Summerss Posted October 17, 2023 Report Share Posted October 17, 2023 I’m mainly a hobby potter; I’ve been throwing for about 12 years and have always had my worked fired for me by professors or friends with kilns. I’ve recently purchased an electric Skutt kiln and am testing things out. While I’m doing lots of trial and error and know that’s the best way to learn, I’m also looking for some resource recommendations on firing/glaze reactions/etc. I’m looking something just above beginner level (something that covers some basics still while diving a little deeper, but not too heady yet). The clays I’m currently using are cone 6. What are some favorites that have helped you all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hulk Posted October 17, 2023 Report Share Posted October 17, 2023 (edited) Resource favs: Tony Hansen's site, a treasure of detailed info; here's the articles list Ceramics Technical Articles (digitalfire.com) See also blog, recipes, glossary... This Forum! Note, any closed/archived discussion topic isn't included when using the internal search feature*. Susen Peterson's book, The Craft and Art of Clay Functional smoke detector(s), fire extinguishers; Kiln glasses; Be home any time the kiln is over 452°F (or so)... *"External" search, from your favorite search engine casts a wider net; try including https://community.ceramicartsdaily.org/ in your search string, e.g. https://community.ceramicartsdaily.org and Hulk and "kiln schedule" will return open and closed topics... Edited October 18, 2023 by Hulk oops, post count > 1 Rae Reich 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Min Posted October 18, 2023 Report Share Posted October 18, 2023 5 hours ago, Summerss said: looking for some resource recommendations on firing/glaze reactions/etc. Could you be a little more specific in what you are asking for resource recommendations with? It's a fairly broad question so if it could be narrowed down a bit it might help get more specific replies. Bisque firing, glaze firing, firing schedules, down firing, drop and hold schedules, preprogrammed schedules versus using a custom schedule or something else? For glaze reactions are you looking for commercial glaze reactions resources, recipe resources, reactive glazes info, or something else? Type of clay you are using at cone 6, is it a dark claybody or a light firing one etc. Do you need info on why some claybodies and/or glazes are more prone to glaze faults or how to troubleshoot glazes or ? Are you making functional pots, using commercial glazes or mixing your own? Need help choosing some recipes? Does the kiln have a controller or is it manual? Congrats on getting your own kiln! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted October 18, 2023 Report Share Posted October 18, 2023 For starters, just use the pre-prorgrammed firing schedules in the controller. They work great. Medium is good for most things. Once you have your glazes figured out, then if you want to you could start playing with cooling cycles and holds and whatnot. For the glazes, make a whole bunch of test tiles and just test every combination, and at varying thicknesses. Remember that glaze A over glaze B may not look the same as B over A. Make sure your test tiles are vertical tiles, not flat, so you can see how they run. Fire the tiles on cookies (thin slabs) to protect your kiln shelves. There are also Facebook pages devoted to glaze lines like the Amaco Potter's Choice series, and many glaze manufacturers have sample photos on their websites of their glazes layered. Roberta12 and Callie Beller Diesel 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summerss Posted October 18, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2023 11 hours ago, Min said: Could you be a little more specific in what you are asking for resource recommendations with? It's a fairly broad question so if it could be narrowed down a bit it might help get more specific replies. Bisque firing, glaze firing, firing schedules, down firing, drop and hold schedules, preprogrammed schedules versus using a custom schedule or something else? For glaze reactions are you looking for commercial glaze reactions resources, recipe resources, reactive glazes info, or something else? Type of clay you are using at cone 6, is it a dark claybody or a light firing one etc. Do you need info on why some claybodies and/or glazes are more prone to glaze faults or how to troubleshoot glazes or ? Are you making functional pots, using commercial glazes or mixing your own? Need help choosing some recipes? Does the kiln have a controller or is it manual? Congrats on getting your own kiln! Thanks for your response! The clay body I use is a stoneware; Laguna #50. I’m using commercial glazes for now, I make functional ware, and my kiln