CupCupStudios Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 Hey all - I recently bought Laguna speckled buff cone 5 clay and have been really enjoying it! As I'm preparing to glaze, however, I realized my whole stock of glazes are cone 6. Curious to hear your perspectives on this - have you tried it? Any tips or tricks to help make sure I don't ruin all the lovely objects I've made? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Min Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 It should be okay going to cone 6, most clays have a bit of wiggle room for firing. Exception would be the dark manganese / iron bodies, these tend to bloat if overfired. Try a few pieces and see what happens but I think it'll be fine. Welcome to the forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CupCupStudios Posted October 21, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2018 On 10/19/2018 at 8:51 AM, Min said: It should be okay going to cone 6, most clays have a bit of wiggle room for firing. Exception would be the dark manganese / iron bodies, these tend to bloat if overfired. Try a few pieces and see what happens but I think it'll be fine. Welcome to the forum! That's great advice, and thank you! I will definitely post back here with my results in the next few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyK Posted October 21, 2018 Report Share Posted October 21, 2018 On 10/19/2018 at 8:51 AM, Min said: It should be okay going to cone 6, most clays have a bit of wiggle room for firing. Exception would be the dark manganese / iron bodies, these tend to bloat if overfired. Try a few pieces and see what happens but I think it'll be fine. Welcome to the forum! I have been using Laguna B-Mix 5 of a number of years now and glazing to ^6. The only problem I've had is a very rare bubble in the surface which has been an air bubble in the clay. This has happened on 2 or 3 occasions. The first time around I tried repairing it by grinding the glaze bubble only to find that it went halfway into the clay body (Example below). The repair itself was a failure but the glaze effect of the refiring was outstanding! The pix show the bubble after the second firing; the ground out bubble; the repair; the color change after bisque firing; and last, the failed repair. The second firing glaze effect looked really good except for the bubble. The bisque firing caused everything to go yellow, while the final firing (#4) shows the failed repair as well as new blisters along the rim of the bowl. While the overall outcome was a repair failure, the information gained in the process was very enlightening! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Min Posted October 21, 2018 Report Share Posted October 21, 2018 @JohnnyK, those smooth pyroplastic clays like BMix don’t like air bubbles in the clay, sneaky little things. The bloats in the pot after the glaze refire I would put down to the body breaking down and offgassing, bloating again but for a different reason. Heatwork from a second glaze firing to the same cone can do this, if you have a cooler area in the kiln I would suggest putting re-fires in that area or firing a cone lower than the first glaze firing. Re-fires are always a crap shoot but going to a lower cone lessens the chance of these type of bloats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glazenerd Posted October 21, 2018 Report Share Posted October 21, 2018 JohnnyK crystalline glaze is often refired to 1350F: called a "strike" fire in our little world. The metals in the glaze ( copper, iron, and cobalt) are re-oxidized which changes the color. There are a few who strike fire uo to bisq temps, but 1350F is all that is required. Any glaze that has these metals will react, makes for interesting variations. T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apocalypticamerica Posted October 22, 2018 Report Share Posted October 22, 2018 I have fired quite a few pieces with that same speckled buff to ^6, with beautiful results. In fact, I actually like that it comes out a little lighter buff color. I suppose I should mention; I'm firing oxidation. Can't speak to results with reduction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted October 22, 2018 Report Share Posted October 22, 2018 Min is onto it with retires-often the clay can bloat second time around and if the bloat the 1st time refrying will NEVER fix that . I put any refire in a cooler spot about 99% of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chilly Posted October 22, 2018 Report Share Posted October 22, 2018 If you're taking clay/glaze to a hotter temperature, it's a good idea to put it on a waster piece of clay. Then if it does over-melt and form a puddle, it won't ruin a shelf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denice Posted October 22, 2018 Report Share Posted October 22, 2018 I have been using C6 glazes on Laguna Speckled Buff or years, I bisque to C04. I especially like a fat white glaze on it. Denice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fergusonjeff Posted October 22, 2018 Report Share Posted October 22, 2018 Same as Denice. I usually mix the Speckled buff with other cone5/6 clays. Will get occasional warping with things like yarn bowls so I add a little extra sand and fireclay. For usually items like bowls and mugs that WC-403 clay does fine at cone 6 (and even cone 7 when first firing my new kiln). I also bisque to cone 04 and this helps burn off some stuff that can cause glaze issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CupCupStudios Posted October 25, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2018 On 10/21/2018 at 9:27 PM, Apocalypticamerica said: I have fired quite a few pieces with that same speckled buff to ^6, with beautiful results. In fact, I actually like that it comes out a little lighter buff color. I suppose I should mention; I'm firing oxidation. Can't speak to results with reduction. That's so wonderful to hear :) Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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