Katie S Posted March 11 Report Share Posted March 11 (edited) Hi everyone! Someone reached out to me on kiln share to fire some bone dry porcelain. She expected that it needed to be fired to cone 10 for a bisque firing, which sounds wrong to me. I asked her to check the bag/brand and she was gifted it from an old friend and has no idea what the brand is. She doesn't plan on doing a glaze firing. My assumption is that it'll be fired at cone 04? But I don't work with porcelain so this is a new situation for me. Edited March 11 by Katie S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted March 12 Report Share Posted March 12 I agree with you, bisque firing - cone 04 just to sinter the material. Don’t want to make it really hard to glaze, assuming she wants to glaze it. All of my porcelains are bisqued to 04. Katie S 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Min Posted March 12 Report Share Posted March 12 5 hours ago, Katie S said: She expected that it needed to be fired to cone 10 for a bisque firing, which sounds wrong to me. I asked her to check the bag/brand and she was gifted it from an old friend and has no idea what the brand is. If she isn’t absolutely 110% sure it’s a cone 10 clay then I would pass on this. 5 hours ago, Katie S said: She doesn't plan on doing a glaze firing. This makes sense to fire the clay to maturity / cone 10 if she doesn’t plan on glazing it and it is indeed a cone 10 clay. She might want to leave it as bare clay or be planning on doing a cold finish on it. Firing to maturity would be a clearer way to describe what she wants rather than calling it a bisque firing. A mature body is far stronger than a bisque fired body. Katie S, Rae Reich and Callie Beller Diesel 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rae Reich Posted March 12 Report Share Posted March 12 @Katie S Is the porcelain cast dinnerware? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katie S Posted March 12 Author Report Share Posted March 12 49 minutes ago, Rae Reich said: @Katie S Is the porcelain cast dinnerware? No! She's got a sculpture piece. It's also not cast but has been hand built and carved. She was clear that her pieces will be put on a shelf for display and did not intend to glaze them - but might change her mind. Also got me thinking about cone 04 firing. Rae Reich and Roberta12 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta12 Posted March 12 Report Share Posted March 12 @Katie S I have become quite adamant about "what clay is it?" Name, rank, serial number, when firing for others. If they do not know, I politely decline. A friend of mine just had a horrible kiln accident with that very thing. Melted cups and plates all over the shelves. Yes, they were low fire. Fired to mid fire. The person making the request didn't do their work. You would probably be fine with 04, probably. But..... Callie Beller Diesel, Katie S and Rae Reich 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeU Posted March 13 Report Share Posted March 13 No--nope--not chance--not worth it. Taking such high risk with any kiln (and especially someone else's with other people's stuff it) is just plain looking for trouble. Rae Reich and Roberta12 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katie S Posted March 13 Author Report Share Posted March 13 11 minutes ago, LeeU said: No--nope--not chance--not worth it. Taking such high risk with any kiln (and especially someone else's with other people's stuff it) is just plain looking for trouble. Oh the artist is well aware, I wouldn’t do anything without consulting her first. LeeU and Rae Reich 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denice Posted March 14 Report Share Posted March 14 Are you firing a electric kiln? A lot of kilns won't make it to cone 10 if it does it will shorten the life of your elements. I had a friend who thought she made some dishes out of a Cone 10 porcelain. she put them in the last firing of the year at the university. When they unbricked the kiln they found out her dishes had melted all over the kiln and the rest of the work. I don't have any low fire clay in my studio or fire another persons work, this type of accident happens a lot. Denice Roberta12 and Rae Reich 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyn Patty Posted March 31 Report Share Posted March 31 Most hobby porcelains fire to mature bisque at cone 6. But I'm with the rest of you - if she doesn't KNOW for absolute certain, I probably wouldn't put it in /my/ kilns. If she's going to be producing several of these maybe she should just get herself a small kiln. A used one if need be, and just learn how to do it herself. She is also going to need to figure out how she's going to support them with props (settles) and they should be made out of the very same porcelain clay if she has enough left. So yeah, maybe more complicated than she realized. A lower soft fire may be wise but it won't make them as nice. Rae Reich 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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