nigich22

Grype, As I recall bisque was cone 06 ande glaze was 6 on my test tiles, but on my ray slab work I did not bisque but slow fired to cone 6. They were soap dishes that had been bone dry for weeks, and they were in a community kiln with work that was being glaze fired.

My first reaction would be that I want my ceramic experiences to help me stay sane, but the more I think about it, that's just no fun. So forget about sanity bring on the crazy, push my creativity, and when needed provide a cathartic release.

I have used the Black Raven, but only in slab work, I made some soap dishes for my mother in-law but I left them raw, no glaze just a fun texture for decoration. I had no issues with bloating either. If I remember correctly I did make a few test tiles with some glazes that I like, but as I recall the glazes reacted poorly to the clay body, and at the very least speckled, I think clear that I like to use did worse than that. Needless to say I am sure there are glazes that would work well with the Raven but just not any of mine.

Yes you do have to break down the gun to clean, but you are only looking an half a dozen parts at most and none so small that they are unmanageable. Additionally spraying them off with a hose or the sprayer in your sink makes clean up easy enough. The buy in for a cheap gun is 20 bucks or less, half the price of the critter, and if you are just learning or not a regular sprayer, then the price is right. I have never had an issue with leaking from a poor seal on any of these guns, however they have only seen light use. I have used a sprayer similar to the critter at a community center with a spray booth, and found that the balance less then desirable for me as well.

I recommend the compressor and HVLP route, and in this instance endorse cheeping with a harbor freight gun. Harbor freight paint guns will work well for what you need and when they inevitably wear out due to the nature of glaze (abrasive particulate) running through them you won't feel it in your wallet as bad. Do make sure you get a big enough compressor, lack of air volume and low psi will give you fits if you are spraying a lot. I have two HF paint guns one detail size and the other a standard size, both gravity feed, which I would recommend over a syphon style gun. You may have to play with thinning out a glaze or adjusting to a higher psi on your compressor to have good results. You should think about running your glaze through a screen or mesh too, even body shops run their paint through strainers and adjust viscosity with thinners to achieve desired results, not that you are painting a hot rod. No matter what you do if you adjust the glaze test and take notes, you will be glad you did, but above all else enjoy the journey.

For such a small run a jar of commercial glaze would be enough, which means there is not a large batch volume to dunk into. You could spray, but the glazes are often thick in there consistencies so you would have to thin it to spray. Brushing is just the least complicated form of application.

Well good to see you here sir, I actually talked to you, at your booth, at a fair in Oldham co. Kentucky. I was the dude with the baby, that talked to you about mudworks, so I have seen and held your pots. You have a lot going for you, you have a passion for your work, your pots feel good in the hand, and you are not afraid to experiment and try new things. All that having been said I think that you just need to continue to refine and develop your style, yours is good but there is always room to further develop your aesthetic. Think about how you use your textures and glazes. Also continue to develop your your body of work, really define the shapes forms and products you want to create. Keep up the hard work, meet your goals, consider all the advice that the great people here have offered, and weigh all your options. You make your success.

you should never apply ox blood directly to a kiln glaze or actual essence of ox it voids the warranty.

clever

I was also thinking that maybe a sager could work for you. That might give you the blackening reduction atmosphere that you want. Just thinking inside the box as it were. I've considered this. Would the unglazed surfaces blacken similarly in a sager? The dark lines (mosaic effect) are what I'm after as much as the surface reduction effects... I don't know how the underglaze would turn out, but finding out will be an adventure in it's own and who know what you will discover. I like your fountains by the way and am looking forward to see what you come up with.

I was also thinking that maybe a sager could work for you. That might give you the blackening reduction atmosphere that you want. Just thinking inside the box as it were.

I would say can you get an effect similar to your desired raku finish in different way. It seems that the stress of a quick cool down in the raku process might be to blame not the joints. If you can slow the cooling in a gas or electric kiln you probably won't have the casualties.

big fan of mud tools ribs and wires, and dirty girls wood tools myself.

speed ball offers an orange underglaze that is simple to use, you would need to apply a clear glaze on top if you want a gloss finish.