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Wood fire clay body?


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I'm jealous of those who wood fire and or have access to...and anxiously look forward to experience.

And if anyone close to north Florida needs a volunteer please contact me,. ( I've never spit wood, but can hold my own with sledge hammer, and can carry 2x more than most mortals)

 

To those that wood fire, do you formulate, or tweak commercial, or use commercial clay, out of box? I've read than john B. does.

 

If not trade secret please advise.

 

My latest mix is laguna #900 with added grogs. I recently found some granite that will try tomorrow, (chicken grit), It fires to buff at cone 6 ox. That's all I have access to at this time. (See avatar / gallery gunomi)

 

Supposedly goes to 10 and is darker in reduction. am interested if this body would be ok with wood firing?

 

Ps. What no drama this week..... ;)/>/>

 

Thanks

 

Bijou errr........ Big lou

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Highwater Phoenix. It's a dream to throw it, and it holds up great in all the variables of wood firing. Nice big range of color responses. My favorite wood fire clay by a mile.

 

Mea

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I fire in an anagama in middle Georgia. Cone 13, 5 days of stoking. I can give you contact info if you're interested. I've tried just about every commercial wood fire clay available plus combos of those and from scratch mixes and nothing comes close to B-Mix Woodfire by Laguna.

 

http://ceramicartsda...wimage&img=1845

 

The big jar has a nice coat of ash glaze on the side receiving the flame, but the nice thing about this clay is that the side away from the flame still flashes beautifully.

 

http://ceramicartsda...wimage&img=1666

 

Most of these bottles were bought by a collector for the Davis Museum in CA. They are all the same clay but one is stained black and some have chunks of feldspar wedged into the clay.

 

Jim

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I fire in an anagama in middle Georgia. Cone 13, 5 days of stoking. I can give you contact info if you're interested. I've tried just about every commercial wood fire clay available plus combos of those and from scratch mixes and nothing comes close to B-Mix Woodfire by Laguna.

 

http://ceramicartsda...wimage&img=1845

 

The big jar has a nice coat of ash glaze on the side receiving the flame, but the nice thing about this clay is that the side away from the flame still flashes beautifully.

 

http://ceramicartsda...wimage&img=1666

 

Most of these bottles were bought by a collector for the Davis Museum in CA. They are all the same clay but one is stained black and some have chunks of feldspar wedged into the clay.

 

Jim

 

 

Nice !!!!!

 

Thanks. When you say chunks of feldspar Where do get these chunks?

 

I imagined you being near lizella you would be blending something up local-style?

 

Is that b mix flashing with out flashing slip?

.

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I have some B mix woodfire-yet to use it.

As far as slips I have used Helmer kaolin mixed as a slip with good results.

Mark

 

 

Never have wood fired so sorry for all the questions...

 

Helmer kaolin and water for slip?

 

To leather hard pieces after trimming? If dipped or brushed, the bottom of foot will not be slipped or, marginally?

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I have some B mix woodfire-yet to use it.

As far as slips I have used Helmer kaolin mixed as a slip with good results.

Mark

 

 

Never have wood fired so sorry for all the questions...

 

Helmer kaolin and water for slip?

 

To leather hard pieces after trimming? If dipped or brushed, the bottom of foot will not be slipped or, marginally?

 

 

I sprayed it on greenware and bisques it on as I had to travel a way with it

also sprayed on bisque ware and salted it.

Mark

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I fire in an anagama in middle Georgia. Cone 13, 5 days of stoking. I can give you contact info if you're interested. I've tried just about every commercial wood fire clay available plus combos of those and from scratch mixes and nothing comes close to B-Mix Woodfire by Laguna.

 

http://ceramicartsda...wimage&img=1845

 

The big jar has a nice coat of ash glaze on the side receiving the flame, but the nice thing about this clay is that the side away from the flame still flashes beautifully.

 

http://ceramicartsda...wimage&img=1666

 

Most of these bottles were bought by a collector for the Davis Museum in CA. They are all the same clay but one is stained black and some have chunks of feldspar wedged into the clay.

 

Jim

 

 

Nice !!!!!

 

Thanks. When you say chunks of feldspar Where do get these chunks?

 

I imagined you being near lizella you would be blending something up local-style?

 

Is that b mix flashing with out flashing slip?

.

 

 

I don't use flashing slips. When I first started wood firing I did but never was impressed by any of them. I'd recommend using them only on test tiles until you find one you like or decide you don't need them. I messed up some good pots with them when I started.

 

Not near but IN Lizella. I've mixed it into clays but never liked the results much. I prefer to keep it pure and fire to cone 6 or below. I think one of John B's main clays has Lizella in it. He fires it in his noborigama. By itself it is too dark above cone 8 and can only take cone 10 for a short time before starting to deform.

 

I don't remember where I got the chunks of feldspar, but I think it is easy to find at any good ceramic supply house. You can probably find it easily in FL. I usually use Davens in Atlanta and what I can't find there I get at Big Ceramic Supply and what they don't have Seattle Supply usually has even if shipping is a killer.

 

BTW, that Crocker Museum in CA not Davis.

