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ClayKatie

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  1. Thanks for this kind hearted comment. I do want you to know though that I definitely don’t feel bad for not knowing everything. And learning this craft, especially the challenges, does not make me unhappy. Do not worry for me, I delight in “learning the abc’s” knowing I am swimming around in a craft that is as old as human history. I realize there is more to know about ceramics than I can wrap my head around all at once and that does not embarrass me or make me think I should give up. The truth is, I have had many questions along the way and books and google and YouTube have been amazing but, well, they miss the mark after a while:). I am not one who needs to know it all to be happy(I do like to eventually kniw enough to control my outcomes!)I have other areas of my life where I am the “expert”. Being the expert doesn't make me happy, learning and improving and the creative process, that is what makes me happy. I have learned a lot in a short amount of time and, frankly, it is awesome. I am loving it! And my pots came out pretty decent actually! I haven't had much time today for testing but I did soak a newly fired cup and a fully vitrified cone 6 body cup of the same design and then microwaved them both. I could feel no temperature difference. Now I’m sure someone will tell me how wrong or inaccurate that is, you are probably right, I’m still learning! Give people a break, its not a crime to learn something new, make mistakes and question “but WHY do you have to do it that way?”
  2. Well seeing as I had already built about 35 pieces out of this nebulous clay, (which I swore was a ^6 as I looked it up in Laguna’s online catalogue while I was standing over it at the art shop-need to upgrade my glasses again apparently) I begin my experiment and set my kiln. My pieces have thin walls, quite a bit of exposed clay and I am doing a slow glaze, I hope all these things add up to less heat work needed and more heatwork occurring at ^8. I also added in a 20 minute hold. My last pieces, done in ^6 clay to ^6 had a bit of a burnt look on some raw clay edges. Maybe my new kiln fires a little to hot? Again, arent I so good at bargaining with myself? Later I plan to go buy some ^6 B mix at the art store, this is too stressful!!
  3. Neilestrick and Mark C., I suppose it is probably wishful thinking on my part that my ^10 clay would be ok at ^8:). But I have read that mid fire and high fire clays are much less absorbent than a fully fired low fire clay, even when they are not fully fired. Also i have read that for these high fire clays ^10 is the max firing temp it can take, but in many applications firing lower is fine. Probably not for drinkware though, i get it. My brain gets to bargaining with itself,
  4. Min, thanks so much, great advice! I will read up more on absorption tests. I like this practical way to visualize what the clay is absorbing at cone 8, 9 or 10. I may try just comparing some ink absorption on a fully fired cone 6 clay next to my cone 8+20 min soaked ^10, just to see...
  5. I have been searching for answers for quite a while, finally decided to ask my own questions! I am learning the arts of ceramics at breakneck speed here, making alllll and the newbie mistakes in the name of knowledge acquisition! So I want to fire my cone 10 Laguna B Mix with Sand and Laguna Maya Red at cone 8 with a 20 minute hold. I am firing in oxidation in my 3 months old kiln with a cone 10 rating but I am so scared to wear out my kiln. I am making drinkware that has a medallion and a lower portion exposed with raw clay. I want the clay to be appropriately vitrified, especially since i have exposed portions. I would be going with cone 6 clay except my access to clays is poor in my town. One art store in my area carrying all cone 10’s except one, a 90 minute drive to the nearest supplier and shipped clays costing twice as much due to shipping. I am starting to think it may be cheaper to buy the cone 10 if i can get away with a fairly long element life by firing to cone 8. Also, I love these two cone 10 clays so far, they feel do strong! I own an Olympic Medallion. Any experience with firing cone 10 in oxidation and/or firing down to cone 8 with cone 10 clay bodies much appreciated! Katie
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