshelves #fiberkiln #hankmurrow #ceramic kiln #potterykiln #gaskiln #tophatkiln #mainekilnworks #downdraft #updraft #artisanlab #artisanengineer #eclipseburner #tigwelding
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On completion of the hour and 3/4 Filter Press session the central slip feed tunnel is back flushed with compressed air and the hydraulic ram compressing the filter faced frames together is released. The 38 de-watered clay cakes (16 x 16 x 1.5 inch thick) can then be removed from the cavity space between the filter faced frames.

Each cake is then cut into pie shapes small enough for the mouth of the Venco Pug Mill to swallow. The single auger helix on the Venco makes for challenging feeding. My double auger Danco Pug Mill learned to do this better via Venco’s inefficient but less expensive hopper feed design.

#handmade #ceramics #tenfingerthinking #10fingerthinking #processdesign #processengineering #maine #clay #artisan #craft #claymixing #makeclay #filterpress #fabrication #tools #gouldsboro #route1 #plasticclay #mainemade #mainekilnworks #slipblunger #clayslip #slipclay #stoneware #stonewareclay #blunger
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Mill brook bordering my West Gouldsboro home (bound for Flanders and Frenchmans Bay) in constant motion with Woodchuck and Meadow Mice out of hibernation and Fisher racing the banks. Bald Eagle fish the brook mouth now hosting Elvers (Glass Eeel) and Seal. Turkey clans working their way across the fields and Geese streaming overhead to that place they`re sure the season needs now. Maine`s wonderful winter gratefully punctuated by spring.

#mainespring #iceout #millbrook # hibernation #springinmaine #mainelife #islandinstitute #coastalliving #springbrook #flandersbay #frenchmansbay
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Removing plastic stoneware cakes from each of 38 Netzsch Filter Press chambers following 1:45 minute de-watering pressing session.

100 gallons of wet blunged slip (pumped into the Filter Press) maximized plasticity retained in the clay cakes which are now moisture balanced but now need a ride through the vacuum de-airing Venco pugmill to become homogeneous.

The tiny flat clay platelets now have full plastic lubricity to optimize formability.

#filterpress #claymixing #clay #netzsch #stoneware #pottery #potterystudio #potteryclay #vencopugmill #pugmill #clayslip #plasticclay #pressedclay
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The remaining trickle of exiting water after 1:45 minutes of Filter Press cycling and pump intervals slowed to 50 seconds. In other words / as the press squeezes out water the clay cakes become stiffer (with less water) and the pump cycles become progressively shorter.

Pressing beyond this 1 3/4 hour session creates clay which is too stiff to easily form but with care suited for Ram Pressing.

#filterpress #claymixing #clay #netzsch #stoneware #pottery #potterystudio #potteryclay #vencopugmill #pugmill #clayslip
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The remaining slip (4 inches +) and the agitation props in the bottom of the 100 gallon slip tank after pneumatic pump feeds the blunger tank slip to the Filter Press.

#filterpress #claymixing #clay #netzsch #stoneware #pottery #potterystudio #potteryclay #vencopugmill #pugmill #clayslip
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A day in the life of my Netzsch Filter Press is pressing out the excess slip water to render moderately stiff and plastic clay.

The excess water is needed to maximize plasticity but needs to be removed from the too wet slip to create malleable clay which is firm enough to hold its shape when formed or thrown.

#filterpress #claymixing #clay #netzsch #stoneware #pottery #potterystudio #potteryclay #vencopugmill #pugmill #clayslip #tuckerpottery
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My backyard thinks spring has arrived

#handmade #ceramics #tenfingerthinking #10fingerthinking #processdesign #processengineering #maine #clay #artisan #craft #claymixing #makeclay #filterpress #fabrication #tools #gouldsboro #route1 #plasticclay #mainemade #mainekilnworks #jonescove
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