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What Are The Downsides, Tricks And Tips For Glaze Firing Greenware


docweathers

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I have been firing glazes with the traditional 2 firing. I've noticed that a lot of hot dog potters (eg. Steven Hill) are single firing their computer controlled electric kilns.

 

What are the downsides, tricks, tips,  procedures, cautions etc. for this approach to glaze firing?

 

Larry

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Your glazes need to be higher in clay content than normal, so they shrink with the pot as they both dry. You need to slow down your firing, like maybe twice as long as usual for the first 1200 degrees or so, to make sure the water vapor other materials that burn out of the clay don't affect the clay-glaze interface, or trap gasses in the glaze. Applying single fire glazes is usually done in the leather hard to bone dry stage, and will take a fair amount of practice to perfect. Many single fire folks spray their glazes. 

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Larry its just another long learning curve-as many things in ceramics its going to take awhile to master. For me the whole process of glazing green is to slow-babing the wares and spraying the fragile greenware.I have done more in my salt kiln than reduction firing but I still choose to mostly twice fire as Its so much easier handling the wares.

As Neil says( will take a fair amount of practice to perfect) if anything this is understated.

 

My larger question is why on Earth does everyone want to do what Steven Hill does?

Yes his pots are great but its his work and he has mastered it over a lifetime-folks forget about that part-

Take a Hill workshop and presto I'll make my stuff look as good as his-that curve is sharp and I have done enogh mentoring to to know it's not realistic.

It may be the whole workshop mentallity which is another topic-what I can say is thats where the money is now.

Mark

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also ... single firing is the original, ancient way of firing pots .... bisque firing wares is fairly modern if you take the whole timeline of pottery.

 

Nowadays Steven is more into moving his firing down to Cone 6 while keeping the gas look.

 

http://www.stevenhillpottery.com/StevenHillPottery/ElectricGlazeFiring_4.html

 

I have to admire someone who can change a process they have had great success with for 40 years and jump off the edge!!   :D 

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My larger question is why on Earth does everyone want to do what Steven Hill does?

Yes his pots are great but its his work and he has mastered it over a lifetime-folks forget about that part-

Take a Hill workshop and presto I'll make my stuff look as good as his-that curve is sharp and I have done enogh mentoring to to know it's not realistic.

It may be the whole workshop mentallity which is another topic-what I can say is thats where the money is now.

Mark

 

In regards to Steven Hill's aesthetic, he could make pots that look exactly the same without single firing them. There's really nothing going on there that requires single firing. His glazes are sprayed, which could be done just as easily on bisque ware. And he'll be the first one to tell you that he doesn't save anything in firing costs since his firings are so much longer than normal.

 

It drives me nuts when I go to a show and see a booth full of Steven Hill knockoffs! And it happens at the vast majority of shows I do. I know Steven, he's a great guy, and I love his pots too. But people need to make their own work. Unfortunately, Steven's work is so well known that no one can layer sprayed glazes without making people think of Steven's pots.

 

I think there's a reason we bisque fire- it's easier!

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If you add 5% Bentonite to your glazes they will work on greenware once firing. As always testing will help nail down any exceptions.Marcia

I have a terra sig made from local bentonite. It matures at cone 5-6. It works best at the leather hard Or wetter stages. It is chocolate brown with fine green specks. My point is that at the wetter stages, you can use a greater % of bentonite.

 

Jed

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I have ruffeled enough feathers most likely already.

I think its the greater picture of whats happening now-anyone can scale Mt Everest with zero climbing experience they think or learn to scuba dive without being able to swim( I have personal experince with this one)

Workshops which have gone on forever but now its like I can do whatever they are doing with a workshop

Unrealistic expectations are now more mainstream-I have no idea why.

Mark

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I think unrealistic expectations start with the person in the September beginner class saying they are there to make a set of dishes for Christmas! There is usually only one per class.

 

Mark ... You should start a new topic about workshops.

I think it would be very interesting to hear from students as well as teachers.

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My experience with workshops is zip since I've never been to one, but I've watched an endless number very sophisticated YouTube videos on pottery. I find that I don't really notice all that the teacher is doing until I'm only a little less skilled than he is. My best approach has been to watch the video, go try it then go back and watch the video again. Even if I am pretty successful in my attempt, after trying it I see subtleties in what the teacher is doing that I missed before I struggled.

 

 Other than being cheap, this is the reason that I don't go to workshops.  I need many, many iterations of watching and doingt to really get a technique down

 

Larry

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