Pres
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Posts posted by Pres
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It has worked for me in the past with plaster. I would think that it should also work with the clay situation. You may have to dampen the clay to help with the adherence as the dust from the clay is what keeps the material from joining. The dowels should help also. My only other solution/s would be to cut the neck off completely at above the deterioration, and then mount it on a riser of some sort above the box, or build a piece that matches out of another material to extend the neck area, wrap casting gauze around the seem smooth and paint.
bst,
Pres
- Rae Reich and Jim Austin
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Take some of the unfired clay and mix it with white glue to a thin paste. Drill some anchor holes in the areas to be joined if possible and then add some nails with the heads cut off, or short wooden joiner dowels to the holes with the paste to join the sections together. Then use more paste to finish filling cracks, sand as spray paint.
best,
Pres
- Rae Reich and Jim Austin
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I am curios about the thickness of the glaze as compared to the thickness of the pot on a plate such as this. I would also wonder about the thickness of the rim as compared to the thickness of the bottom of the pot. Rereading passages in "Hamer" that are attached to an illustration of a crack similar to yours talks about compression of the base vs the thickness of the glaze surface. If your glaze surface in the bottom of this shallow bowl is thicker than the base of the bowl "the fluxing action of the glaze on the thin base makes the base almost vitrified and hence brittle. In cooling, if the body contracts more than the glaze, even by a small amount, it is too brittle and week to compress the glaze. The body ruptures and the crack probably continues up the side to the rim. . ."The Potters Dictionary, Frank and Janet Hamer.
I hope this helps you out. I have made several low bowls over the years, and find a few things helpful. These steps also are helpful for plates and platters.
- Never let any moisture sit in the bottom of a freshly thrown bowl
- As soon as possible without warping invert the bowl to set it on its rim for stiffening before trimming
- When trimming, make certain to be careful of the area around the inner and outer edges of the foot ring to make certain these areas are not too much thicker/thinner than the rest of the bowl
- When firing, as often as possible box the forms as in stacking them rim to rim in the kiln.
- When glazing, thoroughly wash the bowl with water without soaking the bottoms more than the rest of the bowl
- Pour or dip the bowl quickly, working for an even coat inside and out, without puddling the glaze in the bottom of the bowl.
best,
Pres
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I have been making chalices, and later patens for over 40 years now. I started selling them to a single customer that first required chalices for ceremonies, and then decided to order Communion sets for an award to honor one of their deceased members. This order has been a standing order now for over 25 years. It is basically the only order I do any more, as I have stepped back from much of what I used to do. I was wondering, have any of you had a long standing order for a particular customer?
QoTW: Do you have any long standing orders that you fill every year for several years?
best,
Pres
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I would think that the best placement for test tiles is all over the kiln. At the same time you might want to put witness cones in the same areas to really get an idea of exactly what is happening at various temps. . . we all know there are hot and cold spots in any kiln. This way you would be able to determine the limits of the clay vs. temp. Hope I am making sense?? Of course all IMHO!
best,
Pres
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Years ago, when I was teaching throwing to beginners, my mantra was Move the Clay, don't let it Move You! I don't know how many times I told the kids that. Little did I know that all of that moving the clay was also moving me. I find now that many fingers have become bent to fit the way I pull. Both hands have. . . .adjustments.... fingers permanently bent to fit other fingers, on the left for inside pulling, and fingers on the left made to reinforce the pointer when pulling. Weird what repetitive positions do to the body.
best,
Pres
- Teacher Lady and Hulk
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On 6/11/2022 at 4:51 PM, Mark C. said:
Just a heads up if you use Tin buy some NOW
Distributor Tin cost has just doubled
Most Tin is from Mymar and its a mess now politically
I'm not much of Tin user myself but if you are may want to double down on it now
Whoosh! I was so shocked this last summer when I made my way to SC in Pittsburgh. I had not bought materials in years except for an oxide here or there shipped to the house. This time I was way down on all sorts of glaze materials. What a shock... . . I was also really disappointed in what they had on hand in the way of equipment, kiln furniture and other items. Looking to visit my sister in NY, and maybe swing by Baileys on the way home.
best,
Pres
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@AlexMBThis is what the unit looks like. It could be used on any kiln. You would have to drill some holes in the floor of the kiln, but not very big or many.
https://www.baileypottery.com/c-250-vent.html
best,
Pres
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For years I fired a kiln with not venting system in my garage. Garage is brick with concrete floor, aluminum garage door, and metal entry door about 20X10. I fired the kiln through out the year. Temps in the garage would rise to about 110F at times. Last kiln died after 30+ years. New kiln smaller total square feet, but larger diameter has a floor vent system that has a flex hose attached to a fans system at the end. I have mounted this into a piece of plywood that I put in the open window to vent outside. The system works great and the garage stays cooler. The new kiln has a genesis controller that allows me to monitor the kiln on my computer or my phone. The firings seem to be a little brighter in color with the vent on, and the controller is spot on now that I have it calibrated. IMHO, if looking for a used or new kiln I would go with this sort of system. At least a kiln setter and downdraft vent system. Over the years at a HS I have found that over head hoods get in the way.
best,
Pres
- Piedmont Pottery and kswan
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@PeterH, don't bring back memories on me. . . my post in reply to that strand was in 2013!! Miss John B a lot here.
the idea behind the pancake is to align the particles and by moving the side walls upwards the particles would stay aligned around the transition from floor to side wall. This organization cuts down on all sorts of cracking problems when throwing off the hump. I constantly use if for throwing chalice cups, but not so much for stems as stems have a center hole for air release when joined to the cup. Larger pots works really well for also, especially when throwing several serving bowls etc.
best,
Pres
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Over the years, I have done custom work or taken on a commission that I might not have been suited for. Like @JohnnyKI find myself often intrigued by the solution to a problem. I once took a commission for 2000 vessels about twice a shot glass size. I have 6 months of lead time on the job and figured throw them off the hump. . . . not easily done as they had S cracks galore in the first load. Research lead to the use of a pancake opening up style that I still use today. I solved a problem, and learned a great lesson towards throwing off the hump.
