LinR

Greenbarn is where the group get their materials. I'll check again with the glaze chair. $400 was what I was told. Lin

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

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

And make sure your pot has no dust or oil (from your fingers) on it before you glaze. Lin

That is beautiful. Lin

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

I can't think that it would be any different than flying with shampoo, lotion, toothpaste or any of the other things we might put in our checked luggage. You might be questions by customs when you arrive back in BC and have to explain that they are 'art supplies' . Lin

Your glaze should match your clay, ie if you are using Cone 6 clay use a cone 6 liner glaze for the inside and a cone 6 glaze on the outside. Are you doing you own firing or having the firing done elsewhere? If elsewhere consult the person firing that kiln as to what cones they fire to and if they will allow you to use a glaze that they don't provide. Lin

Don't forget to put a cookie under your experiments! Lin

My understanding is that if glass on clay does not fail in the kiln it will fail eventually. I have tried it a few times on non functional pieces and had loads of failures. Lin

Wow! Your experience shows. Please explain the hanging thingy in pix #3. Lin

CBC am if there is something interesting or CBC fm for classical music. Lin

Are you sure that the bottom of the ball of clay is well rounded when you apply it to the wheel? I used to get air trapped under the clay when applying it to the wheel. That wouldn't show by cutting through but it sure throws the clay off. Are you hooking your left elbow into your body so that hand is very steady? Lin

Toilet brush stays in the bucket but can only be used in the 5 gallon buckets as it's too long for the ice cream buckets.They don't get cleaned. I yearn for the simple life! Otherwise it is a series of cut down spatulas, paint sticks, etc. which stay in the smaller buckets. Lin

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

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

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

This can seemed to be all plastic except the rim, the lid and the handle. I feel bad about burning plastic and wouldn't have if I had had a clue that it was plastic. I know that sounds strange but it looked and felt like any other paint can and was covered with dry paint inside. The outside seemed normal. Lin

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

Try your same request to Fraser Valley Potter's Guild. You might get a reply. Lin

No worries. The kiln is out in a shed. I'll try to show results when I have them which won't be soon. Lin

Thanks folks. I'll try somewhere around 1300F. I've done sawdust firings in an outdoor kiln but just now they are not doing them so I thought it would be fun to see what would happen in a saggar in my kiln. Lin

I'd like to try to do a sawdust firing in a sagar in my gas kiln (7 cu ft). I would like to retain the burnishing on the piece which will have been bisque fired to a low temperature to retain the burnish. What cone should I go to for the sawdust firing? Thanks, Lin

I can't see that being any problem. If you throw on batts you are not on the wheel head. If you throw on the wheel head there is not enough damage to matter. I have been throwing on a wheel head in much worse shape than that and have had no problem. Lin