Pilchuck Furnace Builders

One of the most brilliant pieces of engineering behind Spiral Arts machines is their modular design. Nothing is cast as a single block—instead, every part is a separate component, designed to click together like a puzzle. This approach isn’t just clever—it’s practical. It allows for natural expansion under heat, gives a bit of wiggle room in case of leaks, and makes repairs far more manageable.

Day 3 – Deep Dive into Electricity

Today was all about electricity—and wow, it was intense! Our morning class ran nearly two hours, packed with concepts like volts, amps, current, and resistance. Fred really took us into the heart of it, walking us through how to calculate watts, understand wiring, and eventually draw our own schematic diagrams. It’s a lot to absorb, but it's the kind of knowledge that lays a strong foundation for everything that comes next.

Eventually, we will be building the controller from scratch—which still feels a bit intimidating, to be honest.

This post is going to stay short—my brain’s still processing what we covered today. Tomorrow, we start assembling the furnace body, and that means getting hands-on with bricks, mortar, frax, and porous paper.

Stay tuned!

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