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single-firing glaze application

updated tue 19 oct 10

 

Maggie Furtak on sat 9 oct 10


Well, I got out there and tried single-firing a few years back. Great savi=
ngs
of time and electricity. Great idea!

But...how the heck do you apply glazes neatly by dipping and pouring? Is i=
t
just not possible for single-firers? Do you brush everything? Spray
everything? Do you wax all your bottoms? If so, how do you keep from gett=
ing
little waxy fingerprints on your pots? I was glazing at leather-hard so th=
e wax
never really dried completely. With my clay, glazing at bone-dry just caus=
ed
lots of cracking. Glazing by spraying or brushing takes so much longer tha=
n
dipping, that the time savings of once-firing go down the tube.

From my experiments, I got gritty bottoms from sponging them clean, and did=
n't
get that nice crisp line where glaze meets bare foot that I'm used to on
twice-fired work. Everything was a little sloppy. Is this just part of th=
e
package? Or is there a nifty trick?

Looking at pre-industrial revolution pots in museums, they seem to have the
sloppy little glaze line at the foot, so maybe that's just how it goes. An=
y
thoughts are appreciated. I'd love to try this again, but only if I can ke=
ep
the level of quality I (and the people who buy my work) are used to.


-Maggie
Pate Ceramics
pateceramics.etsy.com
pateceramics.blogspot.com
781-956-1364
517 Fellsway East
Malden, MA 02148

gary navarre on sat 9 oct 10


Here ya go Maggie ...=3D0A=3D0Ahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D3D6SpAImunC=
OM=3D0A=3D
=3D0A Just a little of how I apply single fire slip glazes on bone dry piec=
es=3D
. I don't spray at all, mostly brushing. I'll combine sponging, fettling wi=
=3D
th a sharpened chop stick, and lots of practice glazing quickly to make cle=
=3D
aner feet. All my feet get a hit around with a scrap chunk of kiln shelf af=
=3D
ter firing so in the end I have no problems with a sloppy glaze line or gri=
=3D
t on my feet. =3D0A=3D0A Like Simon Leach says keep practicing and stay in =
ther=3D
e eh.=3D0A =3D0AGary Navarre=3D0ANavarre Pottery=3D0ANavarre Enterprises=
=3D0ANorway=3D
, Michigan, USA=3D0Ahttp://www.youtube.com/GindaUP=3D0Ahttp://public.fotki.=
com/=3D
GindaUP/=3D0A=3D0A=3D0A--- On Sat, 10/9/10, Maggie Furtak OO.COM=3D
> wrote:=3D0A=3D0A> From: Maggie Furtak =3D0A> Subj=
ect: [=3D
Clayart] Single-firing glaze application=3D0A> To: Clayart@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG=
=3D
=3D0A> Date: Saturday, October 9, 2010, 6:47 AM=3D0A> Well, I got out there=
and=3D
tried=3D0A> single-firing a few years back.=3DA0 Great savings=3D0A> of ti=
me and=3D
electricity.=3DA0 Great idea!=3D0A> =3D0A> But...how the heck do you apply=
glaze=3D
s neatly by dipping=3D0A> and pouring?=3DA0 Is it=3D0A> just not possible f=
or sin=3D
gle-firers?=3DA0 Do you brush=3D0A> everything?=3DA0 Spray=3D0A> everything=
?=3DA0 Do =3D
you wax all your bottoms?=3DA0 If so,=3D0A> how do you keep from getting=3D=
0A> li=3D
ttle waxy fingerprints on your pots?=3DA0 I was glazing=3D0A> at leather-ha=
rd s=3D
o the wax=3D0A> never really dried completely.=3DA0 With my clay, glazing=
=3D0A> a=3D
t bone-dry just caused=3D0A> lots of cracking.=3DA0 Glazing by spraying or =
brus=3D
hing=3D0A> takes so much longer than=3D0A> dipping, that the time savings o=
f on=3D
ce-firing go down the=3D0A> tube.=3D0A> =3D0A> From my experiments, I got g=
ritty =3D
bottoms from sponging=3D0A> them clean, and didn't=3D0A> get that nice cris=
p li=3D
ne where glaze meets bare foot that=3D0A> I'm used to on=3D0A> twice-fired =
work=3D
.=3DA0 Everything was a little=3D0A> sloppy.=3DA0 Is this just part of the=
=3D0A> pa=3D
ckage?=3DA0 Or is there a nifty trick?=3D0A> =3D0A> Looking at pre-industri=
al rev=3D
olution pots in museums, they=3D0A> seem to have the=3D0A> sloppy little gl=
aze =3D
line at the foot, so maybe that's just=3D0A> how it goes.=3DA0 Any=3D0A> th=
oughts=3D
are appreciated.=3DA0 I'd love to try this again,=3D0A> but only if I can =
keep=3D
=3D0A> the level of quality I (and the people who buy my work) are=3D0A> us=
ed t=3D
o.=3D0A> =3D0A> =3D0A> -Maggie=3D0A> Pate Ceramics=3D0A> pateceramics.etsy=
.com=3D0A> p=3D
ateceramics.blogspot.com=3D0A> 781-956-1364=3D0A> 517 Fellsway East=3D0A> M=
alden,=3D
MA=3DA0 02148=3D0A> =3D0A=3D0A=3D0A