has a controller (Skutt KMT 818-30A-3). I'm mostly looking to gain knowledge on glaze firing and how different techniques affect the glazes (like holds, temps, and learning what the techniques even are!) I am currently firing with Skutts pre-programmed settings. In general, I am just curious to learn more about this subject, but something that has triggered my research is a glaze I’m using that is turning out much different than expected AND Laguna recommends not to fire the cone 6 clay past cone 5.5. I hope this narrows down my question a bit more… Overall, my knowledge on glaze firing is very limited and I think any resources that cover firing techniques and how they affect glaze will be helpful! Thanks so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summerss Posted October 18, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2023 15 hours ago, Hulk said: Resource favs: Tony Hansen's site, a treasure of detailed info; here's the articles list Ceramics Technical Articles (digitalfire.com) See also blog, recipes, glossary... This Forum! Note, any closed/archived discussion topic isn't included when using the internal search feature*. Susen Peterson's book, The Craft and Art of Clay Functional smoke detector(s), fire extinguishers; Kiln glasses; Be home any time the kiln is over 452°F (or so)... *"External" search, from your favorite search engine casts a wider net; try including https://community.ceramicartsdaily.org/ in your search string, e.g. https://community.ceramicartsdaily.org and Hulk and "kiln schedule" will return open and closed topics... This is great! I will check these out; thanks so much! Hulk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callie Beller Diesel Posted October 18, 2023 Report Share Posted October 18, 2023 1 hour ago, Summerss said: Laguna recommends not to fire the cone 6 clay past cone 5.5. Laguna 50, and any other clay body with manganese speckles tends to experience bloating if you go much hotter. It’s not the clay itself, it’s the manganese granules breaking down and creating gasses that form pockets in the clay, or may contribute to pinholes and blisters in glazes. If you want to understand what happens to clay inside the kiln, start with this digitalfire article. Any terms highlighted in blue are outbound links to definitions or other articles that will explain things in more depth. There’s also more links and definitions stuff at the very bottom of the page. Cannot recommend this one enough to beginners. Min 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summerss Posted October 18, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2023 2 hours ago, Callie Beller Diesel said: Laguna 50, and any other clay body with manganese speckles tends to experience bloating if you go much hotter. It’s not the clay itself, it’s the manganese granules breaking down and creating gasses that form pockets in the clay, or may contribute to pinholes and blisters in glazes. If you want to understand what happens to clay inside the kiln, start with this digitalfire article. Any terms highlighted in blue are outbound links to definitions or other articles that will explain things in more depth. There’s also more links and definitions stuff at the very bottom of the page. Cannot recommend this one enough to beginners. Thanks! Very helpful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Min Posted October 18, 2023 Report Share Posted October 18, 2023 (edited) 5 hours ago, Summerss said: The clay body I use is a stoneware; Laguna #50 I looked up this claybody, just to confirm it is this one? If so scroll down to the specs for the clay, see where it says Average Water Absorption 1+/-% - 2.93. This means when fired to maturity of cone 5 the absorption of the clay will be between 1.93 to 3.93% . Since you are making functional ware it's best to have the absorption figure below 1.5%. It's also a good idea to measure the absorption yourself using your kiln and firing practices. Glaze shouldn't be relied on to make a pot watertight given at midrange the bottom or feet of a piece are not glazed. Moisture gets into the pot through the base and perhaps crazing or micro-fissures in the glaze and the pot will weep, get very hot in the microwave etc. If you need info on how to test the absorption there is a good article here on testing claybodies. One thing I would add to that article is to place test piece(s) on all the shelves in your kiln and place them in the middle of the shelves to allow for thermal lag. Claybody can make a big difference in how a glaze looks, as does thickness of glaze plus the firing schedule. Keep really good glaze and firing notes, it helps! Edited October 18, 2023 by Min Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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