For years people had been telling us that they wanted to learn more about kiln repair, and asking for a class with David Sturm. After a short discussion, David had a plan, and from that point, he started collecting junked out kilns in preparation. The workshop proved to be very popular, in part due to David himself, and partially because the topic itself is so in demand. Enrollment was limited due to the nature of the workshop, but 16 lucky participants from Kansas, Missouri & Iowa were able to learn first hand how to diagnose and fix a number of kiln issues! We should also mention that David Sturm will be giving a one hour talk on Kilns at this year’s NCECA conference, so be sure to go see him on Friday at 12:30 in Ballroom 2501A!
Original Tim Frederich & David Sturm Workshop Description:
At long last, Bracker’s will be hosting a Kilns and Firing workshop featuring David Sturm, kiln tech here at Brackers and Tim Frederich formerly of Orton ceramics. This is a fairly unique workshop, available as a full 2 day workshop on June 3rd & 4th (limited spaces available) or you can attend just the first day (unlimited number of participants)
The first day will consist of Orton’s Successful firing practices seminar with Tim Frederich. Lunch will then be provided and following the lunch break, David Sturm will talk about maintaining and troubleshooting your electric kiln.
On the second day, Participants will be split into small groups and assigned a broken kiln to fix (with Dave’s help) After the repairs are completed, there will be a wrap-up Q&A session and we will close by auctioning off the “fixed like new” kilns.
David Sturm Bio
Ceramic Equipment repair technician, David Sturm, has over 20 years of experience, and has multiple certifications in ceramic equipment repair, and has completed both formal and informal onsite training at manufacturers including Alpine Kilns, AMACO/Brent, L&L Kiln Manufacturing, Paragon Kilns, & Skutt Ceramic Products. David is trusted not only by school districts and universities to maintain their equipment, he is also held in the highest esteem by the major manufacturers in our industry. His training & many years of experience save time and money for the potter’s pocketbook or the teacher’s budget. Widely known as “Kilndoc”, Dave’s expertise does not end with kilns. David has worked on wheels, slabrollers, extruders, pug mills, mixers and even ice makers.
You can learn more about David Sturm right here at Bracker’s Good Earth Clays, now in his 20th year of service to the field of ceramics. In more exciting news, David will be returning to the Bracker’s “workshop stage” this fall. This time, David will be co-presenting with Cindy Bracker on Raku. You can also connect with David on Facebook or Instagram
