The Potter's Dictionary of Materials and Techniques (5th edition)

An enquirer rushes into the library, hands clogged with clay from the wedging bench in the art department. A backfire in the workshop's kiln is about to occur and advice is urgently needed. Hamer is taken from the shelf: nothing under Backfire or Kiln, but under the Burners entry we learn that backfires occur “when there is too much air in the mixture and the gas pressure is very low” and that “it is remedied by reducing the amount of primary air when gas pressure is low”. As the student runs from the library, an explosion is heard distantly from...