Lee Love on sun 10 oct 10


On Sat, Oct 9, 2010 at 6:47 AM, Maggie Furtak wrot=
=3D
e:

>
> From my experiments, I got gritty bottoms from sponging them clean, and d=
=3D
idn't
> get that nice crisp line where glaze meets bare foot that I'm used to on
> twice-fired work. =3DA0Everything was a little sloppy. =3DA0Is this just =
part=3D
of the
> package? =3DA0Or is there a nifty trick?

Resist is your friend.

--
=3DA0Lee, a Mashiko potter in Minneapolis
http://mingeisota.blogspot.com/

=3D93Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don't claim them. Feel
the artistry moving through and be silent.=3D94 --Rumi

May Luk on mon 11 oct 10


Hi Maggie;

If you have to experiment and practice A LOT in order to get the same
quality as your twice-fired wares, then you are not saving time and
electricity. Maybe you can just make a new range that will benefit
from single firing - perhaps more drippy, more decorations, less
"perfection" as per your previous designs. It is also an opportunity
for marketing when you have new product to promote.

I thought about single firing a lot, but I don't think it would work
for my wares and I am not good at fussy studio procedures. So I try to
plan my bisque firing differently. I make shapes that would have a
better configuration in the kiln, plan my firing and try to save
energy that way.

I am not an artist. I am only speaking from a product development
point of view, as I am always looking at my time limits and my bottom
line (>$<) My goal is to bang out all my production orders with little
seconds and hope to spare some time to make something I like during
down times.

May
Brooklyn NY

On Sat, Oct 9, 2010 at 7:47 AM, Maggie Furtak wrot=
=3D
e:
> Well, I got out there and tried single-firing a few years back. =3DA0Grea=
t =3D
savings
> of time and electricity. =3DA0Great idea!
>



--=3D20
http://twitter.com/MayLuk
http://www.ceramicsbrooklyn.com/

Brandon Phillips on mon 11 oct 10


Maggie-
You can't sponge leatherhard clay the same as bisque. You have to learn
to get that glaze in one swoop otherwise you'll expose the grog. This can
only be done immediately after the glaze is applied. The simplest
solution is simply to not get glaze on the bottom of the pot. I would wax
footrings and such(hot wax, not liquid) but cylindrical forms like mugs,
pitchers, vases you should dip in such a way that you're not getting glaze
on the bottom. Finger marks from holding the pot can be touched up later.

Glaze doesn't react the same with the pot when it's leatherhard so you
won't get that crisp line without resist or a ridge. I thumb up the edge
to create a little edge on the bottom of my pots so that I don't have to
hold them upside down forever. That gives me a nice line.

"Back in the day" many country/folk potters didn't have the luxury(or
perhaps just didn't care) of spending time making sure the glaze was
perfect.

