BlueSky Posted August 2, 2023 Report Share Posted August 2, 2023 Hello Potters, My (IMCO ^6 Red Velvet Classic) clay plucks. Sometimes I put them on biscuits. This time I thought I'd put them on top of a little pile of alumina. The alumina has left a yucky looking discoloration. I have tried to cold work it off to no avail so far. Has anybody had this experience and do you have a fix? FYI: It's a beautiful dark brown clay body that is a fluxed up version of the regular Red Velvet clay body to make it less absorbent. Also, I hate kiln wash. My glazes don't run. If I'm testing a new glaze, I put them on top of a biscuit. Would kiln wash keep my pots from plucking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hulk Posted August 3, 2023 Report Share Posted August 3, 2023 Hi BlueSky, Welcome to the Forum! I like that clay*. If you pluck a bit of kiln wash, it does come off fairly easily. I'm not seeing the IMCO Red Velvet Classic pluck any more that the other clays I use. I smooth and polish pot feet with round diamond pad that I have glued to a bat - wet the bat, work the pot around flat, then tip up to round off the edge a bit, voilà, done! Before getting the diamond pad, I used fine sandpaper - the "wet" kind - taped down to a board, same principle, more work (the spinning bat helps!). Wet, to control dust. For a big chunk, I'll dremel it off to get close to flush/flat, then finish with the diamond pad or sanding board. Four hundred grit is likely fine enough, yet still works fairly fast. Dremel makes dust, so I'll head outside and put the respirator mask on... Hope that helps! Check back for more responses in a day or so. *I really like IMCO Red Velvet Classic; it's plastic, dries well (better than other reds I've tried), has a nice color. I also like the DC 3-5 (white-ish stoneware) My experience with red stonewares - they can be sensitive to over firing, even firing right at the high end of the range - with fizzing/bubbling, turning purple-ish, and sticking/plucking. The Classic seems to tolerate a cone 6 ok; I haven't pushed it higher yet... Rae Reich 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Min Posted August 3, 2023 Report Share Posted August 3, 2023 Could you post a picture of the discolouration? Sounds like the clay is fluxing to the alumina? Are you firing over cone 6? 3 hours ago, BlueSky said: Would kiln wash keep my pots from plucking? Probably. There is kiln wash and then there is the good kind of kiln wash. Link here discussing various ones. I prefer the high alumina content one of 50 alumina hydrate, 25 epk, 25 calcined epk. Rae Reich and PeterH 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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