Jump to content

LinR

Members
  • Posts

    187
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by LinR

  1. I  belong to a group that has used the following recipe for Red Tenmouku  for something like 30 years.  It has been reliable at cones 5&6,  electric and gas and on the various clays we use.  As we all know the price of lithium has gone sky high and a 5 gallon bucket will now cost in the region of $400.  Is there a less costly ingredient that we can use in the place of the lithium or can someone recommend an equally reliable Tenmouku for mid fire?

    Red Tenmouku

    Cornish stone         73.5

    Whiting                         9.6

    Colemanite                 3.3

    Red Iron Oxide          9.1

    Lithium                           4.5

    Thanks for your help.

    Lin

  2. Is the unglazed area at the bottom  just a narrow band?  If so it is usual not to glaze a pot right down to the bottom.  It is hard to cover a large unglazed spot as it is hard to make the glaze stick.  As above, if you did not make the pot you have no idea what temperature to fire it.  If it is just a narrow band at the bottom and if it rally bothers you I would use a permanent marker as close to the colour of the vase as possible on the unglazed clay.  Lin

  3. Are your dry glazes in water tight containers? 

    I store my glazes outside but they are about 500 to 2000 gram mixed batches.  I do have to bring them in if it goes below -2C.  Small batches would freeze easier.  That is no problem unless they break their container.  I have had that happen and only found out when they thawed and slowly flowed out of the cracks in the plastic bucket.  Lin

  4. I use the toilet brush system but find that a paint stick still needs to be used for the bottom corners of the bucket. ( Do round buckets have corners?)  I got the brush attachment to my drill which also works fine, but as many of my glazes are in ice cream buckets, I have to remember to pour off the water to start the process.  Otherwise we have a very big mess.  The poured off water gets added in as the glaze becomes mixed. Also the bucket must be held firmly between my feet or the bucket just twirls around = another big mess.  It's a good thing I can do most of this outside so I can clean up with the garden hose!

    Lin

  5. Arthritis comes from wear and tear on the joints over the years.   If what you are doing causes pain, don't do it.  Figure out the movements which cause pain and avoid them.  You might have fewer problems doing hand building.  It is all a matter of where the  arthritis is and how you can work around it.

    For trigger finger a shot of cortisone into the offending part can help.  If you do have this treatment be very kind to your hands after and give them a good chance to recover.

    Lin

     

  6. I'll keep that in mind although I don't think I'll be doing this again. I used to have access to a once/year sawdust firing and had made these for a firing at least 4 years ago.  Then those firing were not allowed  because of the very dry conditions, then COVID and now they seem to have fallen off the radar.  Thus the experiment in the kiln  I'm satisfied with the results of 3 pieces and the other 2 will make it into a regular glaze firing.  Lin

  7. I finally got to fire my burnished pieces.  3 of them were wrapped  with banana and clementine peels, stuffed with cedar chips, animal bedding and other sawdust and surrounded with more wood chips. then wrapped in a paper bag to keep everything together. They were then placed into old paint cans and placed in the kiln lid down.  2 of these came out completely black which was what I was going for.  The third was in a can which evidently wasn't metal.  That was a big surprise.  I had no idea that paint cans were made of anything other than metal.  The can disappeared, evaporated? and the pot was as bisqued.  The kiln was fired to cone 018.

    The 4th pot was stuffed and wrapped as above.  I then wrapped it in heavy duty al. foil.  As it was an almost completely closed ikebana pot about 9"x4" I had to find something other than a paint can.  I found an old cast iron enameled  casserole that it just fitted into but it had no lid.  The casserole was to save the shelf in case anything bad happened.  The last pot was done as above and wrapped in foil and set on a waster plate.  These pots sat inside the open door of my kiln shed for a few hours.  When I next looked at them there had been a couple of holes pecked in the foil.  Blasted crows which know that al. foil usually means food!  I recovered them, covered the top of the casserole with al. foil (had lost the lid)and fired the kiln.

    These last 2 did not get as much carbon as the paint can ones but the big one is pretty good.  I'll wax them with bees wax next then seeif anyone likes them.

    Sorry about not providing pictures.  That's just not in my skill set.

    Lin

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.