Search the Community

Hi, I have made large female busts with Standard Ceramics sculpture clay that I have made into paper clay. It fires at ^2-^6 and the paper is burned out at the bisque stage. Because it is heavily grogged and I need a smooth finish for my glaze decoration, I rib it with a toothed rib when leatherhard to pull out the surface grog. I then sieve the same clay slip to remove grog and paint over the scored surface to create a smooth surface for glazing. I also brush on a layer of Amaco white underglaze to give a brighter background surface for the glazes. After bisque firing, I wipe off any loose dust etc. on the surface and then paint elaborate designs with Mayco's Stroke and Coat glazes, 3 coats. I then refire the piece only to ^06. As I open the kiln (at 100 degrees F, or less) I can hear the glaze pinging like crazy and on inspection can watch long cracks forming where the glaze is trying to fit the clay. On the curved areas, small sections of glaze lift up and I can see that much of the glaze surface is starting to shiver off the piece. I am exceedingly frustrated, can anyone give solutions?