Using luster in pit fire

[IrisG]

Hi,

 

I did few pit fire testing, and I would like to add lusters (commercial ready) to the pots. Can that be done directly on the TS, before the firing? 

Or should I first do the pit fire, and than apply the luster and place in kiln firing it to the normal Luster temperature of ~600C?

 

Thanks a million

Iris

[Mark C.]

lusters work best on glossy fired surfaces so after the pit fire on top of a shiny glaze is what they are designed for.

[Rae Reich]

On matte glazes or unglazed surfaces, colored lusters like Blue Pearl aren’t iridescent but more like colored matte metallic. The basic mother-of-pearl doesn’t look like much. 

[Kelly in AK]

I have used gold and silver lusters in Raku firing on burnished clay. The more polished it was, the better. Lame on bare clay. The most dazzling effects came from spraying them with ferric chloride right after pulling them from the kiln. I was a bit bold in my younger days. Ferric chloride can produce its own luster on polished light colored clay/white terra sig.

As the pots cool applying more tends to look like smooth rust. Where it interacted with the commercial lusters was strongly metallic, iridescent, and variable.

It was a special firing, somewhere between cone 018-016, very low. Only skin deep, but very compelling. The clay body was white as a bone. 30 years ago. 

Edited January 22 by Kelly in AK

[IrisG]

Thanks everyone. Kelly your work is amazing.

I thought of using it in the pit fire since the temperature can match luster firing, and I wasn't sure what will happen to pit fire effect if I will glaze the pots again ,and than apply luster (2 more firing cycles). I guess one has to try, that's part of potters life: trial and error.