Pres

Magnolia Mud posted a question very recently, actually quite a few questions, but this one seemed to be one not asked yet: Where do you go to obtain more information (and/or background) on ceramic related topics, ideas, suggestions, insights, or questions you pick up from colleagues, general reading, online forums, in casual discussion, or your own pondering? This strikes at the heart of why I am involved as a moderator and a contributor on the forum here. For years, there was no internet. . . yeah I'm that old. Local libraries put their budget into things that would get the biggest audience. . . usually fiction. Magazine subscriptions were available, but in specialty mags you know that they can be expensive. Books were the biggest source of my information in the 70's to the late 80's. I searched local bookstores, went to Penn State for the textbooks used in the art department at the student bookstore, checked with professors about what books to read, and get and then ordered them in. Over the years, I developed a pretty nice library of which you have seen many in the Potters Quiz of the Week. Then came the internet, and the world changed. It was a safe place in the early years, kind of elitist to be on it, and yet so much specialty information existed and forums popped up with discussions on all sorts of things several devoted to Ceramics. They came and went, and evolved. Some became fractured by argumentation, others died from lack of interest of lack of participation. Happy to say that our has not gone and seems relatively healthy. For me though, obtaining more information often calls for specialization, as in glazes chemistry, or firing techniques or some other area. Often this leads me to a thinking period (gestation) where the material is sifted and rethought to come to my own conclusions. Forms are usually that way, techniques with texture and decoration in the bare clay, and on the glazed surface. Much of it is a reformulation of old stuff, and new stuff, and Preston stuff. best, Pres

Tough one for all the kiln builders and the wanna bees! I know that I would have had to think long and hard before answering some. First question takes a lot of visual geometry; Second takes knowing the timeline of fiber casting materials development, as this book was written early;Third one is fogged with a bunch of made up false answers, and the last requires only knowing the shape of the brick that the weight of the arch starts on. best, Pres

Hmmmm No takers this week? Cowardice will get you no where. best, Pres

Week 42 The preferable method of casting a catenary arch kiln is to use the casting material on the: Outside of the form upside down. on the outside of the form right side up. on the inside of the form right side up. on the inside of the form upside down. The project casting in the book used a mix that was: hand mixed sand, vermiculite, clay and concrete hand mixed commercial Vari-Form B commercial Carborundum's LDS Moldable hand mixed sawdust, pea grog, clay, and cement Three things can be done to improve the strength and working properties of the casting mix: application of a heavy coating of ceramic-fiber liquid cement upon the interior surface of the cured casting; embedding lath wire one inch into the center of the tamping mix during application onto the arch form; and the use of_________________ instead of water. 50/50 water and dish detergent 50/50 sodium silicate and water colloidal-silica liquid mortar set liquid The ______________ brick is the load-bearing brick which takes the thrust from the completed arch. Keystone channel arch skew This weeks Pottery Quiz of the Week questions come from: Kiln Building with Spage-Age Materials, Frank A. Colson, c. 1975, Van Norstrand Reinhold Company, New York,NY Note from Pres: Always interested in kilns and firing, this book seemed appropriate for the Space Age, and from an energy-efficient standpoint. After all, we were having problems with petroleum fuels at the time, and many were changing over to electric, or insulating their kilns more for greater efficiency.

Min posted the following in the question pool not long ago: It’s always interesting to see what people are working on, a one off pot, a series, pulling handles, working out a new design, glazing, glaze testing.… just a snippet from your day of something in progress. My question would be what’s on your workbench? (pictures would be a welcome bonus!) Hmmmm! I will disappoint Min in my answer, as right now there is very little on my workbench except for the vice and tools that hang on the back wall of it the workbench. Then there are some of the most recent tools I had been using. However, for me this is a poor time of year since I need to get into the shop, but it is still pretty frozen. Now the workbench is important, as I often will use it to hold one end of some wire, to help bend tools with a ball peen hammer, or to hold some small tool for sawing or work with a dremel where holding it by hand would be dangerous. I have enough trouble with my hands without messing them up more. As far as making, an object on a bench, very little of that gets done lately as most of my making and assembling is done on the wheel form throwing pieces, to trimming them, and then assembly. The only things that are on a work area are slabs for wheel thrown bottoms and tops after a 4-6 sided object is assembled. These usually take about a week of assembly, as sometimes the proportions sketched or modeled out do not look right when put together . So another piece is thrown to match up. Examples of these can be found on my blog site. best, Pres

Week 41 A kiln design that contains the walls and the arch in one curve is the________________ kiln. Sprung arch Bound arch Catenary arch Barrel arch Domes and Crowns differ from sprung arches in that an arch describes a portion of a cylinder, while a dome or crown describes a portion of a _____________. parabola sphere hyperbola cone One Principle of kiln design the author states is that the chimney is approximately one-fourth to one-fifth of the ____________________ diameter. chamber damper door total inlet An _______________________ kiln is an example of a _________________ type kiln. Down-draft anagama cross-draft updraft This weeks Pottery Quiz of the Week questions come from: The Kiln Book, second edition, Frederick L. Olsen, c. 1983, Chilton Book Company/Radnor, PA Note from Pres: In the 80's as a new art teacher, new to ceramics, I considered building my own kiln. Alas, it did not happen, but I read a lot of books on kiln building, firing, and repairs. Some of which I have used over the years, some not. However, for anyone starting with kiln construction this book is a gem. There may be newer techniques out there today, but he does cover Fiber construction, alternative fuels, and multi chambered kilns. Answer Key: 3. Catenary arch-from the text.Pp. 35 2. Sphere—from the text Pp.36 1. chamber-from the text Pp61 Principle 6 2. anagama, 3. cross-draft-Crossdraft kilns originated in the Orient. The exact location and time is impossible to determine, but it is probably safe to assume that China, Korea, and Japan simultaneously developed similar crossdraft kilns known as bank or hole kilns. The hole kilns were in use during the Asuka period in Japan, the Sui period in China, and the Silla period in Korea. In Japan they were called Anagama, ana meaning hole or cavity and gama meaning kiln.

LeeU posted this question in another strand under Chemistry: Maybe a topic for a future question of the week....is "it" (like the spodumene effect) a problem (as in the science/craft sense it may well be) or is it a blessing (in the sense of the aesthetic/philosophy of the ceramicist)? I love cracks and "flaws" in my pieces (go out of my way to introduce them) but it does set me up for "having" to explain to the guy/gal whispering to the person with them that "This gal isn't very good-look at all the cracks and pinholes." that actually, I know what I am doing, I just choose a different path. Kinda like life! aaarrrggghhh best, Pres