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Stress & Strain & Firing Craziness


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Yes, they are to stop slumping ... Although the free standing ones came out OK this time.

I am really going to have to study this firing as there were a lot of new things that happened ... And old things that didn't. For instance ... Nothing warped or cracked ... For my porcelain this is truly unexpected. So is the trick to fire, crash, fire again, crash again?? Who knew?

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The satin finish is the wash and the shiny one is glaze. I prefer the more subtle satin finish for my work.

 

Before anyone asks:

 

4 parts HOT water to 1 part soda ash ... only make as much as you need for each session.

On my work - one coat is very subtle, two is the finish in the picture and three coatings looks like a clear glaze.

 

***DO NOT PUT LEFTOVERS DOWN YOUR DRAIN AS IT TURNS INTO A SOLID MASS YOUR PLUMBER WILL LOVE. $$$

 

BIG Thanks to Marcia Selsor and Dannon Ruddy for their input on this soda ash wash.

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This may be far afield,  But do any of you know if I can substitute alumina oxide for aluminua hydrate when making kiln wash  using that and calcined kaolin at  a 50-50 ratio?

Vivajones...

 

Yes it is pretty far afield but the short answer is "probably".

 

Alumina hydrate loses water to become alumina oxide when you heat it . There are a million formulas for kiln wash, most of them work.

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It is totally stretched out so if anyone knows a good way to compress it again without breaking a brand new element, please share!

.

Chris... The only way to do this is slowly. Heat small sections of the stretched out element with a propane torch. When they get red hot squeeze them together to shorten them with a needle nose pliers. Keep doing this from one section to the other till you can get it back into the groove. Never try to bend cold elements. They will just snap.

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Love how your bowls have a 'folded" effect. What kind of bowls are you using to prevent slumping? Being fairly new at this I've never seen this before

 

Over the years I have tried many types of forms to support outward leaning shapes ... some of those are made with castable refractory ( not worth the work I finally figured out ) and others are simply bowls I throw out of a Cone 10 - 12 clay that I keep re-using until they crack and fall apart ... at which time they then become yard art. I only fire my porcelain to about Cone 8-9 so it works out well.

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  • 2 weeks later...

very nice, chris.  the tiny items remind me of the wonderful "mussels or barnacles" that were in the tampa nceca show.  were you the maker?  i wanted to take a bunch home but restrained myself and only took one.

 

 that section of the element that came out of the corner looks as though it was not evenly stretched.  of course, it could just look that way because the rest of it moved so much.  i put in elements for the first time last year and made sure they were perfect before i did them. (whew! thank you element gods!)  the kiln i killed looks like yours does in three places.  it just sits quietly in its corner waiting for someone to replace the elements someday.  it is only 51 years old so maybe i should retire it and use the space for a spray booth.    hhhmmmmmm good idea!

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I like that satin wash. It adds depth to the color without being shiney.Nice work. What was that dark section on the left on the element that came out of the groove. looks like a glaze booger.Not nice.Marcia

No, just a discoloration. The element has been successfully squeezed back in by my patient husband while I was out somewhere ... Good move on his part as I would have been supervising and driving him crazy.

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The rocks ... there is a long version of this story, but the short of it is that I always have some rocks with me and leave them behind to be found or not. I love these ideas ... an art installation that is always in motion and the idea of making something and walking away from it.

Chris there is a wonderfully uplifting book, well for me a Scot exiled in Australia, by a potter Lotte Glob. Her book tells the story of her floating stones, she has released them to the tides and Scottish lochs. I think you'd enjoy it.

"Floating Stones" Lotte Glob

Publisher Watermill books

ISBN 978- 0 -9554358- 1- 2

i too leave little things, discs of clay, even mugs and of course books, when I travel, wierd!

There is however the story of a benefactor leaving clothes etc in a park hoping to gift them to the needy, and a tidy soul coming along and putting them in the trash!

People wouldn't do that to our treasures, would they?

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I have left some rocks in Australia ... in Sydney and beyond ....

For me, there is a wonderful freedom in leaving work to be found, moved, discarded or treasured.

I take inspiration from a potter whose name escapes me at the moment ... who builds whole little villages of extraordinary beauty then walks away. Fab!

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