Carole Fox on wed 4 apr 01
Dear Clayart friends,
I have been experimenting with horsehair raku. I terra sig my pots when =
bone dry, lightly burnish and bisque to cone 010. Then, I fire the pots =
in my homemade fiber raku kiln to heat them enough to apply the hair. I =
think, however, I've been firing them too hot and losing the burnish.=20
I don't have any way of gauging the temperature of my raku kiln, except =
by using cones (which I have never done in this kiln). The only 010 =
cones I have are small kiln sitter cones and I would have to somehow =
position one so that I could see it through the chimney hole, as I have =
no peep hole. Can I use these small cones in my raku kiln? How would I =
make the clay pad to hold the cone without risking it blowing up in the =
fast firing? Is there a better way of doing this that I just don't know =
about?
Many thanks,
Carole- in Elkton, MD - who thinks it's time to borrow some money and =
build a REAL studio so I can move out of the cold, dark, damp basement =
studio /laundry room /storage area, etc...... Best news of all- MY =
HUSBAND AGREES!
Carole Fox
Elkton, MD
cfox@dca.net
Marcia Selsor on wed 4 apr 01
Dear Carol,
You could do several things. First, I agree you might be going too high
and losing the burnish. Try using an small 012 instead of 010. It gives
you more leeway. You could fire to a dull red. You just need the pot to
be hot engough to carbonize the hair.
As for cone pack for the cone, you can make a wire stand out of kanthal
wire which you used on securing the fiber of your kiln. Some supply
places actually sell them and they are handy for this purpose.
Marcia back in Montana where it snowed all day. I am preparing to raku
with 60 high schoolers for the Montana Interscholastics Day end of April.
Carole Fox wrote:
>
> Dear Clayart friends,
>
> I have been experimenting with horsehair raku. I terra sig my pots when bone dry, lightly burnish and bisque to cone 010. Then, I fire the pots in my homemade fiber raku kiln to heat them enough to apply the hair. I think, however, I've been firing them too hot and losing the burnish.
>
> I don't have any way of gauging the temperature of my raku kiln, except by using cones (which I have never done in this kiln). The only 010 cones I have are small kiln sitter cones and I would have to somehow position one so that I could see it through the chimney hole, as I have no peep hole. Can I use these small cones in my raku kiln? How would I make the clay pad to hold the cone without risking it blowing up in the fast firing? Is there a better way of doing this that I just don't know about?
>
> Many thanks,
> Carole- in Elkton, MD - who thinks it's time to borrow some money and build a REAL studio so I can move out of the cold, dark, damp basement studio /laundry room /storage area, etc...... Best news of all- MY HUSBAND AGREES!
>
> Carole Fox
> Elkton, MD
> cfox@dca.net
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
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--
Marcia Selsor
selsor@imt.net
http://www.imt.net/~mjbmls
http://www.imt.net/~mjbmls/Tuscany2001.html
http://www.imt.net/~mjbmls/Gallery.html
Celia Littlecreek on wed 4 apr 01
I do lots of Raku and have done for awhile. If your are not good at judging
kiln temp by color, a pyrometer is a good investment.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Carole Fox"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2001 8:31 AM
Subject: Horsehair Raku/ losing the burnish
Dear Clayart friends,
I have been experimenting with horsehair raku. I terra sig my pots when bone
dry, lightly burnish and bisque to cone 010. Then, I fire the pots in my
homemade fiber raku kiln to heat them enough to apply the hair. I think,
however, I've been firing them too hot and losing the burnish.
I don't have any way of gauging the temperature of my raku kiln, except by
using cones (which I have never done in this kiln). The only 010 cones I
have are small kiln sitter cones and I would have to somehow position one so
that I could see it through the chimney hole, as I have no peep hole. Can I
use these small cones in my raku kiln? How would I make the clay pad to hold
the cone without risking it blowing up in the fast firing? Is there a better
way of doing this that I just don't know about?
Many thanks,
Carole- in Elkton, MD - who thinks it's time to borrow some money and build
a REAL studio so I can move out of the cold, dark, damp basement studio
/laundry room /storage area, etc...... Best news of all- MY HUSBAND AGREES!
Carole Fox
Elkton, MD
cfox@dca.net
____________________________________________________________________________
__
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
Charlie and Linda Riggs on thu 5 apr 01
Celia
I second the motion. Linda and I use pyrometers on our raku kilns to fire
raku(1875F), saggar(1800F for 25 mins.), horse hair (1100F), naked raku(1600F)...
You get the idea. With out a pyrometer it would be a random event. Possible but
not consistent. A decent pyrometer starts at $60. You could save that much in one
firing by saving a pot or save that much gas in a few months by not over firing.
Good luck
Charlie--Who was a big dumby and failed to find the Clayart room until the last
second.... I must be "short bus" material when it comes to directions in the big
city!
Celia Littlecreek wrote:
> I do lots of Raku and have done for awhile. If your are not good at judging
> kiln temp by color, a pyrometer is a good investment.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Carole Fox"
>
Gary Elfring on thu 5 apr 01
At 12:00 AM 4/5/01 -0400, you wrote:
>I have been experimenting with horsehair raku. I terra sig my pots when
>bone dry, lightly burnish and bisque to cone 010. Then, I fire the pots in
>my homemade fiber raku kiln to heat them enough to apply the hair. I
>think, however, I've been firing them too hot and losing the burnish.
You have to fire your raku kiln pretty hot to lose the burnish. I typically
use a white crakle raku glaze as a "liner" inside my horsehair pots. I fire
to 1800 (on a pyrometer) and don't lose the burnish from terra sig. I do
start with a white porcelain raku clay (grog-less) from Great Lakes Clay.
You can see one sample of my horsehair pots at the web site below.
-gary elfring-
the horsehair and feather king
http://www.elfring.com/pottery
BobWicks@AOL.COM on thu 5 apr 01
Carole:
Cones are not practical in Raku firing as they are effected by the
atmosphere. Your best bet on temperature is to learn how to estimate the
temperature by sight. The first sign of color will be under 1000 degrees and
this is where you will lose the burnished finish in terra sig. There are
charts in several ceramic texts that give an approximation temperature
reading according to color. If you want to go one step further you can buy
an optical pyrometer that merely uses a jewelers eye loop with a battery
lighted bulb with a rheostat to control the brightness. When the lite
filament matches the background color, it disappears. Then you just read the
calibrated reading in degrees off the dial. That's about the best you can
do. Remember that the primitive Raku potters had no such devices, but they
did have good results.
Bob
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