 

I have problems reading personal messages on this forum so if you need more info send me an email at sandefur.jim@gmail.com.

 

Jim

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There are quite a few potters around Tampa up through I-4 locations up to Fort Lauderdale that have wood kilns and if you're lucky ... check out st pete clay company and USF for when they do wood firings ... contact the professors if you need to ... it's a hoot. I won't say anything about getting work IN the kiln ... but occasionally if the pool of volunteers isn't that good ... they will take outside help, especially if you are wanting to learn to fire a wood kiln.

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I use Laguna ^5 b-mix, works great.

 

 

 

Darrel

 

 

What kind of wood firing are you doing?!

 

Jim

 

 

 

 

I fire to cone 8 in a very small wood kiln. it fires in about 4 1/2 to 6 1/2 hours.

 

 

 

Darrel

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I use Laguna ^5 b-mix, works great.

 

 

 

Darrel

 

 

What kind of wood firing are you doing?!

 

Jim

 

 

 

I fire to cone 8 in a very small wood kiln. it fires in about 4 1/2 to 6 1/2 hours.

 

 

 

Darrel

 

 

Thanks for the reply. So, you're not really trying to get ash glazing or much flashing. If you were, I think you'd like the B-Mix Woodfire much better than plain B-Mix. To get good glaze and color we hold the kiln at about cone 10-11 for 5 days of constant stoking.

 

Jim

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To those that wood fire, do you formulate, or tweak commercial, or use commercial clay, out of box? I've read than john B. does.

 

 

 

 

I get great results with almost all of the Sheffield cone 10 stoneware bodies;

"Wood Light" is like the T3 but has Helmer :

42 is the nice dark Lizella body:

There are also a few white stonewares that flash like crazy 95400 /20231 and Ben's Mix;

"Z' is a Zamek designed body that can be very nice and rich

 

They are worth trying for sure.

 

http://www.sheffield-pottery.com/WOOD-FIRED-and-RAKU-CLAY-s/422.htm

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I use Laguna ^5 b-mix, works great.

 

 

 

Darrel

 

 

What kind of wood firing are you doing?!

 

Jim

 

 

 

I fire to cone 8 in a very small wood kiln. it fires in about 4 1/2 to 6 1/2 hours.

 

 

 

Darrel

 

 

Thanks for the reply. So, you're not really trying to get ash glazing or much flashing. If you were, I think you'd like the B-Mix Woodfire much better than plain B-Mix. To get good glaze and color we hold the kiln at about cone 10-11 for 5 days of constant stoking.

 

Jim

 

 

 

 

Thank you for the advice! I have found that this kiln gives me tons of ash but not a lot of vibrant flashing. I love the look though. Here is a picture of an urn by Sumi Von Dassow made with ^5 B-Mix fired to ^8 in the same kiln.

 

 

 

Darrel

post-13052-136796339002_thumb.jpg

post-13052-136796339002_thumb.jpg

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I use Laguna ^5 b-mix, works great.

 

 

 

Darrel

 

 

What kind of wood firing are you doing?!

 

Jim

 

 

 

I fire to cone 8 in a very small wood kiln. it fires in about 4 1/2 to 6 1/2 hours.

 

 

 

Darrel

 

 

Thanks for the reply. So, you're not really trying to get ash glazing or much flashing. If you were, I think you'd like the B-Mix Woodfire much better than plain B-Mix. To get good glaze and color we hold the kiln at about cone 10-11 for 5 days of constant stoking.

 

Jim

 

 

 

 

Thank you for the advice! I have found that this kiln gives me tons of ash but not a lot of vibrant flashing. I love the look though. Here is a picture of an urn by Sumi Von Dassow made with ^5 B-Mix fired to ^8 in the same kiln.

 

 

 

Darrel

 

 

For such a short firing that is a lot of color.

 

Jim

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Thanks for the reply. So, you're not really trying to get ash glazing or much flashing. If you were, I think you'd like the B-Mix Woodfire much better than plain B-Mix. To get good glaze and color we hold the kiln at about cone 10-11 for 5 days of constant stoking.

 

Jim

 

 

Regarding multi day firings...... I can understand the legnth of firing for ash deposit. Ash deposit = ash glaze. . But for flashing/ color what is this a function of ? What is going on between clay an wood fire to bring out such spectacular results.??

 

And what is your opinion on, the addition of pre made ash, to firing?

 

What fuction does legnth of firing serve?

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Thanks for the reply. So, you're not really trying to get ash glazing or much flashing. If you were, I think you'd like the B-Mix Woodfire much better than plain B-Mix. To get good glaze and color we hold the kiln at about cone 10-11 for 5 days of constant stoking.

 

Jim

 

 

Regarding multi day firings...... I can understand the legnth of firing for ash deposit. Ash deposit = ash glaze. . But for flashing/ color what is this a function of ? What is going on between clay an wood fire to bring out such spectacular results.??

 

And what is your opinion on, the addition of pre made ash, to firing?

 

What fuction does legnth of firing serve?

