LinR

I have fired chips of glass stuck into the raw clay near the outside top of a mug and then bisqued it. I expected the glass to pop out but it melted and then when glazed gave a nice run of glass through the glaze. I have also used it in flatish wall pieces fired flat in the glaze fire to give an interesting highlight to an area. If the glass is too thick it can cause the clay to crack either in the firing or much later on. Tension problems I would guess. Lin

That's what I do. I use cone 6 glazes for the middle of the kiln and cone 4-5 at the top and bottom. I did talk with Olympic a long time ago. I don't think they were of much help. Someone in this Forum some time ago referred to these kilns as hot toys! I think they got it right. Lin

I have had an updraft, 5 burner, 7 cu. ft. Olympic kiln for many years. It has been mainly frustrating. I have found it very difficult to get it to reduce evenly. I have found it to vary in temperature by as much as 3 cones. Right now I fire to about a 61/2 and it is still cold at the top and bottom. As a hobbyist I am not in a position to get another kiln but I would not recommend this one to anyone. Lin

Thanks Min. That's what I thought. Preeta, the piece is a bird and when I say crusty I mean really crusty! Some of it I was able to knock off. I'll try sanding. That sounds like a good idea. The celadon is just exceptionally blah and I'd like to try to make it a bit more interesting. The Cobalt wash I use goes at least from Cone 6 to 12. Thanks for your ideas. L

They will be fired in a gas kiln at cone 6. One piece will have a cobalt wash applied over a celadon that didn't get any soda in the first firing. The wood fired piece is quite crusty and I hadn't thought of reglazing, just running it through a cone 6 firing. I'll try using a clear on that though and see what happens. Thanks for your comments.

Thank you. Can I use the same fresh wadding for both the wood and soda pots?

I have been told that wood and soda fired pieces can be refired at a lower temp. (cone 6) to smooth out rough surfaces on the wood fired pieces and to reglaze unsatisfactory soda fired pieces. Does anyone have experience with this? If so can the same wadding be used on the soda fired pots and the wood fired pots? I do understand that the wadding has to be placed in the same place as in the original firing.

Thanks Min. This gives me an idea of what to look for. Lin

I'm going to have pots in a once/year wood firing. Ben Bates Oribe Green Cone 9-13 was given in a CM this past year and looks very interesting but I am wondering with 6% Copper carbonate if it would be food safe fired between cone 10 - 12? recipe is: Bone ash 2% Talc 9% Whiting 23% Custer feldspar 31% EPK 11% Silica 24% add: Copper Carb 6% Thanks for any help you can offer.

An egg next to your piece gives a very good idea of size and looks nice too. Lin

Blowing into the kiln can also mean that you might blow the crumbs of soft brick in the peep hole all over your glazed pieces. If you do blow in be careful to intake your breath turned away from the peep hole. Lin

I'd love to know that secret too. I've had all sorts of suggestions none of which worked. The only thing that does work for me is having a clear space from my peephole to the cones and clear behind those to the back of the kiln. But then I have a small kiln. Good luck. I'll be watching to see what other people do. Lin

Do you have hot air heating in that room? If so close the vent and tape it over so that dust is not blown around. L

Apologies for not thanking you for your input. Cyberspace ate my password and I've been trying to get access back in between workshops and preparing for a sale. All seems well now thanks to Jennifer. I assumed that the bowls had a glaze on them because the inside surface was so juicy and there were drips on the edges of the bowls, facing up of course. Would a shino glaze release the wadding more easily than others? Thanks again for your comments. Lin

The Blackfish Gallery in Portland in conjunction with NCECA had an excellent exhibit of wood and soda fired pots. There was a series of small bowls which had been fired upside down, one on top of the other with the lovely wadding mark in the centre of the bowl. The wadding roughness had been ground off. As a learning soda/wood fire student I thought the inside of the bowl seemed to be glazed rather than coated with flashing slip. The surface was smooth and juicy. I would have thought that putting wadding on a glaze would have left it well and truly stuck and that it would be difficult to sand it down sufficiently to be functional on the inside of a bowl. Can someone explain what might have been done? Lin