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Hakeme Slip Recipe


Babs

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for me.....slip is usually  applied at somewhere in green ware stage. i find i get the drier brush strokes on drier pieces, im my case leather hard after trimming,  or somewhere between there and bone

 

but it is a trial and error process with differnt clays

 

i dont think there is a specfic "hakeme"recipe

i belive its more of a process than a recipe

 

the hard part is getting the fall off consistient, and a the right brush for project.

 

the korean recipe may not work with american glazes, and clays

 

i usually make a slip with what ever white clay i have available, mostly used 181

 

for black i add some black mason stain to above.

 

i usually make slip mor on thick side, (strawable milskshake)

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Guest JBaymore

Babs,

 

The "recipe" for Hakeme slips I have from being in Japan and Korea (south) are basically anything from 100% of a specific kaolin-type clay....... to about 80% of a specific kaolin-type clay and 20% of a feldspathic type rock.  Not much more than that.

 

One aspect of the success of this is the really coarse nature of the clay bodys UNDER the slip.... very unlike our dense fine particled highly plastic western clay bodies.

 

But the real key is the BRUSH used.

 

Put many of those slips on with a fine nice quality bruish... and they flake right off the body as it drys.  The key is that the coarse rough brush causes impressions into the underlying clay body... that makes the two different wet to dry shrinkage materials stay together.

 

My best Hakeme brush I made while working in Japan with the bristles from an old used natural fiber broom, some string to bind them, and a piece of rope to bind over the string to make more of a gripping handle.

 

The clay underneath the slip has to be wet enough that the stiff bristles dig into it a little.  Then it has to be applied in a fast direct move.  No "redos".

 

best,

 

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

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Guest JBaymore

Found the image of the brush I was mentioning  in my Japan photos when looking for something for a commissioned magazine article I'm working on.

 

Here's the brush, and a piece (large bowl about 50 cm dia.) decorated with it.

 

post-1543-0-30517100-1404583462_thumb.jpg

 

 

post-1543-0-04594600-1404583497_thumb.jpg

 

best,

 

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

post-1543-0-30517100-1404583462_thumb.jpg

post-1543-0-04594600-1404583497_thumb.jpg

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Thank you John looks like my millet broom is safe for the mo. Got a number of native grasses and sedges which would fit the bill better. Thanks again. Nice whipping for the handle, need to get out the macrame box.

Do you go on to coat the brush handle with anything?

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  • 2 weeks later...

I got a good tip the other day. Apply the slip FIRST and then run the brush over it to get the streaks in it. I'm going to try it next. I find that doing the slip and hakeme on leather hard gives me grooves into the clay body which I don't like. Maybe the clay is just too wet. I have not tried to apply to greenware yet. Also I created a hakeme brush from a synthetic broom. I ran it over a piece of sandpaper to get rid of the jaggies on the synthetic fibers. I can spread this by pinching to give a wider "brush" or leave it as is to give a thicker tighter formation.

 

10537993_767354309982349_1465519640_n.jp

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That looks a lot more rigid than the brush John B posted. I'm going to try native grasses, a bit softer but not too soft.

Joh wrote that the brush has to muss the clay to create a bond between clay and slip so there would be some scoring  of hte clay.

I have in the past and do now take a hake brush loaded with water and brushed over the pot before applying slips with no prob of slip flaking off but this was to establish an overall slip coverage. The hakeme example posted is a different effect than what I was acheiving and I;m going to give it a go.

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Guest JBaymore

If your slip fits the clay body, then the "digging in" is not necessary.... other than for visual effect.

 

But in Japan / Korea the white slip is a simple mix and usually does not fit the body well if at all. Hence the origin of the technique.

 

If you want to try something that is similar in application quality (and issue) use straight EPK as a slip on stoneware. You'll understand then.

 

best,

 

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

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Thanks John,

is your brush from a cereal straw? Rice Straw?

I applied the water inside and out to diminish the stress of uneven moisture in pot. 

i have had a bloating off of the slip when I allowed the pots to dry out too much prior to applying the slip, this was when I apply white slip to the inside of earthen ware for sgraffitto.

The fluidity of the slip with the method you describe would be much less?

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Guest JBaymore

Babs,

 

Look at the slip image of the bowl I posted above....... thick fluid slip, JUST leatherhard clay..... trimmed a bit wet.  Brush eats into the body slightly.

 

The brush is stiff but flexible.  Like rice straw ... but a little stiffer.  Not as stuff as reeds.  Have no idea what the material was....... old used up broom in the ceramic studio in Japan.

