Kristin_Gail Posted February 21, 2014 Report Share Posted February 21, 2014 After a series of exhaustive Google searches, I've decided everyone holds their wadding recipes very, very close and dear. Is this true? I've found gobs of recipes for wood-kiln wadding, but little to none for soda firings. I used Gail Nichols (I think?) Alumina Hydrate 80 / EPK 20 + a dab of plain white flour in the past, but what an icky white spot it leaves. Oh, to find some incredible flashing à la Simon Levin and other fine wood firers! I'm using a 50/50 ratio (+ a hint of flour) this time, and will liberally roll the wads in different oxides, as an experiment. Maybe one of them will flash? We'll see. But otherwise, I see no references - anywhere! - to even a starting point for experimentation. Except that using sand and/or sawdust, great for wood-only, would only leave me with fused pots in a soda kiln. If anyone has any references, I'm all ears! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bciskepottery Posted February 21, 2014 Report Share Posted February 21, 2014 The current issue of Pottery Making Illustrated (Mar/Apr) has an article on pottery by Bryce Brisco who fires in a wood-burning salt kiln to Cone 11. He places his wadding in small seashells; his recipe is 50% Alumina Hydrate, 50% EPK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bciskepottery Posted February 21, 2014 Report Share Posted February 21, 2014 Couple more options . . . http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/syllabi-handouts/handouts/Loading%20and%20Firing%20the%20ACC%20Soda%20Kiln.htm http://amsterlaw.blogspot.com/2010/07/soda-kiln-wash-wadding.html http://finemessblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/up-next-soda-firing.html http://potteryblog.com/2007/11/a-happy-soda-firing/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristin_Gail Posted February 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2014 Ah, thank you so much. I had found some of these, but not all! Still the basic recipe, but some of them do add grog - which I read elsewhere would cause fusing! Ah, I love the Internet. I'll check out the issue when it gets to me. I'm behind three issues now of Clay Times, one of PMI ... I think the post office is eating my magazines. But thank you so much for using Google far better than I did (I think I was searching with "flashing" included). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bciskepottery Posted February 22, 2014 Report Share Posted February 22, 2014 You could also use sawdust instead of grog; sawdust burns out, leaving the wadding a bit crumbly for removal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benzine Posted February 22, 2014 Report Share Posted February 22, 2014 What's the purpose of the wadding? Is it because the wares would stick to the shelves in soda/ salt firing, without being set on them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristin_Gail Posted February 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2014 Ayup, the soda introduced to the kiln creates a glaze on the clay surface (well, every surface of the kiln to some degree). A wad containing alumina repels the soda - so, yes, you set the pieces on the wadding to protect them from being fused to the kiln shelves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biglou13 Posted February 22, 2014 Report Share Posted February 22, 2014 Wood fire: I recently saw where ware was placed on silica pebbles direct and silica pebbles on wadding Wonder if it would work in soda /salt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted February 22, 2014 Report Share Posted February 22, 2014 Soda or salt vapor forms a eutectic with the alumina and silica in the clay, melting into a glaze. Silica or alumina alone are very resistant to the soda/salt. And high alumina plus kaolin mixtures work well as wadding. My favorite salt/soda wadding is zircon flour plus EPK and wheat flour. We used to sift flint on salt kiln shelves instead of using kiln wash. Much easier to clean, but wear a mask! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted February 22, 2014 Report Share Posted February 22, 2014 My salt wadding is 50% Alumina Hydrate, 50% EPK. but after reading Neils comments I'm going to at the zircon next time Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristin_Gail Posted February 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2014 Thank you so much, Neil, for explaining it properly! I've never heard of zircon flour before. Does your mixture leave something besides a white spot? I'm aiming to stack pieces on top of one another, on their sides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted February 22, 2014 Report Share Posted February 22, 2014 Most any wadding will leave a white mark because you're creating a little spot where the salt/soda doesn't penetrate, so you just get the raw clay color there. So unless you're using a darker stoneware you're going to get a light spot. You could always put a dark slip on the foot or something like that. Also, it's not necessary to have big ol' wads. You can make them quite small, especially on small pots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.