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Cones And Firing For A Very Newbie


MollyM

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So, I bought a used kiln, and am anxious to fire it up. I bought some clay that matched the color and texture I wanted to use, but it is cone 10.

Can I fire it until cone 06, and then apply my cone 06 glaze and refire it? These will be small decorative pieces and don't need to be durable.

So, what is the general rule about clay and glaze?

 

Thanks!!

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Your clay and glaze should mature at the same temp. Low fire glaze on cone 10 clay will probably craze. So if you want to use low fire glazes, it's best to use low fire clay. If you haven't cracked open the cone 10 bags yet, I would exchange them. At low fire temps you'll have a choice of either white clay or red clay. If you want to get into brown clays, I recommend working at cone 6. You'll have a lot more options for clay bodies at that temp, and you'll get bodies that vitrify and are better for functional work.

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I generally agree with Neil ... if you fire Cone 10 clays at that low a temperature you will have a weak finished product.

Most likely it will not be the color you think it should be. The color they show is achieved by firing it to Cone 10. (If you go look at clay supply web sites they often have images that show how the clay body looks when fired different ways and at different temps.)

Also the feel of it will not be pleasant. Under fired work looks and feels quite raw so you might not even be happy with the texture.

 

There are times when it is beneficial to under fire a clay body in order to have an open clay ... raku for instance ... but mostly you will be much better off to use a clay that produces the color and texture you want at the right Cone.

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If you bisque above low fire temps, the clay will not be porous enough to take glaze. You have to bisque low.

 

I don't trust a glaze that says it can be fired from cone 5 to 10. It's probably under-fired at the low end or over-fired at the high end, or both. Same goes with clay bodies.

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Hey,

You might want to look into classes at an Art Center or Community College to get started with.  Maybe some

one who is familiar with the best books on the subject can recommend books from the Ceramic Arts Daily

lists.  That way, you'll have the book in your possession and use this forum and the archives to answer

some of the questions that have those hard to find answers.   But don't think you'll get away from

making tests and alot of them... In the beginning, everything should be a test, with notes, because everything

matters.  Clay, glaze, temperature, bottom shelf or top shelf, etc.

     In the perfect world, clay is just clay and glaze is just glaze and anything goes, but in this world, both the

clay and glaze need to be compatible.  Years ago, I was getting ready to put a vessel in an exhibit and was

talking with the manager.  She was saying that years ago, they had an exhibit and had a well known

potters' vessel on a pedestal with a glass case covering it.  One day while walking by she noticed some dust

had fallen onto the pedestal surface, so they raised the glass up and cleaned the surface and put the glass

back down.  Less than two days later, she was checking the exhibit making sure everything was in order before

the show opened, and noticed more "dust".  Turns out that the glaze was flaking off the vessel that the potter

had made for the exhibit.  The potter was notified and he replaced the vessel in time for the show.

They attributed it to incompatible clay/glaze.

     If you want to learn alot in a short period of time, maybe a class, workshop, or a good book might be the answer.

It will be faster than posting a question and then waiting, and waiting for an answer.

good luck.

Alabama

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Well Molly, you gave me my morning smile!

Before you begin, you cannot imagine all the trouble that can cascade from a simple pottery idea ... Welcome to the club!!

Every potter has slipped down that slippery slope of " just wanting .... " to do something that sounds so simple and ends up not so simple. Try a new clay, change a glaze, lower a firing temp ... and, it never ends.

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