mel jacobson on fri 13 jun 08
after 35 years teaching high school clay...kiln
shelf cleaning was second nature.
a few hints.
a very flat, solid table to work on.
if you can...add a block of some sort.
i actually drilled a hole in a table and inserted
a 3/4 inch towel.
SAFETY GLASSES..NEED I MENTION THAT?
(and you know a kid will sit right across from you, in line
with the chips and say..`hey mel, what you doin?`)
i start with a very small, sharp chisel. like half inch or less.
metal type. keep it at a steep angle, with your hand
almost touching the shelf.
use a small, light hammer.
get under the drip, tap, tap, it should pop right off.
work across the big drip a bit at a time. no need for
a ten pound sledge hammer. it is an oxymoron. it is the
tiny tap that breaks it off the shelf.
when you have the chisel work done...outside,
with the angle grinder..face mask, and grind the pee out
of it.
then i take a flat puddy knife and run it across about
ten times. get all those sharp edges off.
and, never trust a spot. never touch with bare fingers.
a deep cut for sure. remember, a glaze cut is like
a surgeons scalpel.
small drips can be taken off with a piece of ruff kiln shelf.
hold in gloved hands and rub. never throw away old broken
shelves...they can be broken into nice shelf grinders, used to
level things..and make great bases for bottom shelves.
mel
from minnetonka:
website http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
clayart site:
http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
Beth on fri 13 jun 08
Mel, you are an endless source of clay knowledge...how do I get a copy of your new book?? :)
Beth in Blue Ridge Mtns Foothills of VA
-----Original Message-----
From: mel jacobson
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Sent: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 9:05 am
Subject: shelf cleaning
after 35 years teaching high school clay...kiln
shelf cleaning was second nature.
a few hints.
a very flat, solid table to work on.
if you can...add a block of some sort.
i actually drilled a hole in a table and inserted
a 3/4 inch towel.
SAFETY GLASSES..NEED I MENTION THAT?
(and you know a kid will sit right across from you, in line
with the chips and say..`hey mel, what you doin?`)
i start with a very small, sharp chisel. like half inch or less.
metal type. keep it at a steep angle, with your hand
almost touching the shelf.
use a small, light hammer.
get under the drip, tap, tap, it should pop right off.
work across the big drip a bit at a time. no need for
a ten pound sledge hammer. it is an oxymoron. it is the
tiny tap that breaks it off the shelf.
when you have the chisel work done...outside,
with the angle grinder..face mask, and grind the pee out
of it.
then i take a flat puddy knife and run it across about
ten times. get all those sharp edges off.
and, never trust a spot. never touch with bare fingers.
a deep cut for sure. remember, a glaze cut is like
a surgeons scalpel.
small drips can be taken off with a piece of ruff kiln shelf.
hold in gloved hands and rub. never throw away old broken
shelves...they can be broken into nice shelf grinders, used to
level things..and make great bases for bottom shelves.
mel
from minnetonka:
website http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
clayart site:
http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
John Post on fri 13 jun 08
One of my student's mom is a dental hygienist. She gave me a bunch
of the old dental tools. One of them looks flat like a chisel and is
about 1/2 inch wide. I do not want to know what a dentist needs to do
with a tool like this. It scares me to think about it in my mouth.
It is stainless steel and works like a charm for popping off glaze
drips. I use a rubber mallet to strike this chisel.
I hate applying kiln wash so I use Lee's Amazing Kiln Wash from Axner
pottery. It does not flake off. I fire two 6 cubic foot kilns with
thousands of kid projects on them all year long and only have to clean
my shelves once a year. Of course knowing your glazes and working
with ones that are not runners is a large part of that.
John Post
Sterling Heights, Michigan
:: cone 6 glaze website :: http://www.johnpost.us
:: elementary art website :: http://www.wemakeart.org
:: etsy sales website :: http://www.johnpost.etsy.com
On Jun 13, 2008, at 9:05 AM, mel jacobson wrote:
> after 35 years teaching high school clay...kiln
> shelf cleaning was second nature.
> a few hints.
>
> a very flat, solid table to work on.
> if you can...add a block of some sort.
> i actually drilled a hole in a table and inserted
> a 3/4 inch towel.
> SAFETY GLASSES..NEED I MENTION THAT?
> (and you know a kid will sit right across from you, in line
> with the chips and say..`hey mel, what you doin?`)
>
> i start with a very small, sharp chisel. like half inch or less.
> metal type. keep it at a steep angle, with your hand
> almost touching the shelf.
> use a small, light hammer.
> get under the drip, tap, tap, it should pop right off.
> work across the big drip a bit at a time. no need for
> a ten pound sledge hammer. it is an oxymoron. it is the
> tiny tap that breaks it off the shelf.
>
> when you have the chisel work done...outside,
> with the angle grinder..face mask, and grind the pee out
> of it.
>
> then i take a flat puddy knife and run it across about
> ten times. get all those sharp edges off.
> and, never trust a spot. never touch with bare fingers.
> a deep cut for sure. remember, a glaze cut is like
> a surgeons scalpel.
>
> small drips can be taken off with a piece of ruff kiln shelf.
> hold in gloved hands and rub. never throw away old broken
> shelves...they can be broken into nice shelf grinders, used to
> level things..and make great bases for bottom shelves.
> mel
>
> from minnetonka:
> website http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
> clayart site:
> http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
>
Darlene Yarnetsky-Mudcat Pottery on sat 14 jun 08
the reason for the old pillow in the kiln room - no it is not for
those late nights waiting for the kiln to finish ;)
I put it under a kiln shelf when I chisel off a glaze drip to keep me
from breaking the shelf.
Darlene
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