 

best,

 

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

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Babs,

 

The "recipe" for Hakeme slips I have from being in Japan and Korea (south) are basically anything from 100% of a specific kaolin-type clay....... to about 80% of a specific kaolin-type clay and 20% of a feldspathic type rock.  Not much more than that.

 

One aspect of the success of this is the really coarse nature of the clay bodys UNDER the slip.... very unlike our dense fine particled highly plastic western clay bodies.

 

But the real key is the BRUSH used.

 

 

My best Hakeme brush I made while working in Japan with the bristles from an old used natural fiber broom, some string to bind them, and a piece of rope to bind over the string to make more of a gripping handle.

 

The clay underneath the slip has to be wet enough that the stiff bristles dig into it a little.  Then it has to be applied in a fast direct move.  No "redos".

 

best,

 

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

Sorry John, didn't read closely enough, or perhaps you didn't tell me B)

Thanks Tyler also, so my broom has to go, perhaps, there is a native shrub here called... Broom bush... a melaleuca,  and so I picked some of this today, the sedges and grasses too flat and soft, ok for other applications.

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Guest JBaymore

Try the broom bristles..... I have one made with those to that works great.

 

Try every stiff coarse brush you can find.  I've used a toilet bowl brush in the past... that works good. (I'm a frugal potter like most, but in this case...... new... not used ;) ). 

 

Experiment.

 

best,

 

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

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Surprizingly, to me anyway, the native sedge brush pleased me.

The millet brush put on too much slip for the effect I'm after and the other brushes were too brittle and scratchy for the softness of this clay.

I feel the life of this brush won't be long. But now I've selected, I'll do a better handle.

Thanks for the advice John.

The slip I used was a white stoneware professional body by Walkers PB 103 with a bit of defloc.

post-21244-0-69931500-1405835688_thumb.jpg

post-21244-0-55467100-1405836099_thumb.jpg

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I made a Hakeme brush last summer and it was pretty fun! 

 

hakemebrush1

 

Here is how I made them:

I visually mowed my city's lawn looking for the perfect grass to use in these brushes. It takes a lot more grass than I thought it would. And picking off all those grains at the tips was a little annoying. However, it produced a good working brush for hakeme and the effort and sliver were well worth it!!!

You need to prep the grass by picking off the grains on the ends and cutting the pieces close to the same length.

 

hakemebrush2

 
Once the grains a plucked off and the grasses are ready, organize them by size if you didn't cut them all the perfect length. This step is not necessary but I wanted more of the thinner wispier ends than the thick straw. 
 

hakemebrush3

 
Once the sizes are separated and organized, put them together in a way that makes sense to you and straighten the ends by hitting the stack on a flat hard surface.
 

hakemebrush4

 
I used a rubber band on the end of the handle part to keep the grasses tidy while I wrapped my hemp rope as a handle. I wet the hemp in a bowl of water quick so that it might dry a little tighter...I am not sure that is what happened but it made tying the knot easier! I also left a little at the end as a loop to be able to hang the tool to dry after using.
 

hakemebrush5

 

I cut the wispy brush ends just a bit just like a hair cut in order to even things out some and make a shape that was pleasing to me. 

 

hakemebrush6

 

Go Here if you want to see this brush in action!

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  • 1 year later...

My Hakeme brush and results. Brush is made with jute twine. I hot glued a few strands to get the scratching effect.

Aloha, Ken

@rakuken, i love the teabowl you posted above. I know this is a little after the fact but can you share some technical information? I'm wondering about clay body, slip content, firing mode, cover glaze. I'm experimenting with a dark clay ( Aardvaark Black Mountain) and white slip, so far the clay comes out only tan under the cover glaze. I'd sur like to get more contrast between clay and slip.

I just joined CAD so this is my first post.

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While I am no hakame guru, my limited experience tells me the key as John said is in the clay body. The gnarlier the better, with plenty of iron and junk to spot up the covering slip. The vase below used a fairly tame brush which didn't leave much if any gouging in the clay body. I think the heavy iron content in the clay added some fluxing power which helped the slip stick on. The liberal use of ash glazes on much (but not all) of the pot may also have assisted.
 

Hakeme Vase

 

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While I am no hakame guru, my limited experience tells me the key as John said is in the clay body. The gnarlier the better, with plenty of iron and junk to spot up the covering slip. The vase below used a fairly tame brush which didn't leave much if any gouging in the clay body. I think the heavy iron content in the clay added some fluxing power which helped the slip stick on. The liberal use of ash glazes on much (but not all) of the pot may also have assisted.

 

Thanks curt - that vase is sweet. I am confined to electric unfortunately, I suspect you are gas or wood firing? I have a nice ash glaze that is surprisingly non-electric looking, I'll experiment with that. Thanks so much for your response.

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