Rae Reich

Judging by the foot, it’s a smooth white clay fired to temperature, with a black (cobalt/manganese) lava-type glaze. It’s not that Raku is poisonous itself - although there could be release of some glaze elements with cooking/heating - but firing to such low temperatures leaves the clay still porous and it will absorb food and liquids that you can’t really wash or clean out. Storage of dry tea leaves might be all right, except that porous clay will not be air tight. Raku tea bowls are intended to be used only for plain tea, no milk, lemon or sugar. I think the absorbed tea from use is considered proper aging (never wash with soap!).

Think you may be our pioneer in this very interesting field! Looking forward to anything you share.

Please don’t think I told you to refire a Cone 6 to Cone 10R! Refire to the original cone. You are certainly right to think of crazing and pinholes as flaws that affect utility and salability! Crazing is usually because the glaze doesn’t quite fit the clay. Test to find which of the available ones fit the clay. Also, if a cool draft hits the pot before it cools down enough, sometimes the glaze will shrink faster than the clay and craze. Or, if the glaze is way too thick, sometimes. There’s lots of info about pinholing here. Search topics. Mostly, it’s application but sometimes it’s a mistake in the firing - if you suspect the firing, check the other peoples’ work in that firing for evidence before getting too riled up

About that Cranberry Cone 10 - reds are notorious (now you know) for being ‘fugitive’. It really does depend, often, on where in the kiln as well as how thick/thin the application and, importantly, the length, intensity and duration of the reduction. You have little control of these factors in your studio, so reds are usually a happy accident. Further, the best red outcomes are frequently on the inside of the vessels where they get the most even reduction, leaving the outside anywhere from clear to snot. Some potters put a little cobalt in their reds so that where it doesn’t go red it will at least be blue. Re-firing disappointing reds is common. Sometimes a different spot or firing conditions will do the trick. You don’t need to re-apply the glaze, just put it back in for another Cone 10 Reduction.

Looking at the photo again, I think maybe the drying/shrinkage problem is because of the design. The center portion is the weakest, that is, the least reinforced by surrounding structure. If you could change your design in that center section to have slightly thicker walls it might have a stabilizing effect during forming and drying. Alternatively, you could make the form symmetrical when cast - with two ‘legs’ sticking up as well as two down - then cut off the upper ‘legs’ after drying. This would equalize the tension on the center section while drying.

I agree with Pye, oxides and the many colors of Mason stains can be painted directly onto the helmet without re-firing. If you really want to wear your helmet (cool idea for a project!) without smudging the decorations you can mix the colorants with the liquid wax used by potters, thinning with water to desired consistency for brush decoration. Won’t take heavy wear, but will have a sheen. Test application on some shards first. If you really love this piece, consider doing it a second time, using what you’ve learned from this one.

If the fabric printing surface could be set on a ventilated platform, a fine screen or punched metal, the drying could be made more uniform. I would suggest completely restricting drafts and temperature changes to dry slowly and evenly.

Hard water leaves a whitish mineral deposit when it evaporates. Vinegar will dissolve it. Though I haven’t worked with plaster for a while, I do seem to remember some advice about washing a plaster slab with a vinegar/water solution. That may have been advice for our region; we have hard enough water to necessitate regular purchase of vinegar.

Might be time to do a test. Wedge enough clay on your new plaster (wipe plaster down first as suggested with a damp cloth) to make one of each item that you usually make. Carve TEST on the pieces and fire with your regular ware.

Dear Pye - the way I learned anything about earthenware was to make stuff, make assumptions, make mistakes, learn stuff, take notes! Your experience and observations are making sense of technicalities and limitations (as your parenthesis shows).

I have had the same microwave overheating result with commercial low-fire pieces, even when they are glazed all over. I don’t think that the problem is with retained water. My theory is that the clay is less dense than high-fire so the heat in handles dissipates more slowly and plate rims stay untouchable longer too. Part of my reasoning comes from noticing that glass measuring cup handles and Pyrex handles (dense) can usually be grasped bare-handed. Bottom line - put a microwave warning on them - Something like, “Use Caution When Removing From Microwave” like on microwave food. I don’t think there’s a clay body remedy.

That seems odd to me. 2 and 7 look to have more belly - is it the height of the slender ones, do you think?

2 and 7 for me

Whatta great idea for those small bits! More details on grid material and longevity???

To avoid any possibility of copyright infringement???

That's great for those kinds of lids, but twisting threaded lids open and closed enough times to smooth gives me carpal tunnel just thinking about

Bravo! Much better suited to the media than crunchy clay-to-clay solutions!

Oh, very nice, @liambesaw! I've always had a fondness for those old oil cans - you get the nostalgia vote

More thoughts: lots of pickling and canning going on these days. If you have room to make large vats and crocks, there's a market. I have an old, cast peanut butter crock and it's clear that it was glaze fired upside down on its unglazed rim, leaving glaze on the gallery. Sets could be fired nested upside down. And growlers for the home brewers.

I wonder if the organizations that produce fairs and festivals would consider putting their fairs online - they will be losing revenue for their causes, too.

I'm thinking that it would be wise to plan for a year without shows. Maybe next summer. In the meantime, online shopping appeals to many customers, possibly potters can create online co-ops to get away from etsy distractions. Also, in the short term, consider marketing hand sanitizer bottles - if you know a sewist, see about selling masks and bottles together. Right now, Nurseries are open (because they sell food plants) so think about placing wares there - vases, planters, wall art, garden themed mugs and platters. Stay safe.

@Callie Beller Diesel, more details on the mug lids? I love the "Dalmatian" mug!

@Mark C., is the Seafoam Satin Matte on the bottom shelf of the last photo? A nice addition to your palette.

I've been told it isn't really snow until you have to shovel it

I have a fiberglass stationary tub sitting just outside my studio door (southern California) where the wall is plumbed for a cold water bathtub spout, at stationary tub height , and a hand-held shower head. No drainage plumbed, just a bucket beneath the drain, so I am careful with water usage. Since the tub is not plumbed, but freestanding, I can move it out of the way if necessary.