1515art

You did good keeping your cool, I had a friend here in the US ask me to make some green ware for a book he was writing about his memories growing up in China, he’s a ceramic artist but was unable to make the traditional everyday life pieces that needed to be thrown. I later found out he sold the work at auction in China and took credit for the work I did as his own, I was pissed off but let it go although you can bet it won’t happen again with him.

I’ve done it many times with mostly positive results, the difficulty is getting a sufficient enough layer of new glaze material to stick to the previously glazed vetrified piece. I’ve never used hair spray although have read it can help the glaze to adheare, if the piece is small enough I’ll put it in the microwave for a minute or two that will do 2 things , heat the surface a little and neutralize some of the surface oil from things like oil transferred from skin contact. Otherwise I’ll heat it with an electric heat gun, Then work quickly while the piece is warm. Use a loaded brush, a soft touch and try to avoid going over areas a second time as repeated brush strokes will begin to work against you. You will have to practice a little to get the feel, luckily if it fails to apply like you like it’s very easy to rinse off the newly applied glaze and start over.

The chairs do not have casters the legs have flat pads on the bottoms.

I have 3 of these and Pres is right, chair height is important I’m constantly adjusting the chair height depending on what operation. I like the chair high centering for better leverage then will adjust to a lower setting throwing so its easier to watch how the clay responds to my touch and trimming I’m usually sitting low again for me personally I can have more control and can better see the tool working.

Specifically, I use an old camel,back bladder it has the bag (naturally), hose, valve, a hook to hang and a snip of the mouthpiece with a diagonal cutter makes the nozzle. Holds plenty of water and you have great control over the drip. If you have access to medical supplies an iv drip works too.

I really like the idea of grinding wet to eliminate dust issues, I’ll have to pick up a suitable diamond abrasive wheel, I’ve glued wet sanding disks to old throwing bats but their useful life is short. I did lapidary work many years ago and we used a flat lap that didn’t seem much different than a wheel head with a 1” lip to dress the backside of polished stones a much more involved version of Hulks method. Sometimes I’ll chuck a finished piece on my giffen grip and hang a bag of water over the wheel head to provide a steady drip of water then use a diamond burr while spinning the ceramic ware on the wheel. Not the easiest way to go about finishing the bottoms, but if I’m not in production mode I’ve saved a few glaze disasters and am able to produce very clean edges with glazes that like/need to run and have smoothed bottoms with it.

George, thank you for the information interesting piece, I was more focused in it’s recent history how you came to own it and I’m guessing it’s been to a few experts or evaluations? You have knowledge of it and knowing some of that history will help, I’d imagine there are concerns beyond damage to just the kiln, any work being fired within the near proximity to your jar should it react unexpectedly would be in jeopardy. Another issue to consider, many copies are produced and have been for a very long time as I’m sure you are aware and it’s important to be certain of the materials used in the process of making it and their temperature range. It could be fired in it’s own sagger even then I think you are going to invest many times it’s retail decorative value in the process. Shipping will be expensive to and from China and you need to be aware of customs restrictions on antiquities some things going in can’t come back out.

george, can you tell us it’s history and How you can be certain of its authenticity and origin? Im also wondering why you believe it will have more than decorative value after refiring assuming it survives?

Most all the work I throw comes from a few basic forms, cylinder, cone, inverted cone or flat cylinder, but mostly a cylinder. Practice throwing a perfectly centered cylinder, everything else will fall into place as your skills progress, just have fun... sometimes turn the cylinders that aren’t working into other forms, many early cylinders become bowls and plates.

Also this site is very active with many experts in all Asian art and is open (slow response time) to all interested in Asian art no membership. https://www.asianart.com/phpforum/index.php

What are your travel limitations? Firing in China? I can’t say if anyone would be interested in your piece not personally knowing enough on those works but I have many friends and connections with experts across China and can ask the question and possibly get you valuable information on the various aspects of your decision should the piece be valuable enough to generate interest and if no one cares you are probably just fine doing with it as you wish. PM me if you want me to ask clark

Lol, if only my dirt had enough gold where that was a factor and actually the golds never supposed to get that far as the settling tanks are only for the soil/clay suspended in the water when the waters to dirty the fine gold won’t settle fast enough in the sluice and then it will be lost in the tailings.

