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Salt Firing Workshop


terrim8

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Hi All,

I am going to a salt & soda firing workshop and I've never done this before. I have to make things to bring and so far I have made about a  half a dozen mugs out of a grey cone 9-10 stoneware, another half dozen mugs of high iron brown stoneware and four plates again of brown stoneware but with white slip (22% SiO2 in the slip) and a pattern. Any suggestions about slips, glazes, anything I can prepare ahead of time? Should I pick up some high fire porcelain and try that? Ideas???

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Terri, which red stoneware are you using?

Stoneware likes soda better than porcelain in my opinion, but it depends on if you're after flashing or heavy soda deposit.

That said, one of my favourite clays in soda was porcelaineous, but it had an addition of 5% Red Art. It flashed some pretty awesome yellows and pinks. How much time do you have before the workshop, and where is it?

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Hey Callie,

Its in Medicine Hat with the APA, 4 days starting Oct 12 so not much more time for clay to dry & bisque. I used H550 & H440 and some white slip on a few things to try out. I will pick up some silica sand to wedge into one of those today maybe, plus I'll make some thick slip to make textures with as per Marcia's suggestions. I could pick up some P700 maybe? Was that your fav?

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Not P700, that's for sure. It does exactly what Neil describes.

I used to mix my own. The closest approximation would be if you took a mix of H570 and either H550 or 555, and wedged them up with a bit (eyeball 5%) of red art and some silica sand. Call Mike and see what he's got, mesh wise. He might suggest play sand, which will do in a pinch, but isn't ideal.

Keep an eye on the 440. It may bloat if it gets too hot. It works fine at cone 10, but when you start fluxing things out, you can't always tell. Just volunteer the pieces for the cold spots in the kiln, and they should be ok.

 

If you want a few pounds of H570, I have some I don't have an immediate need for.

 

Kevin's Flashing Slip is a nice one, and anything with a touch of Helmer does interesting things too.

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Keep in mind too, that salt and soda are two different animals. Medalta is one of the few places I know that does a fully dedicated soda kiln, with no chloride or wood introduced at all. Check the linings on the salt vs the soda kiln: they're different, and pretty cool for different reasons. If you have access, check out a copy of Soda Clay and Fire by Gail Nichols. There's a wealth of good information in there.

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How dark the clay will be after firing is also related to how slowly the kiln is cooled. Faster cooling equals lighter color. You can actually get a dark brown from a clay body that doesn't have all that much iron if you cool slowly. Since this is your first time with this particular kiln, it will be good to have both light and dark bodies in the firing.

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Looks like my only problem is my allotted space - 2.9 cubic feet.

Kiln stuffers . . . small items you can place on shelves between larger pieces. I bring a ton of them . . . and most get in along with my larger items. And don't forget stacking -- using seashells and wadding to go vertical with smaller pieces.

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I disagree with having too many kiln stuffers in a soda kiln. Soda ash and bicarb don't vaporize the same way salt does: it can be quite sluggish to move on the flame path, as opposed to chloride, which is quite volatile. I think it's best not to block it up too much.

And we're so landlocked in Alberta it's not even funny. The only time I've seen anyone use seashells here, someone had to purchase them from a pet food store.

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the dollar store might have some - thinking about the four plates made up of H440 & white slip with a pattern- shells between the plate rims and then stack them together? Plus I think I read somewhere about dipping the shells in kiln wash to make them more durable?

 there was a mixup in the schedule so we have to be there first thing Oct 12 around 9 am-Callie, how long does it take to get to Medicine Hat? Am I getting up at 4 in the morning to drive? Looks like 3 hours on the map.

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And we're so landlocked in Alberta it's not even funny. The only time I've seen anyone use seashells here, someone had to purchase them from a pet food store.

 

Same as Winnipeg, and not even a hill in sight either !  (I have cousins in Winnipeg and Spruce Grove, and have flown in and out of Calgary for a few holidays.  I'm only 10 miles from the sea, even less from the River Thames.  Can't imagine living so inland!

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