Rae Reich

Yes! Do the spooze! good luck

I can foresee glazing difficulties if you succeed in reattaching the foot before glazing, primarily consistent glaze application. I am assuming you will want a very clean looking glaze finish rather than piled-on layers. If you pre-drill the bisque pieces to accept metal anchors and then glaze and fire them separately, epoxy and anchors would be the most-likely-to-last repair (clean attachment area and holes thoroughly before firing). If you want to try the glaze-as-glue technique, I would still glaze each piece separately, then set them into the kiln touching where you want. Dampen the glazed places that you want to join and smush them together when on the kiln shelf. This join will be more fragile and could still break (it’s just a thin coat of glass with less integrity than clay) with careless handling.

I have had buckets of Mistake glazes, also Mystery glazes - bags of unknown origin that fired with desirable effects. Being the kind of potter who wants to make unique and original pieces, I cherish the special qualities and try to use those one-offs creatively while they last. The one-of-a-kind nature of That glaze on That pot can be a selling point. Some of us older potters have experienced the disappearance of specific glaze materials and we don’t always try to replicate the lost effects, we just find what new stuff we can do with what’s available. There are so many possibilities ….

There might be a shrinkage difference between the paper clay appendage and the already-bisqued hare. I would just make the appendage a bit bigger than the fired hare and fire separately. After firing, the paper clay bisque can be sanded down to fit and attached. Prepare both surfaces for the attachment as you’re making the new appendage.

What great glazes! And nice to read in the comments references to the Natzlers and Arneson, the extremes of the clay heroes of my student years. We all made weed pots, too. Layne’s persistence is obvious. His focus on the variety of surfaces he could achieve seems to me to be way beyond Gertrude, even. Perhaps because he also focused on what sells - Reds!! Oranges!! I, too, want to hold them!

Thanx, guys But, to paraphrase an old Hawaiian saying, “Never turn your back on your kiln.” It was my responsibility.

My biggest kiln disaster was when I left a person who was angry with me to monitor a ^10 firing in our big catenary arch kiln. When it got to temp, he walked away, leaving it to blast until I arrived 6 hours later. Looked in the peephole and saw … nothing! Took a day to cool enough to start unbricking the door. Melted hard brick kiln posts, melted wadding, shelves at all angles lodged into pots, pots were slumped together, some pots actually drooled like oatmeal onto other pots and shelves, some just unfolded. The hard brick kiln walls were bubbling brown/black. Amazingly, some of my carved pots survived intact, with only a drool from another pot. At least, it was only my pots and not anyone else’s! I still have some as “reminders”.

Seems like wetting and scraping the roads when “salting season” is over would alleviate the problem for almost everyone without redistributing dust through the air. And maybe come up with a less hazardous treatment in future. Good luck, Alaska <3

A soft and worn scrubby is a gentle abrasive that is more flexible than a new one.

If you are brushing on glaze, a high bisque for earthenware makes sense. It wouldn’t suck up the moisture in the glaze as fast. Would be worse for dipping, I think.

If these bumps didn’t appear until the decal firing, I think maybe that could be because of incomplete/inefficient earlier firings. I would definitely show your results to the clay maker, especially since it’s a new formula.

Jessica, when you have some work to dry thoroughly, all the above information will help, although I’d be reluctant to drill holes in something so small. If you have an oven with a pilot light that stays warm inside, or an electric oven that can be set to a very low temperature, you can put the charming bird to “candle” there for overnight or longer (remember to remove it when you cook!). Do this in addition to candling the whole kiln thoroughly before firing. Best wishes!

Shouldn’t. Dried oil can still feel tacky, but doesn’t create a film like paint or become crumbly like dried glaze. Test, test, test.

My first rookie mistake in kiln loading! My plates were larger and drooped irreparably, some onto the rims of other peoples’ pots. The lab tech watched me do it and left me to learn the hard way. I can laugh now

Adhesive backed cricut sheets should work. Press edges down securely with a wooden tool. Don’t touch the surface with anything after cleaning with alcohol, especially fingers. Be patient and let it dry well between coats. Definitely do a test design or two before committing. That tiny bottle will go far, even with multiple coats.

Use a brush when washing dusty crevices. Leftover dust will interfere with the glaze adhesion.

If you want a stencil for repeat production on the same forms, you might consider making a silicone ’mask’ form-fitted to the curves of the mugs. I wouldn’t have to be the full circumference, but the silicone makes it easy to place, remove and reuse. Also replicate. Many videos on YouTube on silicone mold making.

Maybe refers to using small cones in the kiln sitter shut-off and not the full size ones?

It would have to be a liner glaze that is able to deal with the thermal shock of rapid temp changes - haven’t found one yet. (I would use FlexSeal after firing) Good luck!

There are a few possibilities in James Chappell’ Clay and Glazes 1991. I have had success with his ^06 formulas, such as a wonderful eggshell matte for egg forms which plays well with Mason stains and oxides, but have not tried the ^018s. https://a.co/d/6ZokMfm EG-4 CLEAR SATIN MAT GLAZE ^018 alkaline, transparent, satin mat Pemco frit #25 48.6 Pemco frit #54 27.3 Lithium carbonate 9.9 Kaolin (any) 6.1 Silica 14.1 (Add: CMC 1tsp.) EG-6 CLEAR SEMI-MAT GLAZE Cone 016 alkaline frit, transparent, semi-mat (avoid iron, tends to muddy) Hommel frit #259. 54.4 Hommel frit #14. 38.8 Lithium carbonate. 8.0 Kaolin. 2.0 Add: Bentonite 2.0, CMC. 1tsp EG-7 CLEAR SATIN MAT GLAZE Cone 016 Pemco frit #25. 42.6 Pemco frit #54. 27.3 Lithium carbonate. 9.8 Kaolin. 6.2 Silica. 14.1 Add: CMC 1tsp There’s an alkaline frit, opaque, semi-gloss ^015 with chrome ox added for color you might test or modify EG-13 SAGE GREEN GLAZE Cone 015 Hommel frit #14. 45.3 Hommel frit #259. 54.7 Add: Bentonite. 2.0 Green chrome oxide. 3.0 Titanium oxide. 8.0 CMC 1tsp (this glaze fires to a sage green at cone 015, if overfired it turns metallic)

Cone 018?

Yes

Know which way the wind blows! I like a spacious area with flat surfaces to stage pots for loading and for making glazing decisions. Your patio looks perfect - absent gusty , rainy winds. I’ve always used boards to carry pots from making to drying to loading to glazing to loading to display/packing. What does your dream cart look like and do?

Ceramic pavers of that dimension will be hard to produce without some experimentation problems and not very sturdy, even here where we live, unless they are 2-3” thick. I would pour concrete pavers and imbed ceramic tiles into them. Or maybe make hollow (5 sided) forms of a heavily grogged clay to reinforce inside, after firing, by packing lightweight (mixed with gypsum, etc) concrete into the back.

I think it would be safe to have a small portion of a tequila tasse unglazed. However, working inside such a small area invites waxing accidents. Possibly latex resist would give you more correctability. Even easier and perhaps more striking, would be to put your logo on the outside?