Knox Steinbrecher on fri 28 may 99
Barney's recent issue with bats has given me the encouragement to ask about
my sporatic trouble.
My problems don't show up until it's time to trim......when I turn over the
bowl, plate...whatever. I can see exactly where the original "ball" of clay
hit the bat. Then there is a space (grrr) and the clay shows up again. Not
too bad if I trim in exactly that spot..but that's not usually the case and I
wind up with a VERY tiny foot, or a footring much narrower than I like.
Since I am concious of this trouble, I am careful to take steps to assure a
connection between the clay and the bat. Obviously I'm not doing it
correctly. I often slam the clay onto a dry bat and they wet the clay and
bat together as i start to center. I have tied wetting the bat first and it
still happens. I thought the clay was too stiff but it seems to happen with
soft clay too. I haven't found any consistant event that connects with this
but then again I may not be paying attention at the correct time.
Is anyone else experiencing this "saturn" effect? or have I discovered yet a
new challenge to making a piece work? Any thoughts on correction??? I use
particle board bats and sometimes plywood ones. I dislike the plastic ones.
Though my creative trimming skills are pretty sharp these days. I'd much
prefer a nice flat bottom on the pots.
knox.....currently in Virginia enjoying the beautiful weather and hoping for
a large crowd in a buying mood this weekend !!!!!
dave morrison on sun 30 may 99
the problem isnt with the bat, or how hard you are applying the clay to it.
it occurs when you center the ball. you are forcing a layer of clay down
towards the bat, but it is not staying connected to the ball, hence that
hollow ring underneath. make sure you bring the clay up and down several
times before starting to throw. you can also shape the "ball" into
something more similar to what you would start throwing. i dont make balls
at all, i leave my clay rather cone shaped and make a rather flat bottom at
the wedging table so that i get a good wide flat connection. then i center,
push down, and then up and down several times. this should work to solve
that problem.
good luck.
dave.
-----Original Message-----
From: Knox Steinbrecher
To: CLAYART@LSV.UKY.EDU
Date: Friday, May 28, 1999 1:20 PM
Subject: More bat trouble
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Barney's recent issue with bats has given me the encouragement to ask about
>my sporatic trouble.
>
>My problems don't show up until it's time to trim......when I turn over the
>bowl, plate...whatever. I can see exactly where the original "ball" of
clay
>hit the bat. Then there is a space (grrr) and the clay shows up again.
Not
>too bad if I trim in exactly that spot..but that's not usually the case and
I
>wind up with a VERY tiny foot, or a footring much narrower than I like.
>
>Since I am concious of this trouble, I am careful to take steps to assure a
>connection between the clay and the bat. Obviously I'm not doing it
>correctly. I often slam the clay onto a dry bat and they wet the clay and
>bat together as i start to center. I have tied wetting the bat first and
it
>still happens. I thought the clay was too stiff but it seems to happen
with
>soft clay too. I haven't found any consistant event that connects with
this
>but then again I may not be paying attention at the correct time.
>
>Is anyone else experiencing this "saturn" effect? or have I discovered yet
a
>new challenge to making a piece work? Any thoughts on correction??? I use
>particle board bats and sometimes plywood ones. I dislike the plastic
ones.
>
>Though my creative trimming skills are pretty sharp these days. I'd much
>prefer a nice flat bottom on the pots.
>
>knox.....currently in Virginia enjoying the beautiful weather and hoping
for
>a large crowd in a buying mood this weekend !!!!!
>
Daniel Considine on sun 30 may 99
I've been reading about bat problems and have trouble relating...we use
plywood bats...each have 3 equidistant cleats on the bottom with rubber
glued to them to hold the edge of the wheel.
Never any problems!
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Barney's recent issue with bats has given me the encouragement to ask about
>my sporatic trouble.
>
>My problems don't show up until it's time to trim......when I turn over the
>bowl, plate...whatever. I can see exactly where the original "ball" of clay
>hit the bat. Then there is a space (grrr) and the clay shows up again. Not
>too bad if I trim in exactly that spot..but that's not usually the case and I
>wind up with a VERY tiny foot, or a footring much narrower than I like.
