MCD Posted November 21, 2018 Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 I am a retired teacher. I studied ceramics at Glasgow school of Art in the 80s. Now I would like to develop some glazes from wood ash. I also turn wood and my son is a furniture maker so I need to find away to use all the wood shavings hence the interest in ash glazes. I have begun by using a Emanuel Cooper ash glaze and have used willow ash in it mixed with some bone ash. The tests are in the kiln as I type. The more I read the more options there are. I think I will need to do more triable and line blending glaze tests. This firing is perhaps wishful thinking . I realise that this will be a journey and probably worth a PHD ha! I have made a sagger to make ash . I plan to burn the shavings to bisque temperature. Is this necessary or can I just burn the shavings in a garden fire pit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyK Posted November 21, 2018 Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 Welcome to the Forum MCD...and welcome to the first step in what can be a verrry long journey. I think you can say that each and every firing is wishful thinking and after awhile the wishes keep coming true. As for creating your ash, if you want to keep the ash pure to a specific species and thus give you better control, the saggar might be the best way to keep contaminates out. If you just want ash, the fire pit would work just fine. The triaxial and line blending tests are a good start, but if you have seconds or rejected pot, I think they would give a better representation of how the glazes would react in the way of pattern and flow unless you use some big test tiles with different contours. In 5 or 10 years you may have enough material to start on your PHD Good luck! JohnnyK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted November 21, 2018 Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 Welcome to a very deep rabbit hole! You'll have fun. One thing to keep in mind is that it takes a lot of wood to make enough ash to do much more than run tests. Think of how much wood you can burn in your fireplace before it needs to be cleaned out. Once you get into making full buckets of glaze, you may have to find other sources in order to get the volume you need, like friends with fireplaces or wood stoves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curt Posted November 22, 2018 Report Share Posted November 22, 2018 Further to Neil’s point, 100 kilos of wood makes about 1 to 1 1/2 kilos of ash. Totally clean ash is OK, but a lot of what makes ash sexy is all that unknown stuff that comes along with it out of your fireplace and everyone else’s. However, when you source your ash this way every batch is unique, and never to be repeated. Let the dilemmas begin.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted November 22, 2018 Report Share Posted November 22, 2018 I do not wash my ash-just a note as many do-I like the unknown features Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted November 22, 2018 Report Share Posted November 22, 2018 Back when I used glazes with real ash, I always washed it because I was spraying my glazes, and the overspray mist would make my face itch. Unwashed ash makes a caustic solution. If you're just dipping glazes, it won't be a big deal, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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