SydneyGee Posted November 25, 2016 Report Share Posted November 25, 2016 Obviously the bottoms should be smoothed enough during leather-hard stage to prevent scraping surfaces, however there are a few very groggy clays I have been using and I swear that even after sanding to the smoothness of a baby's butt on bisque it still comes out somewhat rough on the bottoms. Thus, I have been told not to put my ceramics in the cupboards because they are a custom wood they do not want scraped up. We fire at the class ^6 reduction, and I noticed that the ^6 oxidation firings do not have this problem of regaining grain after the final glaze firing. Is there some product I can put on the bottom of the pots to prevent scraping up the wood? Or is my only option to sand.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bciskepottery Posted November 25, 2016 Report Share Posted November 25, 2016 I use diamond sanding pads: http://www.toolocity.com/diamond-hand-polishing-pads.aspx After glaze firing, I dip the pad in water, "wax on, wax off" to paraphrase Mr. Miyagi, and get a nice smooth bottom -- maybe 20 seconds a pot. By sanding wet, you minimize dust. I use these after electric, wood, and salt firings; on porcelain, porcelaneous stoneware, and grogged clays. The 50 grit is my go to for really rough, mostly use the 100 and 200 grit pads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted November 25, 2016 Report Share Posted November 25, 2016 Stoneware really smooths up fast with a brass wire wheel on a 6 inch bench grinder. My stoneware potter friend does all his pots this way. I like Bruce use the 100 grit diamond pad from tool city for my porcelain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted November 25, 2016 Report Share Posted November 25, 2016 If you are looking for neoprene self stick pads for the bottom Axner and Aftosa sells them.They are called no skids at Axner and neoprene at Aftosa. They come in all different sizes. I use them on my sponge holders and Trucker mugs (no skid motion mugs) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted November 25, 2016 Report Share Posted November 25, 2016 Wet sand with 220 grit silicone carbide sand paper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pres Posted November 25, 2016 Report Share Posted November 25, 2016 I bought a Diamond metal disc at last NCECA that I glued on to a bat. It has worked extremely well on my cone 6 pottery. The disc looks like it will last longer than I will. best, Pres Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 25, 2016 Report Share Posted November 25, 2016 Wet sand with 220 grit silicone carbide sand paper. And there is PSA (pressure sensitive adhesive) sandpaper discs that could be placed on the wheel. You can find it at a Big Box Store that has floor sanding supplies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph Fireborn Posted November 26, 2016 Report Share Posted November 26, 2016 I use diamond pads same as Bruce. I start with a 200 grit one and move to 400 then 800. It is butter smooth by then. 200 is usually good enough, but for some of my more expensive pots I like them having the super smooth foot ring so when the customer opens it,they can feel the difference. One day when I actually start making pots and selling them again I plan to upgrade to a wheel based system with 3 bats, 200 400 800, and running water over the disk. This way I can take 20 pots run them over the 200, then the 400 then the 800. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted November 26, 2016 Report Share Posted November 26, 2016 I sand by hand rather than using a wheel because it allows me to sand the entire foot ring, which is rounded, as well as inside the foot ring, so the entire bottom is smooth, not just the small area that actually touches the table Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted November 26, 2016 Report Share Posted November 26, 2016 I have dia-pads from 3M and a diamond pad on a bat like Pres mentioned.I used the wheel for smoothing pieces from a wood firing. I usually smooth bottoms at leather hard stage as you mention,with a flat modeling stick. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SydneyGee Posted November 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2016 Thank you for all your responses! Looks like I will just be doing a lot of sanding. Bummed there is not much in the way of adhesives to soften it up even more though, oh well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted November 28, 2016 Report Share Posted November 28, 2016 Toolocity has a sale going thru today on diamond sanding pads-I bought 5 100 grit myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SydneyGee Posted November 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2016 So I can just buy a bit for my drill and go from there? We don't have a belt sander at home (my husband is more the tool guy so maybe that should be his Christmas present....to me. ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnolia Mud Research Posted November 28, 2016 Report Share Posted November 28, 2016 regarding rough bottoms of stoneware pots:Sydney Posted 25 November 2016 - 02:06 PM : ... Is there some product I can put on the bottom of the pots to prevent scraping up the wood? Or is my only option to sand....I solved this problem by burnishing the bottoms of the pots when at the leather hard stage and maybe again at the bone dry stage for the cone 10 clays used in the local college studio, including the 'Raku clay' which I fire to cone 10. You can add a coat of 'grog-free' clay or terra-sig at the burnishing step to provide a surface that has no grog. [To make grog-free clay, make a watery slip, run the slip through a screen, and then leave slip uncovered for the water to evaporate to a nice thick yogurt to paint on with a brush before burnishing. I make a pint of this and it lasts forever]. Mostly, I just burnish the bottom of the foot rings with the metal ferrule on the trimming tool, or with the smooth part of a plastic pen kept in my trim tool box. Some times I rub the leather hard pot foot against the metal work table to burnish the surface. Occasionally, I get distracted and allow a unburnished pot make it into bisque and really regret doing so after the final firing. It is easier to solve the issue while the pot is still soft. LT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ayjay Posted November 29, 2016 Report Share Posted November 29, 2016 regarding rough bottoms of stoneware pots: I solved this problem by burnishing the bottoms of the pots when at the leather hard stage Mostly, I just burnish the bottom of the foot rings with the metal ferrule on the trimming tool, or with the smooth part of a plastic pen kept in my trim tool box. Some times I rub the leather hard pot foot against the metal work table to burnish the surface. Occasionally, I get distracted and allow a unburnished pot make it into bisque and really regret doing so after the final firing. It is easier to solve the issue while the pot is still soft. I use a soft rubber rib, (red, *Mud*) straight after I've finished turning the foot ring, often with a squirt from a hand water sprayer. If a pot still needs some attention after bisque firing I'll use some Aluminium Oxide paper and if I've missed anything by the time it's glaze fired a 100 grit diamond pad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SydneyGee Posted November 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2016 I work with clay with a lot of iron filings in them, so when it is glaze fired all of the iron oozes out and on the bottoms it ends up making it rough again (as well as the grog). I do burnish when leather hard, sand again when bisque, but always the glaze fire brings out that iron! Next semester maybe I will just work with porcelain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted November 29, 2016 Report Share Posted November 29, 2016 The brass wire wheel on a bench grinder makes stoneware them very smooth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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