Brandon Phillips
www.supportyourlocalpotter.com

Stephani Stephenson on fri 15 oct 10


Maggie
I use to single fire a lot of tile work as well as fountain basins, etc.=
=3D

The work i was glazing was generally in the 5/8 to 3/4 inch thick range, =
=3D
on
a well grogged clay body.
A lot of the work was polychrome . On that work I used a brush technique =
=3D
on
bone dry clay.=3D20
I found that , because greenware doesn't absorb water like bisqueware It
generally requires a thicker glaze coat . When i first started single
firing , it seemed like I was applying glazes too thickly, but I soon got=
=3D

use to it . I always kept the brush loaded and just pulled the puddle
along ,rather than using staccato scrubbing strokes. bigger surface area =
=3D
,
bigger brush.
i was not persnickity about this process at all. if glaze dropped or ran=
=3D

into the wrong place, i cleaned it off with a knife later .
for basins I sometimes had to pour . I think i dipped sometimes , but
pouring was preferable. . You do need to make sure the glaze consiste=
=3D
ncy
is right. Too watery and you soak and weaken the walls too fast and the
glaze will not adhere well. Too thick and it won't run enough to cover
evenly and you will get cakey effects . for my claybody and thickness, (=
=3D
and
this may differ from yours); I would do the interior of the vessel first =
=3D
and
either do the exterior immediately after , or wait at least 10-15 minute=
=3D
s
before doing it. The reason for this is that it takes a few minutes for =
=3D
the
water in the glaze to penetrate the wall. When water does penetrate the=
=3D

wall, the piece is at it's most vulnerable, so you have to either get it=
=3D

all done quickly, or allow time for the water to evaporate , before doi=
=3D
ng
the second pour.

That timing applies to moving a piece too, especially larger pieces.
Remember it will be at it's weakest a few minutes, maybe 3-10 minutes aft=
=3D
er
you glaze it.

Because the glaze stays wet on the greenware/bonedry surface for a longer=
=3D

period of time than it does on bisqueware , you do have time to add or
remove a dab here and there, or clean off the bottom with a finger ,etc..=
=3D

You can also gently sand or cut or scrape vs sponge on the bottom . I t=
=3D
oo
preferred not to sponge, though sometimes I had to . if i did not like th=
=3D
e
effect, i would go over the bottom with a rubber rib to smooth the grog b=
=3D
ack
in . i didn't fuss over it too much though.=3D20
I never dipped the entire piece in and therefor only had to remove
occasional drips.=3D20
I never dealt with thin walled vessels. I often thought those might be t=
=3D
ough.
I actually came to like the process and felt it was not more restricting=
=3D

than glazing bisqueware, for the type of work i was doing at the time.=3D20=
=3D


good luck !
Stephani Stephenson

Lee Love on fri 15 oct 10


On Fri, Oct 15, 2010 at 12:55 AM, Stephani Stephenson
wrote:

> I found that , because greenware doesn't absorb water like bisqueware It
> generally requires a thicker glaze coat .

Tight bodies can be glazed in the greenware state, but open bodies
just crack and crumble.

But open bodies can often be glazed at the leather hard stage.
Leather hard is less absorbent than greenware so the glaze needs to be
even thicker.

--
=3DA0Lee, a Mashiko potter in Minneapolis
http://mingeisota.blogspot.com/

=3D93Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don't claim them. Feel
the artistry moving through and be silent.=3D94 --Rumi

Maggie Furtak on mon 18 oct 10


Helpful video for the visual learners out there! Thanks, Gary!


"Here ya go Maggie ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D6SpAImunCOM

Just a little of how I apply single fire slip glazes on bone dry pieces. I
don't spray at all, mostly brushing. I'll combine sponging, fettling with a
sharpened chop stick, and lots of practice glazing quickly to make cleaner =
feet.
All my feet get a hit around with a scrap chunk of kiln shelf after firing =
so in
the end I have no problems with a sloppy glaze line or grit on my feet.

Like Simon Leach says keep practicing and stay in there eh."

Gary Navarre
Navarre Pottery
Navarre Enterprises
Norway, Michigan, USA
http://www.youtube.com/GindaUP
http://public.fotki.com/GindaUP/

Pate Ceramics
pateceramics.etsy.com
pateceramics.blogspot.com
781-956-1364
517 Fellsway East
Malden, MA 02148