Bill, I’m sure you are right and I can adjust as needed, good thing is the way it is now when not throwing clay I can convert my clay sink into a mini clean-up gold sluice.

I was amazed how well this worked when I saw a guy using it moving water between tubs, some ancient technique for watering crops or something like that . JohnnyK is right and this isn’t for everyone and if I was concerned about an accidental overflow I would drop the whole thing down into a water tight box and add a p trap at the end. I’m using it inside my studio this way for now and my clay water is diverted outside into the garden and waters the hedges so the traps not needed. The water level between the first and second tanks stays very close and the third tank is slightly lower. I think the large diameter pipe has little friction loss at this volume so the siphon action with atmospheric pressure keeps it fairly level. The tubes are 4 or 5 inches off the bottom so I think it will hold at least a gallon or two of sediment.

I thought I’d share a trick I picked up for separating mud from water while running a recirculating power sluice looking for gold. The same system seems to work well for the sink drain in my studio, it works off of some simple hydraulics and siphons water from tank to tank giving the heavy particles time to settle before exiting the tanks. I used three 5gal trash bins and connected them using 2” ABS, each connector was made from one 2” U joint, two 2” elbow and two 8” long nipples. The drain is one 2” ABS adaptor and a 2” sink drain gasket and one 24” long ABS nipple, everything glued with medium ABS cement. The elbow on the bottom allows you to fill the tubes and submerse them into the tanks while maintaining the siphon in the connecting tubes. Total cost for everything from Home Depot was under $50 and build time under an hour. The system easily handles the volume of the water as it drains directly down into the first bin and when the bin is at capacity with solids it is simple to remove, empty and replace. The design allows infinite number of settling bins and any size and shape of container pretty much can be adapted to work, so I think this could be made from a variety of free parts.

I can’t imagine trying to transport work just thrown on the wheel in my car and in all the years I’ve worked in clay never a studio or classroom has been without a place to accomodate some work in progress, at the very least one project at a time if space is really limited. I did belong to one studio that for a time was out of shelves to store clay bags and odd tools and any work that would fit for extended time, perhaps that’s the case and there is a misunderstanding. Like liambesaw said I’d ask whoever is in charge or another member what space is available.

I’ve had good result with a refire most of the time. lots of good suggestions and another trick that will make the fresh glaze stick better is put the piece in the microwave oven for a minute then try and keep fresh fingerprints off. Helps to stop the fresh liquid glaze from crawling on application and the warm ceramic fresh from the microwave helps to get a thicker application of glaze. Another re glaze technique is chose a second layer that is a lower temperature, allowing the layers to stack instead of flowing together keeping in mind the intended use of the ceramic item. On multiple firing at lower subsequent cones puts less stress on the clay body than firing up to full vitrification repeatedly it going to depend on the desired final outcome. One more thing be patient once the wet glaze is on the pot sometimes forcing it to dry to quickly will make the new un-fired glaze crack and peel as it dries if this starts to happen put the piece in a cool shaded area to dry more slowly.

Shawn, watching you throw your technique is actually pretty good a couple of small suggestions, a little downward pressure on the rim as you open helps to seal the outside of the ring to the bat and helps to maintain center, staying perfectly on center at all time is absolute key to throwing well and maximizing the available clay. Hulk is spot on, work on timing you are releasing hold on the clay a bit to fast, take some time at the end of every action to allow the clay time to completely adjust to the last move will cure much of the wobble that holds you back latter in the throwing process. keep up the good work, you are doing exceptionally well for your time on the wheel. clark

Take classes, you will learn something new from every teacher you have, this book was one I found helpful many years ago when I was learning to throw, “Pottery on the Wheel” by Elisabeth S. woody I did see the book for under $5 on line and internet videos were something not available when I was a young potter. I made a throwing video back in the 1970’s it was a grant funded project I was asked to do with one of the professors, probably good for everyone I don’t think it ever made the transition to digital. good luck