Rae Reich

Thanks, @PeterH, for the cool research! I’ve been speculating about the supports used as the quevri are formed in the article on Georgian production. The irregular, yet effective, legs look a bit like stone or wood. Anyone know for sure?

Hi, Nancy! Glad you’re back to your project. Technically, I think it’s not the thickness of the walls but the soundness of them that keeps vessels whole under the pressure of the contents. You want to have a consistent thickness and no cracks for good drying and firing. A five foot tall jar might need up to 2” thickness, a two foot jar maybe less than 1”, but that is for strength during construction and firing, not strength against internal pressure, which comes from no cracks or fissures. (Burial was both the preventative and the cure for ancient cracked vessels.) There are YouTube videos of coiling large jars. Generally, the coils are about 1”-1 1/2” in diameter - human hand scale.

@PeterH, that would be great! Glad my fuzzy memories triggered your recollection. I think the transience of the objects was part of the aesthetic.

Maybe I also heard what @Babsis remembering. Back in the 70s I heard of an enterprising itinerant Raku potter with just a wheel and a little propane kiln. He would make tea bowls and fire them immediately to sell immediately to thrilled customers. At the time, it was thought to be a similar method to older Japanese Raku traditions. I think the goal of the old method would be to produce many useful items in a short time.

Think you might try some with some light colored underglaze decoration?

Cone 06 clay, fired to temp, is still porous enough for coasters. Non-porous bottoms are essential. A texture or shallow design on the upper surface will impede sticking to the vessel.

@Babs, that’s a difficult question. When I gift a piece to be used that way, I include a box of Floral Clay and have the frog already secured in place. That’s because I prefer to have a piece with multiple uses so I don’t make it permanent. It could be that customers at sales don’t want so many choices - a vase is a vase and can’t be a nut dish! That may be why @Min glues them. Also precludes lengthy instructions.

+1

I’ve always used Floral Clay or Florist’s Clay, just like my Granny. It’s green, oil based and pretty sticky. Can be re-kneaded to re-use. Lasts for years. Amazon or craft stores or - florists.

I’d try a thin rutile wash.

If it’s really unfired clay it can still be softened with water and you can stick a product like @JohnnyK recommends fairly well. Or you can, wit permission, file down the gnarly edges and smooth it as though it’s a collar, then paint to match. If it is plaster, moisten the area before dabbing on plaster patch. Pins or bamboo skewers might work better than dowels as anchors, pre-drill holes carefully.

I think @Minmay be right. I had similar breaking when my kiln was cooling draftily and unevenly. It happens if the pieces are on top with the lid cracked, or beside an open peephole early in the cooling. The difference between the dense hotter shelf and the cooling plate can be a factor in uneven cooling.

I think you want an engobe. You mix the stain, might take a lot, into a slip-like medium that you paint on. When it’s fired, it still will look unglazed, but will not rub off.

@oldlady’s advice worked well for me when I reconstituted ^06 glazes and underglazes that had dried up in their jars. The coffee grinder idea is good if you need them faster than patiently waiting several days or longer (except for glazes with suspended crystals like Dalmatian or Tutti Frutti). Passing the re-wetted glaze through a strainer will even out lumps for consistency.

Although clay ain’t dirt, it’s dirt enough!

I think the position of those lumps and ridges on the strap handle are what made it comfortable for the customer, having made a few unconventional mug handles myself. Don’t fash y’self trying to replicate and prepare the customer for a reasonable facsimile.

I do love my Giffen Grip for trimming too! I was never good at tapping to center…..

A 4” square of chamois, or artificial equivalent as for car washing, in my right hand for throwing. It delivers a minimum - just right - amount of water to the pot and can wrap around fingers that could be abraded by the wheel head. Needle tool. It’s handy to put the back end of wood-handled needle tool in the pencil sharpener to make a it a reversible drawing/decorating tool. For throwing and handbuilding.

Guess you’ll have to modify your replacement rap to remind customers that your work is always one of a kind. Probably the most mutually satisfactory solution is to let them choose a similarly priced item. Our choices in handmade wares is personal/idiosyncratic.

The suggestion of grog and/or sand indicates a coarse material, not fine. For what it’s worth, I think you need to make the walls of coil-built pots fairly thick to hold up to the pressure and handling you need to do while it’s still malleable. 3/8” to 1/2”

You could make the pot with a bottom, then cut it out carefully with a needle tool and leave it in place for the drying and firing - fire on a layer of silica sand. Tap it out after firing. That could work for unglazed ware, as your pot seems to be. Cut it out with a little margin for shrinkage.

Great stories, guys! Here in the city a gas kiln needs the same permit as a gas barbecue - none. Even so, I invited the local fire station over when I was firing my big old fire-breathing catenary and also to a raku firing (even got some sales). They appreciate knowing what’s going on and how to respond to concerned citizen calls. And they love fire, too., and appreciate when we treat it with respect.

Wow, @Hyn Patty! So much good information/experience! Glad you’re here

@oldlady, Hi! If you’re trying to apply a solid color all over even a medium size pot you’ll blow through those little jars pretty quick, but if the object is a graduated ombré effect there’s nothing better and uses much less glaze or stain. I used mostly stains mixed with a bit of clear or white base glaze. Also good if you don’t want brushmarks or to disturb underglaze. @RuthB, you’ll also need a fine screen to run your glazes/stains through to minimize clogging.

What they ^ said. Although I have a pancake compressor for the spray gun, I prefer to use the little compressor you can get with the Paasch for airbrush. Also get the tiny tip-cleaning needles and figure out how to label them (I use little tags of different colored tape or string, which also helps to locate them on my bench). Lots of fun to be had. Do lots of experiments and take notes.