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Hi all,

 

I have a glazing issue.  I sponged the bisque and dipped in water as was suggested in another post. Let the pieces dry off a bit whilst mixing glaze.  Dipped the pieces and they looked like they had even coverage.  Any bubbles I gently rubbed to smooth.

 

On opening the kiln and looking at the pieces I found they all had the same problem..I don't know if it's a problem with the glaze or my technique as I'm not having the same issue with other pieces I glazed at the same time.

 

post-65376-0-40304300-1469012467_thumb.jpg

 

post-65376-0-39171000-1469012477_thumb.jpg

 

 

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Andrea

post-65376-0-60037600-1469012483_thumb.jpg

post-65376-0-40304300-1469012467_thumb.jpg

post-65376-0-39171000-1469012477_thumb.jpg

post-65376-0-60037600-1469012483_thumb.jpg

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The white specks almost look like foreign material in the clay, possibly gassing, and bubbling the glaze. Crack around handle is usual, and as Marcia says a little carving will do much. Any time you see a crack in bisque around a handle or other join, take a few minutes to clean it up-sand or grind(face mask-not optional). This will clear ups some of the join area problems, but it is easier to fix these in the wet stages.

 

best,

Pres

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The white specks almost look like foreign material in the clay, possibly gassing, and bubbling the glaze. Crack around handle is usual, and as Marcia says a little carving will do much. Any time you see a crack in bisque around a handle or other join, take a few minutes to clean it up-sand or grind(face mask-not optional). This will clear ups some of the join area problems, but it is easier to fix these in the wet stages.

 

best,

Pres

 

The crack on the handle attachment can be solved by carving around the joint after attachment in made. Watch a You tube by Martha Grover.

The little pin holes may be from the thick glaze. Hard to say. Maybe the gentle rubbing missed a spot.

 

Marcia

 

Thanks Pres and Marcia,

 

I saw the crack at the day after attaching and sponged the area around the attachment to blend in the handle.  On drying the crack reappeared. I sanded down and bisque fired. The crack reappeared and I patched it with a local product called bisque fix, sanded that down and refired.  All looked okay but reappeared after the glaze.

 

Does this procedure seem right?  It's what my teacher has told me to do in the past.

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thank you for bringing that out into the open.  for the last several weeks, several people have mentioned sanding pots as though it is just another normal thing to do.  

YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE TO SANDPAPER ANYTHING AT ALL!  

 

make it right the first time.  be super critical of the pots that "need" sanding and toss them.  practice good safety steps and do not breathe in dust of any kind.  you were given one set of lungs and they will have to last your entire lifetime.  do not waste them.

 

if we are eventually mentioning glaze drips on the bottom of a foot ring, a quality mask, not a paper one, and a grinder is what you need, not sandpaper.

 

ok, now you can all start yelling at me.

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I'm sooorrry, but I haven't reached that stage where I can throw every piece without having to sand to smooth the surface.  I'll get there but I'm not there yet and although I realise that rethrowing  would improve my skills I have to try to sell my pieces and the mugs were a specific order and it had already taken me quite a while to throw 5 pieces that looked almost the same and also that I could do the handles (admittedly with faulty attachment). The upshot of it all was that I delivered the mugs and because I wasn't happy with the finished product I told the customer she could have them if she was happy with them. So although experience was gained, money for the materials alone was not recovered.

 

Yeah a steep learning curve, but we all go through it and before anyone yells at me about letting ware out into the world that is not perfect I know I shouldn't do it and I'm usually don't.

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@ Andrea, if you leave the handle join with an obvious "seam" around it then you can totally avoid the cracks that can happen when blending the handle into the body. The glaze that fills the seam becomes part of the design, with pooling transparent glazes it can look really nice. If you google Mike Jabbur his mugs show this type of join. Also for cleaning up around mug handles a Kemper Clean Up Tool is really good at getting into the fine tight spaces to clean up any slip or excess scoring marks. A damp sponge on greenware works as well as sanding and no dust issues.

 kem_k24_lg_2.jpg

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I would say it is better to leave a small fissure to the glaze. You may also be seeking a level of perfection customers care very little about!

 

If you do sand bisqueware-- I would suggest an under the sink scrubbing and then letting the piece dry completely. If time does not allow this, there is a greater risk of dust related issues.

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Pottery seems to be an art/craft where (us) newbies have expectations greater than their starting skills.

 

When we first learn to write, we don't expect to produce a best-selling novel;

When learning to ride a horse or bike, we don't expect to take part in the Olympics the same year;

Our first time at baking doesn't produce a three-tier wedding cake;

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