 

 

As for how stoking time affects flashing, I think of is sorta like burnishing. The flames are constantly hitting the war bringing out color and making more and more contrast with parts farther away from the flame and it is constantly changing. Pushing in the damper a bit makes the flame hit the pot less or slower or in a different way so that by the end of the firing you have some pretty interesting flashing going on, but, yes, the long stocking is mainly for ash. I was surprised at the bit of flashing Darrel gets with his really fast cone 8 firing. There's not much there but there is enough to make the pot he showed interesting. I think a longer firing would bring out more color (and he'd get more color using B-Mix Woodfire instead of B-Mix), but I wasn't expecting any with such a short firing.

 

In the anagama I fire in the owner (a really great wood-firer, Roger Jamison) shifts a lot of fireplace ash on some of his pots, especially side-fired jars that get a lot of direct flame. I sometimes put an ash paste on some of my pots but usually not enough to do much.

 

I hope that helps. John B can probably be more helpful because he has been wood-firing a lot longer than me and knows a whole lot of ######.

 

Jim

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Where can I get feldsspar chunks? Found on Internet, They say its like pea gravel.... With some finer.... Do you guys just hammer it smaller?

 

I found granite. (Chicken grit)

 

 

Anybody else. (John b.). Know the physics or chemistry behind flashing?( Not the other kind of flashing) On clay body.? And why most wadding flashes white?

 

Thanks for the 411, if all goes well , ill get some pieces in wood firing on 27 th.

 

Any one have a recipe for wadding that doesn't flash white? Found some 411 but links are dead.

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Guest JBaymore

My favorite wadding mix when I want flashing (as opposed to just "assured separation no matter what") is a mixture of AP Green Fireclay (if you can still find it) and fine sawdust 50/50. Hard to work with, but it gives nice colorations.

 

Most "flashing" is caused by the volitiles in the wood ash being vaporzed out by the high temperatures of the chamber firebox(es). Sodium and potassium compounds are a small component of all wood ash.... which is mostly composed of calcium compounds. At high enough temperatures this samll amount of volatile material will vaporize out of the circulating ash and the ash accumulating in the fireboxes (and on the surfaces of the logs)....... which causes the same kind of "vapor glazing" that you find in salt and soda kilns. But it is small amounts and in uneven distribution.... hence the uneven-ness of the effects. (It is like doing "residual salt" or "residula soda".....which can make a good "fake wood fire" effect.)

 

The longer firing cycles give these small localized deposits time to build up. Plus the longer firing is causing the clay bodies to become more vitreous as the glassy phase is speading through the crystalline body matrix (more heat work.....higher cone value), and it also allows the growth of crystalline structures like mullite (and if not controlled.... cristabolite!!!!). These "wetter" bodies are more reactive to the presence of materials nearing the surface and can "capture" a bit more of the soda / potassium compounds circulating. In addition..... these low melting surface compounds can "trap" carbon compounds.... and result in the greys, deep blues, and blacks that are often a component of some types of "flashing".

 

best,

 

..............john

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My favorite wadding mix when I want flashing (as opposed to just "assured separation no matter what") is a mixture of AP Green Fireclay (if you can still find it) and fine sawdust 50/50. Hard to work with, but it gives nice colorations.

 

Most "flashing" is caused by the volitiles in the wood ash being vaporzed out by the high temperatures of the chamber firebox(es). Sodium and potassium compounds are a small component of all wood ash.... which is mostly composed of calcium compounds. At high enough temperatures this samll amount of volatile material will vaporize out of the circulating ash and the ash accumulating in the fireboxes (and on the surfaces of the logs)....... which causes the same kind of "vapor glazing" that you find in salt and soda kilns. But it is small amounts and in uneven distribution.... hence the uneven-ness of the effects. (It is like doing "residual salt" or "residula soda".....which can make a good "fake wood fire" effect.)

 

The longer firing cycles give these small localized deposits time to build up. Plus the longer firing is causing the clay bodies to become more vitreous as the glassy phase is speading through the crystalline body matrix (more heat work.....higher cone value), and it also allows the growth of crystalline structures like mullite (and if not controlled.... cristabolite!!!!). These "wetter" bodies are more reactive to the presence of materials nearing the surface and can "capture" a bit more of the soda / potassium compounds circulating. In addition..... these low melting surface compounds can "trap" carbon compounds.... and result in the greys, deep blues, and blacks that are often a component of some types of "flashing".

 

best,

 

..............john

 

 

You should be paid for this kind of posting!

 

Jim

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Guest JBaymore

You should be paid for this kind of posting!

 

Jim

 

 

OK Jim.... I'll invoice you for $100 if you just send me your mailing address. wink.giftongue.giflaugh.giflaugh.giflaugh.gif

 

best,

 

...............john

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Guest JBaymore

Another little trick with wadding is to mix COLORANTS into it. Cobalt, copper, and so on do "jump". Depends on what you are looking for.

 

The best wadding I've ever used is in Japan.... called "dosembo." I have yet to figure out EXACLTY what it is. Had large irregular grains of quartz and a VERY refractory clay iwht a trace of itron content that makes our fiereclays look like earthenware. Fired at Cone 14 over 7 days.... it is about the consistency of bisque.

 

Been experimenting with a "synthetic mix" here to try to come close to it.... but no joy so far.

 

best,

 

.............john

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