Jose Posted February 25, 2022 Report Share Posted February 25, 2022 Hi everyone, getting back into pottery after a decade and it feels amazing. Currently I only have access to a pit and barrel. I'm interested in primitive/ alternative firing methods without bisque firing. Long story short, which clay should I use? Several books suggest smooth grog free, but that goes against everything I've researched for non bisque fired pottery. I'm interested in burnishing but temper in clay body limits the sheen from burnishing. I've thought if applying a a smooth slip over the clay to solve this. So, any thoughts and recommendations? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kellykopp Posted February 25, 2022 Report Share Posted February 25, 2022 Dear Jose, much like you, when I jumped back into working with clay, I chose to barrel fire my work. I only had an extremely old electric kiln, so I did bisque my ware before barrel firing, though. I initially used a clay I made myself (^9, high fire with lots of grog added) and a ^6 B-mix, but I lost a lot of work to thermal shock, then I switched to a commercial Raku clay with much more success. I did burnish some stuff...the commercial Raku body did nicely but it is a lot of work, but beautiful results! I then, like yourself, thought of applying a slip (but my goal was to add color) and after researching the idea a bit, I settled on using Terra Sigillata. I found several resources on line and in books on the subject, and I settled on following the process of a super nice gentleman named Vince Pitelka. I made several batches of Terra Sig out of different clays using his process with good results. I am not 100% sure, but I think you can even buy Terra Sig from some commercial ceramic stores. I do have notes from those times if you need more information. Good luck on your clay journey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterH Posted February 25, 2022 Report Share Posted February 25, 2022 2 hours ago, Kellykopp said: I settled on following the process of a super nice gentleman named Vince Pitelka. Super-Refined Terra Sigillata https://tinyurl.com/3jdnzrea PS Terra Sigillata 101: How to Make, Apply, and Troubleshoot Terra Sig https://tinyurl.com/mr3x2ax7 ... Some nice pix, and shows the syphoning-off-the-top step. How I make Terra Sig... https://tinyurl.com/bdf9hbt2 ... Shows an alternative to syphoning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted February 25, 2022 Report Share Posted February 25, 2022 I put terra sig on Porcelain (Coleman). I use OM #4 Ball clay for the terra sig The measurements in the video are off. It is a 591 ml bottle filled 3/4 of the way so it is really a 1/2 liter. for a full liter use 500 grams for 1/2 liter use 250 grams of clay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jose Posted February 26, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2022 Kelly, Peter, and Marcia, thank you all so very much! Thank you. Yes, I was leaning towards a raku clay as it's made handle thermal shocks. I can't get over that I received help so soon. I'm not good with tech/ social media and this is my first time posting anything on ANY website or media. I didn't think anyone would care, but if this is how this online community is, I'm extremely grateful to have found it. Marcia, I just learned about you and your work literally right before posting my original post. How fortuitous! Sincerely, thank you all so much. Blessings to you and your loved ones! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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