PatJ Posted July 15, 2011 Report Share Posted July 15, 2011 Hi Folks, I have a new question. So the work I am doing is primarily with micaceous clay. I love this medium an it is really satisfying. The 3 ways I am firing are pit firing, putting the pots in a metal box "kiln" elevated above ground surrounded by wood, and also putting them out in the open on a 50 gallon drum lid and surrounding them with wood and/or dry cattle dung. What I am doing is not really high temperture stuff in comparison to what most of you do. Now to the question. I want to build some clay tiles (kiln furniture) to lay in the bottom of my metal box and also on the drum lid to keep the pots off the hot metal bottom. Also I wish to make a bunch of bowl shaped bases molded in the puki i have and use those to cover up my pots when i am not using the metal box so that the burning wood doesn't come into contact with the pots. I know that i am supposed to use old broken pots to do this job, but since i am relatively new to this art form, I don't have enough broken pots to actually do the job so I need to make some supstitute pieces. Since I don't want to use my precious micaceous clay, which i had to dig up and process myself, to make these tiles and bowl shaped forms (I want to save the mica clay for actually building pots and not waisting it as "Kiln furniture", I was hoping to find some commercial clay that i could use to do this job. FINALLY THE QUESTION IS THIS: is there a commercial clay that I can buy that can fullfill the role of Kilm furniture and being able to withstand numerous firings in direct contact with hot metal and also can survive being in contact with burning wood during pit firing? I was wondering if Raku clay would do this? Sorry this is long and thanks for any insight you all might have. PatJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted July 15, 2011 Report Share Posted July 15, 2011 Raku clay would work but I think you should reconsider making slabs for the metal box. I think they'd absorb too much heat. I use BBQ grills or refrigerator shelves/grills for saggar/pit firings to elevate the pots. You don't want to cut off the heat, you want it to circulate. That is my opinion. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JBaymore Posted July 15, 2011 Report Share Posted July 15, 2011 Raku clay would work but I think you should reconsider making slabs for the metal box. I think they'd absorb too much heat. I use BBQ grills or refrigerator shelves/grills for saggar/pit firings to elevate the pots. You don't want to cut off the heat, you want it to circulate. That is my opinion. Marcia That is pretty much the route the native American potters use. Because you are doing SUCH low fire work......... most raku bodies will give you SOME longevity on the kiln furniture you make. You could go to the bother of making up (youself...... laborious withot tools) a real refractory body.... but likely it will not be worrth the time and effort. You want to PRE-FIRE that kiln furniture before use. Do not just add it to the pit fire raw. Raku clay is pretty cheap, and you likely will not be uisng huge amounts of it. best, ..............john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrim8 Posted January 16, 2017 Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 Has anyone tried this? It's a make your own kiln shelf recipe. https://digitalfire.com/4sight/material/zircopax_plus_1725.html I think I will price some zircopax and compare to ready made kiln shelves but I thought I'd ask to see if anyone has tried it yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted January 17, 2017 Report Share Posted January 17, 2017 have seen videos of people using red clay flowerpots as saggars in open firings. would that work to cover your work and protect if from falling wood? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glazenerd Posted January 17, 2017 Report Share Posted January 17, 2017 I would recommend using a box of raku clay and goosing it..... Add 5% Nep SY and 15% Alumina Hydrate. -fired to cone 10. Nerd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted January 17, 2017 Report Share Posted January 17, 2017 Laguna sells a post/stilt making furniture clay body Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted January 18, 2017 Report Share Posted January 18, 2017 Has anyone tried this? It's a make your own kiln shelf recipe. https://digitalfire.com/4sight/material/zircopax_plus_1725.html I think I will price some zircopax and compare to ready made kiln shelves but I thought I'd ask to see if anyone has tried it yet. I wouldn't mess with it. By the time you've paid for all the materials and spent the time, you're way behind what it costs to just buy a shelf. If you've got the time and money, then go for it, but if you're wanting to do it in order to save money, it's not worth it. I would rather spend the time making pots than making kiln shelves. That recipe could be a great way to make catch cups for runny glaze tests and such, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Johnson Posted February 6, 2017 Report Share Posted February 6, 2017 Laguna also makes a Refractory Body clay. I've used this for saggars successfully. It is a little rough on the hands, but it's designed as a refractory clay. WC‑895 Refractory Clay Body Low expansion, semi-coarse high temperature body for refractory use. Best refractory quality when fired at Cone 13. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted February 6, 2017 Report Share Posted February 6, 2017 Laguna also makes a Refractory Body clay. I've used this for saggars successfully. It is a little rough on the hands, but it's designed as a refractory clay. WC‑895Refractory Clay Body Low expansion, semi-coarse high temperature body for refractory use. Best refractory quality when fired at Cone 13. Best when fired to cone 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted February 8, 2017 Report Share Posted February 8, 2017 Have you tried the pit in the ground? I have fired that way many times. Basically the pit is 2 feet deep with a 2" shelf along the walls to support refrigerator shelves. Start a fire in the pit and build up coals. Insert the shelves. Load pots (preheated along the edge) inverted onto the shelves, cover with dried cow dung well above the ground level. ..like another 2 ft. Cover with sawdust to seal it up.If you want blacker pots cover the whole pile with sheet metal or corrugated metal to block the air. In about 2 hours the flames will appear and the fire will be almost finished. Maria Martinez used this method. She used license plates for her metal cover. No furniture required. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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