Glazing spoons

[andryea]

4 minutes ago, Babs said:

 viewed from the side only touch the bench/ shelf in two small places .

The photo I posted was of a stilt for higher firing...no metal, may have gone out of style .

I'm afraid my spoons do not have a curve in the handle and when viewed from the side sit flat on the shelf.

I think I've seen the stilts you posted a photo of somewhere on the internet. Are the stilts with the metal inappropriate? (That's what I have.)

[Babs]

7 minutes ago, andryea said:

I'm afraid my spoons do not have a curve in the handle and when viewed from the side sit flat on the shelf.

I think I've seen the stilts you posted a photo of somewhere on the internet. Are the stilts with the metal inappropriate? (That's what I have.)

Depends on the metal, but that is not your main problem I fear. 

Design is amost everything.

Try quickly picking one ofyour spoons up and then a serving spoon , any spoon with a slight curve to the handle.

Which is easier?

Spoons for babies have an exaggerated curve for even more ease.

Yous are beautiful, not trying to discourage you.

Might be easier kiln packing just placing on two wads, quick polish.Make a couple with a curve and try on a couple of friends.

[andryea]

18 minutes ago, Babs said:

Depends on the metal, but that is not your main problem I fear. 

Design is amost everything.

Try quickly picking one ofyour spoons up and then a serving spoon , any spoon with a slight curve to the handle.

Which is easier?

Spoons for babies have an exaggerated curve for even more ease.

Yous are beautiful, not trying to discourage you.

Might be easier kiln packing just placing on two wads, quick polish.Make a couple with a curve and try on a couple of friends.

You are kind! No doubt you are correct with regards to ease of use. I do know that many of my spoons end up hanging on a wall or are displayed on a shelf. Go figure!

What does this mean?  Might be easier kiln packing just placing on two wads, quick polish.

[Bill Kielb]

31 minutes ago, andryea said:

My naivete is showing with how I thought one single centered stilt would be sufficient as that's how it worked at cone 06. As for using cones... this is something I know very little about and is probably something I ought to learn about.

Cones are fundamental but also very easy the simple answer ......  cones are made of glaze. Glazes contain silica, Alumina and fluxes. Silica and alumina will not melt on their own below about 3000 degrees so the fluxes help them melt sooner. Cones measure temperature but also measure how long at temperature, sort of like baking a cake at 350 degrees for thirty minutes. The cones melt reflecting time and temperature, also commonly called heatwork. Heatwork is the measure of both time and temperature. After all take our cake out early, it’s not done, take it out late, it’s overdone. Time at a temperature or range of temperatures is relevant in clay and baking.

So cones are likely the most accurate way to tell if the pots are done to an expected level because after all they are made of glaze and what better to tell how much heatwork has been done to the glazes in the kiln than with  something made of glaze.

As far as holding things up, place feet, foot, stilts near creases or changes of direction, those areas are usually the stiffest against  bending. You will figure it out for your clay and the things you build.

[Babs]

3 hours ago, andryea said:

You are kind! No doubt you are correct with regards to ease of use. I do know that many of my spoons end up hanging on a wall or are displayed on a shelf. Go figure!

What does this mean?  Might be easier kiln packing just placing on two wads, quick polish.

If you were to put a curve in your handle and a "bowled" container end for your spoons then as a few had said, there will be 2 pointd of contaact with bench so a seashell, soft brick, etc may be all you need.

First as folk say, check actual cone your kiln is firing to. It may be you need/can fire to a lower cone and be more succesdsful.

A lot of work going into your work, just a bit more....

From experience. Keep your different clay bodies and bisque ware well separated if same unfired colour..

[Callie Beller Diesel]

14 hours ago, andryea said:

What does this mean?  Might be easier kiln packing just placing on two wads, quick polish.

Wads, or wadding, are little balls (or other useful shapes) of a mixture of some sort of clay (usually something cheap and available like EPK) and alumina hydrate, which is really refractory and doesn’t melt. Sometimes people will add flour or sawdust, but this isn’t necessary or always useful. The alumina makes it so the wads don’t stick to the fired pot and can break off easily. The clay is to make the alumina formable, and if you’re using the flour or sawdust, it fires out in the kiln and creates voids, which will make the wads porous and even more easy to break off, especially if some glaze gets on them.  It’s a cheap and cheerful sort of solution if you don’t have stilts, or the right sized or shaped stilts. If you make kiln wash, you already have the ingredients you need.

It’s most often used in wood or soda firings, but it can also be used in other kilns. It is a single use sort of item. You don’t reuse wads, usually.

The polish part comes in at the end of the firing. If glaze does get on the wadding, it will bond them. You can break off the wads and you’ll have to grind and smooth the spot out a bit, but you won’t be wrecking kiln shelves. Small bits of soft brick can be used in a similar fashion to the wads, but most of us don’t have spare soft bricks lying around. And wadding is cheaper.

[Piedmont Pottery]

7 minutes ago, Callie Beller Diesel said:

Wads, or wadding, are little balls (or other useful shapes) of a mixture of some sort of clay (usually something cheap and available like EPK) and alumina hydrate, which is really refractory and doesn’t melt. Sometimes people will add flour or sawdust, but this isn’t necessary or always useful. The alumina makes it so the wads don’t stick to the fired pot and can break off easily. The clay is to make the alumina formable, and if you’re using the flour or sawdust, it fires out in the kiln and creates voids, which will make the wads porous and even more easy to break off, especially if some glaze gets on them.  It’s a cheap and cheerful sort of solution if you don’t have stilts, or the right sized or shaped stilts. If you make kiln wash, you already have the ingredients you need.

