Benzine Posted January 10, 2014 Report Share Posted January 10, 2014 So for whatever reason, I've had the idea for a while, to use a hollowed pumpkin as a reduction chamber for a Raku piece. A few weeks ago, I finally had the chance, as I happened to have a pumpkin sitting around. I wanted a bit more combustion, so I dried it a bit first. Sadly, the made the top fit poorly, and not seal well. Nothing really big happened, but there are a few interesting spots where the color changed. I really do like the inside, which I've never had turn out like that normally. The middle bowl, is the one that went into the pumpkin. The two outer bowls, were fired in metal bins, with newspaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted January 10, 2014 Report Share Posted January 10, 2014 Very nice result on the inside of the middle pot. Crazy idea, but hey! Whatever works for you. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrgpots Posted January 10, 2014 Report Share Posted January 10, 2014 What an idea! Did you wrap the pumkin in foil or just set it in the kiln? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babs Posted January 10, 2014 Report Share Posted January 10, 2014 Great lateral thinking Benzine, my pumpkin patch will never mean the same, I'll have to try to grow bigger ones and dry them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benzine Posted January 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2014 Very nice result on the inside of the middle pot. Crazy idea, but hey! Whatever works for you.Marcia I thought, that if anyone appreciated an alternative firing technique Marcia, it would be you. I'll try again next year with larger pumpkins/ wares. I would have had some this year, but some vine borers got to my giant pumpkins. What an idea! Did you wrap the pumkin in foil or just set it in the kiln? The pumpkin is just the reduction vessel. The wares are taken out, once the glaze matures' and put in the pumpkin while still glowing. I draped a wet towel over the pumpkin to help seal it a bit, since the pumpkin top didn't fit well. In the future, I may try putting the ware in the pumpkin, which will be inside a sealable metal bin. It will be like a turducken of Raku reduction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kohaku Posted January 10, 2014 Report Share Posted January 10, 2014 OK... now I'm just drooling over the wild possibilities here. All of nature's cornucopia awaits. Pumpkins. All those 50 pound zucchinis my wife keeps growing in our garden. Bull kelp pods (for smaller wares)! Seriously- what a great idea. I bet that the growing substrate would have all sorts of consequences for the color effects... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benzine Posted January 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2014 I'm thinking that next time I try, I won't clean at least one of the pumpkins. The crisscrossing strands of "guts", might make some interesting patterns, when they burn against the hot wares. I might even leave the strands hanging from the top I cut off, so that when I put it back on, those strands will touch the inside of the ware too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pres Posted January 11, 2014 Report Share Posted January 11, 2014 I had often wondered years ago what seaweed or kelp would do to raku with the iodine and the salt content. Hmm wonder how they would work in a salt kiln? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted January 11, 2014 Report Share Posted January 11, 2014 I had often wondered years ago what seaweed or kelp would do to raku with the iodine and the salt content. Hmm wonder how they would work in a salt kiln? You can get nice effects wrapping pots in seaweed for pit firing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Coyle Posted January 12, 2014 Report Share Posted January 12, 2014 Could you do a video of you plunging a raku pot into the hollowed out pumpkin and clapping the top back on... that would be cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kohaku Posted January 12, 2014 Report Share Posted January 12, 2014 I had often wondered years ago what seaweed or kelp would do to raku with the iodine and the salt content. Hmm wonder how they would work in a salt kiln? Wow... next time I visit my dad in Port Angeles, I'm bringing back a garbage bag full of sea wrack and Irish Moss. Half my stuff has a maritime theme in any case... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 Definitely bring back kelp and various seaweed. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Coyle Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 You could probably get the same effect by soaking banana peels in saturated salt water overnight. There is not really that much iodine in sea weed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benzine Posted January 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 Could you do a video of you plunging a raku pot into the hollowed out pumpkin and clapping the top back on... that would be cool! Sorry Bob, no video. I wanted to, but didn't have the time or equipment. My digital camera, doesn't make videos long enough, and I would have used my iPad, but I have no tripod/ stand to set it up. Maybe next time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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