Julie_R

Barter system @Rae Reich? Great idea. I love it!

So @Hulk, do you staple/glue/tape the paper to the board? Does it last very long? My husband is a builder & uses building wrap on the outside of frames & trusses. Its blue on one side & silver on the other. Would this work do you think or would it need to be absorbent?

So @LeeU, tell me more about this printers blanket you mention? Do you use it as a work surface or with a slab roller?

Yes @davidh4976. At one of the workshops I attended last year, the instructor used upside down vinyl on the surfaces at the community hall. then when the session was over she just rolled it up & hey presto, tables were left clean. I tried it for a while in the studio but i was a bit over zealous with the fettling knife & had to replace it.

Hi. I'm curious to find out what kind of work surface people prefer when rolling slabs and hand building and why? Canvas covered board? Fibre cement sheet? Ply wood? etc Personally I like to work on fibre cement sheet because I'm impatient and don't like to wait while the clay sets up. Drawback to that is I gotta work fast in the summer!

Thanks again everyone for sharing your knowledge. Uuurgh.... so much to learn. Definitely not a generic "one size fits all" kind of thing with glazes & clay bodies is it? Everything I've learned so far has been by spending hours on the internet, researching, watching videos (clayflix, yay), forums like this one, trial & (a lot of) error & testing, testing, testing. Any classes or workshops are only available in the major cities so not an option for me. Sometimes I feel like a one legged woman in an arse kicking competition . But I love the process & I love ceramics & I wont give up!

Thanks for your valuable replies. At least you've set me straight on what the problem isn't. I will do more testing at higher temps before I get the can opener out!

Hi, Ive been using a Duncan Pure Brilliance clear brush on glaze on white & terracotta earthen ware clays. I have tried it over slips, underglazes & directly onto the clay body (2 to 3 coats as recommended on 05/04 bisque) I am constantly getting crazing on the surface immediately when kiln is opened & also a few days later. I fire in a gas Port-O-Kiln which is ceramic fibre lined. I have tried.....ramping kiln slower, holding target temp longer, firing down to 700 before shutting off kiln. None of this seems to help. Im very careful not to open kiln when still warm. The reason I chose this glaze was because the info said it was craze resistatnt, was brushable & had a firing temp of 06. Could it be that the glaze just doesnt fit my clay or is it just that my kiln cools too quickly when i shut it off? My gut feeling is that the glaze doesnt handle that rapid cool as happens with these types of kilns. If thats the case, can I add anything to the glaze to help it resist thermal shock? ( i have about 5 litres of the stuff) Alternatively, can anyone suggest where i might find a clear glaze recipe that would work on earthenware clay fired in this type of gas kiln? Thanking you in advance.