It’s most often used in wood or soda firings, but it can also be used in other kilns. It is a single use sort of item. You don’t reuse wads, usually.

The polish part comes in at the end of the firing. If glaze does get on the wadding, it will bond them. You can break off the wads and you’ll have to grind and smooth the spot out a bit, but you won’t be wrecking kiln shelves. Small bits of soft brick can be used in a similar fashion to the wads, but most of us don’t have spare soft bricks lying around. And wadding is cheaper.

I use wadding routinely in glaze firings now.  It has the advantage of giving a bit of extra space for student pieces that have a too thick glaze application allowing the glaze to pool at the bottom edges of a pot without reaching the shelf.  Another advantage is that it lets the hot air circulate under the pots so the bottoms and tops heat more evenly.  The kiln selves tend to lag a bit in heating compared to the pots.  Also, I do reuse wads routinely.  A drop of glue to stick them the the bottom of the pots is just as fast as rolling a ball of wadding and sticking it to a pot.

[andryea]

3 hours ago, Callie Beller Diesel said:

Wads, or wadding, are little balls (or other useful shapes) of a mixture of some sort of clay (usually something cheap and available like EPK) and alumina hydrate, which is really refractory and doesn’t melt. Sometimes people will add flour or sawdust, but this isn’t necessary or always useful. The alumina makes it so the wads don’t stick to the fired pot and can break off easily. The clay is to make the alumina formable, and if you’re using the flour or sawdust, it fires out in the kiln and creates voids, which will make the wads porous and even more easy to break off, especially if some glaze gets on them.  It’s a cheap and cheerful sort of solution if you don’t have stilts, or the right sized or shaped stilts. If you make kiln wash, you already have the ingredients you need.

It’s most often used in wood or soda firings, but it can also be used in other kilns. It is a single use sort of item. You don’t reuse wads, usually.

The polish part comes in at the end of the firing. If glaze does get on the wadding, it will bond them. You can break off the wads and you’ll have to grind and smooth the spot out a bit, but you won’t be wrecking kiln shelves. Small bits of soft brick can be used in a similar fashion to the wads, but most of us don’t have spare soft bricks lying around. And wadding is cheaper.

Wadding or wads, to a newbie like me, sounds both very technical and yet somewhat imprecise... kind of like a recipe for chicken soup. The ingredients vary from maker to maker. Regardless,  I'm trying to visualize what these look like before and after firing. Does anybody have a photo? I guess I could google it. While I understand the function I don't understand practical aspect. Thanks for your patience with me.

[Magnolia Mud Research]

8 minutes ago, andryea said:

Wadding or wads, to a newbie like me, sounds both very technical and yet somewhat imprecise... kind of like a recipe for chicken soup. The ingredients vary from maker to maker. Regardless,  I'm trying to visualize what these look like before and after firing. Does anybody have a photo? I guess I could google it. While I understand the function I don't understand practical aspect. Thanks for your patience with me.

Think of a lump of clay about the size and shape of a stack of three US Quarters (25 cent type).  That is a WAD.

LT

[Callie Beller Diesel]

So this is from a soda kiln from few years ago. You just mix your wadding ingredients to the consistency of clay. You don’t have to be super accurate with it (like with chicken soup), because as long as you’ve got a mixture you can knead and form into whatever shape you require, you’re good. Usually if you use between 1/4-1/2 alumina to clay, they’ll work. Note that if you want to add anything organic like flour or sawdust  in it, the mix does not store well, and you should make up only what you need.  (The stink is something else!)

Wads are the little white clay looking bits that you can see on the bottom of the pots there, or the coil looking thingys placed in between those two bowls so they didn’t stick together. When you’re wadding your pots after you glaze a piece you might find it helpful to use a little white glue or wood glue to attach them to the pots. This will make them easier to pick up and move around while loading. 

[Pres]

Years ago, I did some tests of ladle spoons. All had a curved handle, mild "S" with the bowl at the bottom attached to the handle going down the side of the bowl. I made handles with coils, pulled, slab, and extruded with the new at the time Bailey extruder. These were all glazed with a clean spot where the handle and the bowl touched the kiln shelf. Some interesting things occurred. The coil handles slumped to the shelf, The pulled handles did not, but seemed to change some shape, the slab handles (rolled with a slab roller) did slump somewhat and changed the curve, and finally the extruded handles did not slump reacting much like the pulled handles. I don't really know all of the mechanics, or if my conclusions are valid. However, I thought at the time, and still do think if has to do with the compressed alignment of the clay particles running the length of the handle, not as in the coil running perpendicular to the length of the handle. It could have been the clay I was using, or other factors. However, I made most of my ladle handles with pulled or extruded lengths instead of coils. I did make some handles of slabs where I believed a more decorative effect was more appropriate for the pot. 

As to the porcelain problem, as I have had very little experience with the material there is little direct knowledge. However, I have seen even stoneware pieces crack or slump when a single small three point trivet is placed under the piece.

 

best,

Pres