>
>Since I am concious of this trouble, I am careful to take steps to assure a
>connection between the clay and the bat. Obviously I'm not doing it
>correctly. I often slam the clay onto a dry bat and they wet the clay and
>bat together as i start to center. I have tied wetting the bat first and it
>still happens. I thought the clay was too stiff but it seems to happen with
>soft clay too. I haven't found any consistant event that connects with this
>but then again I may not be paying attention at the correct time.
>
>Is anyone else experiencing this "saturn" effect? or have I discovered yet a
>new challenge to making a piece work? Any thoughts on correction??? I use
>particle board bats and sometimes plywood ones. I dislike the plastic ones.
>
>Though my creative trimming skills are pretty sharp these days. I'd much
>prefer a nice flat bottom on the pots.
>
>knox.....currently in Virginia enjoying the beautiful weather and hoping for
>a large crowd in a buying mood this weekend !!!!!
>
>
Daniel P. CONSIDINE, PhD
Waseda University
102 Century Mansion
4-23-11 Irumagawa
Sayama city 350-1305, Japan
Phone/Fax +81 42-954-2401
Cellular 090-8105-8750
Sharon R Pemberton on sun 30 may 99
Try slanting your left hand into the base of the clay mass as you press the
mass down with the right hand. The "Saturn" effect is from little pockets of
air which are trapped during centering and also when you "cone" down.
Pug
Tom Wirt on sun 30 may 99
Subject: More bat trouble
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> My problems don't show up until it's time to trim......when I turn over
the
> bowl, plate...whatever. I can see exactly where the original "ball" of
clay
> hit the bat. Then there is a space (grrr) and the clay shows up again.
Not
Knox....
Make sure the bottom of the clay you are slamming down is rounded so when
you throw it on the wheel, the are is squeezed out from the center.
Also, when you first start centering, squeeze the clay inward firmly, before
you move your hands downward to seal the clay to the wheel. Assuming the
clay isn't too stiff to begin with, it should flow smoothly down to fill the
gap. If you just move the outside downward to seal, you're probably
trapping that ring of air.
HTH
Tom Wirt
Art Wolfe on tue 1 jun 99
You might try placing the ball down on the bat instead of throwing it down.
Some of my students were having that same problem and it seemed to disappear.
Hope this helps. Bev
Knox Steinbrecher on wed 2 jun 99
Thanks to all for your suggestions. I have printed them up as my printer
works (sorta) and I haven't a clue how or where to put them on the computer.
I'm one of those for whom the computer has GENERATED paper rather than saved
it. In time I'll figure out the computer and use all the old paper for P-clay
or something.
Which reminds me......in pushing the materials beyond their limits by force
drying mugs on top of a hot kiln...I managed to create cracks in the body of
two of them. OK...I had some stacked rim to rim and it was those that
cracked. I'm not surprized, but figuring I had nothing to lose, I made some
P-clay and tried patching with it. Having watched hours of home improvement
shows, I borrowed a dry wall technique and put a single layer of toilet paper
over the p-clayed area and then smeared more p-clay over it. This time I let
it dry properly and bisque fired. NO evidence of cracks on either mug.
These mugs are 6 plus inches tall and the cracks on each ran vertically from
the lip, down about 2 inches. When I glaze fired them, the glaze crawled so
I missed something. I think it's worth trying again...perhaps washing the
pot before glazing would make all the difference.
Let me add here that I'm working at a Renaissance Faire and constantly
pushing limits of the materials and my endurance. I KNOW I am not using good
studio practices and I don't do this at home. Clay that is in the bag on
Monday at 6 in the morning is on the shelf for sale on Saturday. Any washing
of pots is almost immediately defeated by the constant dust here...but I try.
Just thought I'd share my experiment....also the Elmer's Glue on the overdone
bisque failed. Glaze didn't stick well and crawled all over. Better luck
with sun heated pots...no oven here.
k......melting in Virginia......did kickwheel demos in 98 degree heat this
weekend...
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