Crusty Posted September 27, 2014 Report Share Posted September 27, 2014 We were wondering about this as we may be able to start firing by Feb. or Mar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJR Posted September 27, 2014 Report Share Posted September 27, 2014 We fired all winter. The problem is keeping the propane burner from icing up. I think autumn is best for raku as there are tons of leaves lying around. TJR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusty Posted September 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2014 The property here has a lot of trees and under growth.. We can fire them green, we intend to try that..Not sure what will happen but that's what excites us about Raku.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted September 27, 2014 Report Share Posted September 27, 2014 I fired at 20 below zero in Montana. No Problem. I was using natural gas, so no propane tanks to deal with. Got great color. There is an article about me with photos of those firings from 1997 in Ceramics Monthly. I think CAD has a photo or 2 from that as well under their raku glazes.I would not fire raku green unless you take it really slow, but that loses the spontaneity of raku. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callie Beller Diesel Posted September 27, 2014 Report Share Posted September 27, 2014 This made me smile. I learned to raku in High School in February, wearing lots of natural fibre layers . It's a good idea to warm your next batch of pots up on top of the kiln while the first ones are firing if you have them all outside. If you take the bisque off the cold pavement and put them in a hot kiln, they don't like it much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusty Posted September 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2014 Sorry Marcia, I meat using green leaves not green ware ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted September 28, 2014 Report Share Posted September 28, 2014 crusty, that sentence has several food groups, i live on red meat and chocolate, rarely green leaves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusty Posted September 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2014 LOL I live on Pork and Chicken, I try to leave the green leaves alone too .. Chocolate a food group? That would depend on who you talk to but In our family it is... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJR Posted September 29, 2014 Report Share Posted September 29, 2014 I am not touching the meat issue. the great thing about firing raku in the Autumn, is that people have already bagged up the leaves for you.If you are firing with green leaves, do you pick them off of live trees? Of course, you can always use straw or newspaper for reduction materials. By the way, I also always wear natural fibers in layers. TJR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted September 30, 2014 Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 You can fire any time as long as you can keep the gas running. We fired all winter in Colorado and Utah, because the kilns were hard piped with natural gas. My current kiln runs on propane tanks, which for me work best above 45-50F degrees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted October 11, 2014 Report Share Posted October 11, 2014 Neil, I am living in the tropics right now and it rarely gets below 70 until January when it may dip into the 30s at night for a few hours on a rare evening. I miss the cold...really. In Montana I started plumbing my raku burners to two tanks and this did eliminate freezing a lot. It could still happen but very rarely and not enough to get concerned. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Coyle Posted October 11, 2014 Report Share Posted October 11, 2014 I don't know how cold it was but one winter in Alaska I tried a raku firing and when I lit a match to light the burner the flame froze right to the match head!. I figured that it was too cold so I came back in and that's when the trouble started. You see I was occupied with breaking down the kiln and I, without thinking, put the match with the frozen flame in my coat pocket. Well about ten minutes after I came back into the house, the flame thawed out and burnt a nasty hole in my coat. Boy... I'll never do that again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusty Posted October 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2014 yea thats a lesson learned, hope you didnt get burnt.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted October 13, 2014 Report Share Posted October 13, 2014 how about hottest temperature? Today was gross and this week will get better until Thursday. It is still in the 90s. Fired slabs today. Not as bad as August. Here is my tank setup. I have high temperature gloves good for 32 seconds. I have lost too many slabs removing them with tongs. Much easier to just grab them. I have a video from today but have to get uploaded to my website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusty Posted October 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2014 Nice set up, sure beats a garbage can lol... Thanks for sharing the pictures, I just love seeing a Raku kiln glowing.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted October 13, 2014 Report Share Posted October 13, 2014 Fresh from the kiln 2 of four slabs for a Border Wall piece. Each slab is 14 x 17" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusty Posted October 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2014 Very pretty, I really like those a lot.. looks like the person climbed to the top and is taking a breather.. very neat... love the vertical scoring, made a perfect contrast ,, made the colors POP... Yep, you have been busy.. I am trying to talk my brother into Raku, he writes haiku poetry.. seems like a perfect fit.. Temp? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted October 13, 2014 Report Share Posted October 13, 2014 That is the Border fence and people climb it regularly. It has scarred the landscape across the local University campus and central downtown. And it isn't easy to climb I imagine. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusty Posted October 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2014 I have been to Laredo a few times and hit the border patrol , not fun when a German shepherd is circling your vehicle while the officer is asking where your from and if your a citizen ... guess its just another day at work for those guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted October 13, 2014 Report Share Posted October 13, 2014 It has been a very hot summer down here. Lots of bodies have been found in the big dry ranches across the southern counties. Our border patrol stop is 90 miles North of the border near Norias. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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