Kono III

Being the impatient gefingerpokerer that I am, I decided to inspect the kono grill. It looked pretty dry and so I gingerly removed the central box in order to better facilitate drying - and to put the box back where I found it, before Hay missed it.

It came out quite easily - the clingfilm had done its job - and the central box was clean as a whistle (phew!). I then decided to remove the clingfilm lining.

Again, no problems.

The interior of the grill is much rougher than I'd hoped, but that was because the initial mix was quite dry, as advised. Perhaps a more loose mix would have resulted in a smoother surface, just as it did for the upper interior walls, but the weight would have increased. The bottom and lower sides resemble loose breeze block.

Not an issue, however, as I can skim the interior with some cement at a later stage to smooth it out, as I do want to be able to clean it out of spent charcoal properly between uses. Perhaps this is the stage when refractory fire cement would be called for as a skim coat - inside and outside. Haven't made up my mind yet and will wait a week for it to cure first. It's not as if it's going to be used in anger for a while.

It may not actually require skimming on the bottom, as the water will have dropped to the bottom through gravity and filled the gaps with cement.