Peggy Heer on sun 4 jan 98
Hi all those who have the know -how/ general experience with crystaline
glazes. When I got my new electric kiln last fall, I thought I would give
crystaine glzs. a go...just to see how it is done. Well Jan. is the month
when I generally start new work or experiment with the things I yet do not
know how to do.
I have more ceramic books than the local library so spent most of the
holidays reseraching these glazes, the how tos and the firing methods.
Mixed up 6- 500 gm. glazes, made about about 20 or so small 8" bowls/plates
with 3 different white clay bodies/porcealin to test the glazes on and
thought this is going well. ;>}}}
THEN, last night, I sat bolt up right in the middle of the night (scared
my hubby to death) with the horrible thought..."how am I going to test fire
these crystaline glazes...20 pieces..in a 16.5 cu ft kiln. I am going to
have to make large amts of the test glzs., with lots of expense if they do
not work, and of course many more pots....pots not a problem.... to fill
the thing to do a decent test fire with the special fire schedual of these
glazes. I can't just put them in an ordinary fire......" " How am I going
to solve this? " " I know...I will ask the Clayart folks." and I
promptly went back to sleep, although it was a bit fitful. ;>}}}
So guys and gals....what do I do to get a good test firing of these glazes?
Do I have to make up a big amt...5000 gms... of the 6 glaze tests I have
or can I get a good specialize fire test with only a few pots in the big
kiln? I can't fire regular glazes in the special...fast to high, fast to
cool to the certain temp etc ...can I? Will my ordinary glazes go through
this kind of fire ok or will I be left with pots with all kinds of faults.?
I really need some advice guys.... and thanks for your/any help ....
As Always in Clay and never quite knowing what I am doing at all times. ;>}}}
Peggy
Jan 6th is my 30th anniversay as a clay craftsperson, potter and clay
artist in that order. ;>}}}}
Peggy Heer / Heer Pottery E-Mail p4337@connect.ab.ca
52120 Range Road 223
Sherwood Park, AB. Canada T8C 1A7
Phone (403) 922-6270
http://www.ffa.ucalgary.ca/artists/pheer/
KYSOCKSOFF on mon 5 jan 98
I will fire mixed loads of crystalline glaze with my regular glazes and get
consistent results. I do not modify my firing schedule I use normally for my
porcelain slip cast ware except for holding the kiln at about 1472F for about
30 minutes when cooling. I assume you don't have a digital control on your
kiln but perhaps a meter? I'm using a very heavy zinc oxide glaze and getting
1/2" crystals consistently - good luck!
Linda Blossom on mon 5 jan 98
Dear Petty,
Just for the heck of it, why not put a few small pots with your crystalline
glazes on them and fire them in the regular firing. I say this because,
although conventional wisdom says it won't work, it would still be
interesting to see what they will look like. I would also do a flat tile of
each glaze and compare this to the vertical surface of the pots. When I
fire crystallines, I follow my regular firing schedule and at the end, I
fire down the first hundred degrees centigrade at a rate of 100 per hour.
Then I let the kiln cool naturally. However, because my kiln is very
insulated, my rate is about 100 per hour from this point, so knowing your
own cooling rate is necessary. I don't know what happens after the first
hour, but my thoughts were always that I wanted the crystals to set on the
first part of the cooling and once that had happened, I didn't worry about
them. It always worked, sometimes too well. This due to tight crystals
that I would rather have looser. In my gas kiln, where the cooling is
faster, I would get much looser crystals. Maybe just slowing the cool in
the first hour on yours and then seeing what happens. I think that starting
from your firing point and making one small modification at a time may get
you to a firing that is closer to your own schedule than what is usually
recommended. It might keep you from having a separate firing for crystals
and one for the other work. You will also see how your other glazes do with
small modifications.
Linda Blossom
2366 Slaterville Rd.
Ithaca, NY 14850
6075397912
www.artscape.com
blossom@lightlink.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Peggy Heer
To: Multiple recipients of list CLAYART
Date: Sunday, January 04, 1998 9:34 PM
Subject: Firing crystaline glz. tests?
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Hi all those who have the know -how/ general experience with crystaline
glazes. When I got my new electric kiln last fall, I thought I would give
crystaine glzs. a go...just to see how it is done. Well Jan. is the month
when I generally start new work or experiment with the things I yet do not
know how to do.
I have more ceramic books than the local library so spent most of the
holidays reseraching these glazes, the how tos and the firing methods.
Mixed up 6- 500 gm. glazes, made about about 20 or so small 8" bowls/plates
with 3 different white clay bodies/porcealin to test the glazes on and
thought this is going well. ;>}}}
THEN, last night, I sat bolt up right in the middle of the night (scared
my hubby to death) with the horrible thought..."how am I going to test fire
these crystaline glazes...20 pieces..in a 16.5 cu ft kiln. I am going to
have to make large amts of the test glzs., with lots of expense if they do
not work, and of course many more pots....pots not a problem.... to fill
the thing to do a decent test fire with the special fire schedual of these
glazes. I can't just put them in an ordinary fire......" " How am I going
to solve this? " " I know...I will ask the Clayart folks." and I
promptly went back to sleep, although it was a bit fitful. ;>}}}
So guys and gals....what do I do to get a good test firing of these glazes?
Do I have to make up a big amt...5000 gms... of the 6 glaze tests I have
or can I get a good specialize fire test with only a few pots in the big
kiln? I can't fire regular glazes in the special...fast to high, fast to
cool to the certain temp etc ...can I? Will my ordinary glazes go through
this kind of fire ok or will I be left with pots with all kinds of faults.?
I really need some advice guys.... and thanks for your/any help ....
As Always in Clay and never quite knowing what I am doing at all times.
;>}}}
Peggy
Jan 6th is my 30th anniversay as a clay craftsperson, potter and clay
artist in that order. ;>}}}}
Peggy Heer / Heer Pottery E-Mail p4337@connect.ab.ca
52120 Range Road 223
Sherwood Park, AB. Canada T8C 1A7
Phone (403) 922-6270
http://www.ffa.ucalgary.ca/artists/pheer/
CTaylor174 on tue 6 jan 98
Hi there. I have been doing cry. glazing for over 20 years.
No you cannot do regular glazing at the same time.
I always will test glazes BEFORE I put them on pots. Who wants pots that you
may have to throw away.
I use small pots or test tiles. YOU MUST BE SURE THAT ALL YOUR POTS OR TEST
TILES ARE IN A SAUCER SO THAT THE GLAZE WILL NOT GO ON YOUR KILN SHELVES. The
best way to put pots is the way that they describe in Herbert Sanders book.
(will describe if you cant find this).
I personally would not worry about the waste of space in having an almost
empty kiln with just small tests in for the first time. These glazes are
quite easy to get once you learn how to do it properly but there is someone of
a frustration at first.
Let me know if I can be of assistance to you.
I have made as small a batch as 100 grams to test and they(whomever they are)
tell you that you should not do this but I have found out that to start off
this works out ok.
Regards Chris
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