Kye Posted February 5, 2016 Report Share Posted February 5, 2016 Hi there. I fairly new to pottery, and don't know much! I'm taking classes at a local studio, where they do cone 10 reduction firing. I've just hand built some small birds. For firing, once glazed, I m trying to figure out a way to have them raised up a bit so that they arn't sitting on any anything and there not much foot area. I was considering poking a small pencil sized hole on the base, and making something of a stand for the birds to sit on in the kiln, if that makes sense. My question is, would waxed pottery stick or fuse to unglazed pottery. Any thoughts? I've included a photo of the birds. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted February 5, 2016 Report Share Posted February 5, 2016 Wax burns out in the first 600 degrees or so, so it won't help at all. The best way to keep raw clay from fusing in the firing is to put some alumina hydrate between them. The easiest way to apply the alumina is to mix it in with some wax resist. Put it anywhere the two pieces will touch. The wax burns out, the alumina stays. Your teacher should be familiar with this process.This is how we keep lids from sticking to the pot during glaze firings. Also, no glaze wherever the two touch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatthewV Posted February 5, 2016 Report Share Posted February 5, 2016 Your piece can rise above the shelf with a small ball of clay/alumina called wadding. The glaze still shouldn't touch the wadding. If it does, it will have a permanent perch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted February 5, 2016 Report Share Posted February 5, 2016 your photo did not make it so i wonder if you are interested in having a way for the birds to be raised above the floor of the kiln only during firing or are you looking for a way to finish off the bird's feet. if it is forever, making holes for wire feet is an idea you can pursue. make the holes, make pointed wads covered with Neil's mixture and be sure they are stable for the firing. once it is out of the kiln and the wads removed, the bird will have a place for permanent legs to fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kye Posted February 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2016 Thanks everyone. To reply to Oldlady, I guess the easiest way to explain it, is like a salt and pepper shaker. I want to put a permanent hole, or indent in the bottom, so that I can "hang" it in the kiln on another piece of bisqueware. There' s no good place to leave unglazed that wouldn't be obvious, the bottom footprint is quite small, and if there's any glaze there's a good chance it would run. I was thinking maybe I could hang it over a cookie kinda like a hanging a hat on an older style or pole type coat rack. I will look into the alumina suggestion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatthewV Posted February 6, 2016 Report Share Posted February 6, 2016 A good design aspect answers the question of how a piece will sit on the shelf. This is one of the surprisingly few limitations. A rule that can still be bent. If your piece could balance on a toothpick, it could also be fired on a bit of wadding with a short length of thicker nichrome heating element wire. You should work with gravity instead of against it. If glaze does hit wadding (even better, wadding with kiln wash) nothing bad happens to the equipment. The kiln wash (which is mostly alumina) will flake off and you will have some chalky white spots to grind away. On the scale of pottery problems, this is very very low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kye Posted February 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2016 Thanks everyone. I ended up buying some sort of cotton looking filling stuff sold at a pottery store. Can't remember what it's called but it looks like a role of white cotton, and apparently it's made of glass. The picture below shows the finished birds. The white stuff needs to be ground off after the fact, but it gets the job done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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