neilestrick

I developed a new platter mold, and a new approach to illustrating koi fish. I'm pretty excited about these.

I don't know how many times I stressed to students that throwing a bowl by starting with a cylinder style open up with a flat bottom was just a dish! Maybe I am a stubborn purist, but a bowl has a rounded inside, a smooth curve from one edge to the other through the bottom. In the long run they got the idea, and admitted they worked much better than a flat bottom.
 
best,
Pres

I constantly stress to my students that they need to know what they're going to make before they get the clay out of the bag. That way they'll know how much clay to prep, and have a clear path to successfully making a certain pot. There are specific steps that must be taken to make any form, and if you're not following those steps and just letting the clay do what it wants, you'll always end up with a crappy bowl.

I constantly stress to my students that they need to know what they're going to make before they get the clay out of the bag. That way they'll know how much clay to prep, and have a clear path to successfully making a certain pot. There are specific steps that must be taken to make any form, and if you're not following those steps and just letting the clay do what it wants, you'll always end up with a crappy bowl.

I constantly stress to my students that they need to know what they're going to make before they get the clay out of the bag. That way they'll know how much clay to prep, and have a clear path to successfully making a certain pot. There are specific steps that must be taken to make any form, and if you're not following those steps and just letting the clay do what it wants, you'll always end up with a crappy bowl.

Try Potterycrafts UK. It looks like they bought up Podmore a long time ago.

So that's different than firing in reduction. More like what we call reduction cooling. Firing like the Fallon would not reduce the clay body. No reason you couldn't use his system to reduce going up, though.
In grad school I studied under John Neely, who is known for his exploration of reduction cooling techniques, both in gas and wood firings. In those firings the kiln would be fired up in reduction like a typical firing, then also cooled in reduction. In a typical firing, the surface of the clay reoxidizes during cooling, giving the toasty brown colors to stoneware bodies. In reduction cooling, the body can't re-oxidize, so the iron stays black. In bodies with around 4.5% iron, you can get a totally black surface. With short periods of air introduced during cooling it will flash bright orange, red, and yellows.
Susan Harris does a lot of really nice reduction cooled work. https://www.artworkscedarcity.com/susan-harris-1

Min that sounds like a wasp/bee we have around here,  it is called a Cykada  killer,  it was imported here in the twenties when Kansas had the locust invasion.   A sting from them will put you in the hospital.  Just got back from the Senior housing,  my mother in-law was eating dinner and couple of ladies sat next to her.  They asked her where she use to live and she told them down the street,  she asked them where they use to live.   The one lady said she didn't remember and asked her friend,  her friend told her she came from Timbucktoo!   My mother in-law is 96  and has all her wits could barely keep a straight face,  living in a senior village might be fun after all.   Heading out to my studio.    Denice

I follow a number of people on Instagram who use bleeding underglaze, and I've never seen them making it bleed in the raw stage. It's always the glaze causing the bleed. I can control the degree of bleeding on my work by simply making the glaze more or less fluid.

I don't think adding flux to the underglaze is going to help much, unless you add enough that it actually melts like a glaze. Focus on the clear glaze. Needs to be fluid, and needs to be thick enough to move. I don't get any bleeding if the glaze is too thin.

The bleeding is from the glaze!

I follow a number of people on Instagram who use bleeding underglaze, and I've never seen them making it bleed in the raw stage. It's always the glaze causing the bleed. I can control the degree of bleeding on my work by simply making the glaze more or less fluid.

I don't think adding flux to the underglaze is going to help much, unless you add enough that it actually melts like a glaze. Focus on the clear glaze. Needs to be fluid, and needs to be thick enough to move. I don't get any bleeding if the glaze is too thin.

I don't think adding flux to the underglaze is going to help much, unless you add enough that it actually melts like a glaze. Focus on the clear glaze. Needs to be fluid, and needs to be thick enough to move. I don't get any bleeding if the glaze is too thin.

I follow a number of people on Instagram who use bleeding underglaze, and I've never seen them making it bleed in the raw stage. It's always the glaze causing the bleed. I can control the degree of bleeding on my work by simply making the glaze more or less fluid.

You need the clear glaze to move, and you have to put the underglaze thick enough that it'll get picked up. It shouldn't matter when you apply them. I do all my underglaze decorating on leather hard, and the glaze still moves it even though the underglaze gets bisque fired on.

Thinner brick use slightly more electricity, but they cool faster. The other potential issue is that they radiate more heat because they aren't insulated as well. Depending on your space and how it is vented, that may or may not be an issue.
If a kiln is rated to cone 10, it will get to cone 10, regardless of the brick thickness. I rarely sell new kilns that aren't 3" brick, but 2.5" brick is not a deal breaker with a used kiln at a good price IMO.
L&L's most powerful kilns, the JH crystalline series, are rated for cone 12, but are built with 2.5" brick. The thinner brick allow for faster cooling times, and more precise temperature control.

There's very little reason to fire to cone 10 in an electric kiln. Your glazes won't look the same as pots fired in a gas kiln to cone 10, because you can't do reduction in an electric. You might as well fire to cone 6 and save the wear and tear on your kiln. There are really nice vitrified, translucent, cone 6 porcelain bodies available from most clay suppliers.

A cone 6 kiln will only get to cone 6 when the elements are in perfect condition. That may mean only 30-50 firings. You could contact Skutt and ask them about using different elements that would allow that kiln to go to cone 10. That would mean that the kiln would pull higher amperage, though. Typically in an 18x18 kiln they pull 24 amps, which means you'd need a 30 amp breaker. You would probably need a new power cord to handle the higher amperage, and the internal wiring may need to be upgraded as well. All of that is pretty inexpensive, though, if you can do it yourself. If you got the kiln cheap, and the bricks are in good condition, it would be worth it.

Well my project yesterday was converting my manual kiln with kilnsitter into a digital kiln.
Mission complete.
 

There must be something in the air. I ruined a batch of 20 mugs two weeks ago!
@LeeU Cooking spray works great for keeping non-porous stamps from sticking. I had a batch of sprigs to do last year with very fine raised letters and detail in a plastic stamp, and after trying everything I could think of, cooking spray worked beautifully.

Iv'e seen tons of deer in our back yard, they've scared the heck out of me walking out to the observatory in the evenings just after dark with a loud "HUFF!". That's OK though, Iv'e snuck up on them and gotten payback. 
Unloaded the kiln with some mugs and planters, and some of my wife's first experiments with underglaze, I think she's gonna do great!. Sure feels good to have work on the table! Getting ready for a show at the nature center in a few weeks.
 
 
 

I put a bit of Bag Balm (kinda like Vaseline) on a cotton ball and lightly coated the metal press--which I think may be brass, not iron. I finally got a good impression today.  Yes, I rub from the back! Not fooling with plaster, tho I know I "should".  No picture of the best mother mold------I looked up and saw this---ran for the camera, which of course had the wrong lens on it...there were FOUR of 'em wandering through. I've lived here for 16 years and never seen this out my windows. 

Today I threw the bodies and necks for some tall bottles. I really enjoy assembling these. The bodies are 3lbs of clay, 12" tall. The necks only require 1lb since they're so narrow. I'll lose about 3" to shrinkage, so the finished pots will be just under 18".
 

Today I threw the bodies and necks for some tall bottles. I really enjoy assembling these. The bodies are 3lbs of clay, 12" tall. The necks only require 1lb since they're so narrow. I'll lose about 3" to shrinkage, so the finished pots will be just under 18".