I have over the years taken a job for the problem solving and turned down others because there was not challenge.
best,
Pres
- Callie Beller Diesel, Min and kswan
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Hi Lindsay, welcome to the forum.
I understand your interest here, as I was a HS teacher who taught mostly Ceramics classes. However, in the mid 80's a music colleague of mine and I wrote a grant to put in a computer studio for the arts in the school. I started teaching computer graphics courses with an emphasis on animation, 2D and 3D. Retired in 2009, I still fiddle with Corel Draw, Blender and several other graphics programs. Natural transition for me as they(ceramics, and CGI) are often the same beast. . . 3D.
As to a studio, you are on the right track, if you are interested in throwing, but you may want to get yourself a solid work area to try some handbuilding on.
best,
Pres
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I purchased a new kiln last year with the furniture kit, knowing that I would want to add more shelves in the future. I have always used cordierite shelves when teaching, and in the old kiln. I have not had issues with warping at cone 6, yet I have seen problems with other teachers that did not understand how to best place stilts. I have always used 3 stilts to support a shelf as this seems to give the most balanced support for the work and health for the shelf. I also make certain to keep fresh kiln wash on the shelves to limit the amount of pucks from glaze drips. . . best way to eliminate them is to clean bottoms well, use bevel undercuts, and catch lips on pots that will allow glaze run. even an engraved line on a foot area is often enough to stop a glaze run.
best,
Pres
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41 minutes ago, ATauer said:
I expressed my extreme displeasure that this is a commercial glaze not one of my own that I make now. Therefore I cannot match it or alter it.
My goof, I missed that in your original post.
best,
Pres
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Things are looking really great! When I use magic water, I have one container for the white clay, and one for the hazelnut clay. Reason being that as I use the magic water it becomes slip like. You have taken first steps here, and I hope you continue to challenge yourself and your ideas. Best of luck, with clay it is the journey, not necessarily the end result.
best,
Pres
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If you are working with your own glazes, you may be able to adjust the opacifiers to make the glaze less opaque. Test tiles are the best way to come up with a glaze that allows washes under the glaze to show through. An alternative is to try spraying washes from different angles on the textured piece. This allows 4 different variants down from top, up from bottom, right to left, left to right. The idea is to spray not at the surface but spray by the surface catching the surface with the edge of the spray.
best,
Pres
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I love pottery videos, but I didn't learn from then, and I didn't teach with them. Nothing beats a good coach. . . whether learning a sport, trade, or how to throw! Having someone guide you in the good habits, correcting you from bad ones like poor posture, chicken winging, over pressure, too much or too little water, cleanliness habits when throwing, use of ribs, hand and finger positions, arm bracing and so much more is easier, more effective and efficient with a good coach.
From London,
AIMHO
best,
Pres
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2 minutes ago, LeeU said:
I had to reconsider my response-I was deceiving myself! I do consider glaze as surface. I came to that realization the other day after making a form, with lots of texture, and immediately started imagining how I would treat it with various glazes--to create an even more interesting form & surface!
GOTCHA! :-)
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@Pyewackette Never said in the lead in discussion before I asked the question that Surface was only about glaze, Surface for me is about texture, pattern, movement, direction, shadow and reflection, color, shape, line and so much more. At the same time Surface and Form are parts of the same entity . . . ceramic object.
best,
Pres
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Hi folks, I was working a workshop this last weekend, talking about tools, when it hit me that I used one particular tool in preference to most of the others. This got me to wondering if others out there have a "go to" tool. A tool that you turn to whenever working with the clay because it seems just so right. My tool is the spoon end of a bamboo spoon from a moderately priced bamboo kitchen tool set. I use it to open up bowls and dishes, either flat or deep bottom forms, to shape/inflate pitchers and vases, large or small. It is almost the entire tool set in many cases. My second most favorite tool is a throwing stick that I use to open up chalice cups and mugs along with the occasional bottle form.
QotW: Do you have a favorite tool for throwing or hanbuilding that you can not do without?
best,
Pres
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Hi folks, I have been considering aesthetic decisions of late and thought. . . throw it out to the community! When it comes to making your work, are you more concerned with surface or with form? I have often started worked on pots trying to get a great functional form for the pot I am making, and yet in the end much of my effort in the work is about texturing the surface, either through decorating in the wet clay or through layers of glaze and inglaze decoration. I keep remembering an old art adage: reward those who look closer at the small parts of your work. I love surprises in the glazing where one glaze interacts with another to give me something new or how one glaze breaks over a texture to expose a different aspect of another glaze. One of ther reasons for years I worked to fire slow down to form crystals in the glazes.
QothW: Which intrigues you and motivates you most when working with or looking at pots: Form or Surface?
best,
Pres
Help: stress fractures shattering obsidian clay in glaze fire
in Studio Operations and Making Work
Posted
I don't use the foam to turn the pots onto as I believe that causes the area to dry differently than the rest of the pot. I let them set on the rim, thus drying the outside enough to stiffen them, and then trim. I like to trim most forms as soon as I can.
best,
Pres