Lily Krakowski on wed 18 dec 02
I wash bisque under a trickle of water, getting my fingers under galleries,
and a toothbrush into hollow knobs, just to make sure all bits of fine dust
that might have stuck there and now are bisque dust are gone. I do not allow
the pots to dry completely, but so they feel just a bit cooler than the room
temperature.
Lili Krakowski
P.O. Box #1
Constableville, N.Y.
(315) 942-5916/ 397-2389
Be of good courage....
Joseph Herbert on mon 5 jun 06
Hello,
Definitely give the bisque a good sponging before glazing. I started doing
it to prevent crawling while working in a particularly dusty shared space
and have not stopped. I also think that the moisture in the bisque slows
down glaze slurry absorption. My pots are fairly thick walled (I say that I
do that purposely) so the water from the cleaning doesn't saturate the
piece. It does make it a little easier to avoid the dreaded too-thick glaze
coating. In addition, the sponging requires a relatively close examination
of the pot surface and offers a chance to knock off some of those clay
crumbs that are now hard sharp nasty things. They might fall off in the
glaze bucket and that have the chance to ruin a future piece.
Lots of advantages and pretty cheap insurance against many glaze faults.
Joseph Herbert
Joseph Herbert
Technical Writer
Irving, Texas
Ellen Currans on tue 6 jun 06
I also wash my bisque. First, because I like to just make pots until I have
them all made and bisqued before I start to glaze and fire for an event.
(Switching back and forth between making and glazing is a time waster for me.)
So, obviously they are a bit dusty when I get to them. I sometimes soften the
edges of square plates and trays by a little sanding before bisquing and that
will still be there after bisquing.
Also, most of my slab work and some of my thrown work has impressed textures
on it, and I've found that dampened bisque and thinner glaze give a much
better glaze coat over textures. If you dip a very dry textured plate (say with a
corrugated texture) into an even slightly thick glaze, you will have lots of
little air bubbles popping in the textures as the glaze drys.
I'm guessing that the same thing happens when you glaze a dry, thick bowl
which has been trimmed around the bottom half (and not ribbed to make it smooth,
leaving small rough places from grog tears). Air is trapped and pops open
the glaze as it dries. Depending on the glaze, it may melt and heal the hole
or not.
Ellen Currans
Cedar Pond Pottery
Dundee, Oregon
catjarosz on tue 6 jun 06
I have not washed bisque since 1987. Learned differently at what was then
Haywood Tech. in Clyde NC...
I do have to sand my pots to clean up the slip train and some intricate
carvings so create dust that has to come off.. I do this outside and with
my hubbys HUGE aircompressor that runs power tools . I use the blower
nozzle. I do this as I load into the bisque kiln. The dust comes off
much easier this way. But I also blow off when bringing them back into
the studio as they stay in the kiln shed piling up living with spiders and
other living things.
That said I am soo interested in what Dave F had to say about wetting the
bisque and the reasons. Could this be the answer to all the problems many
of my friends have encountered with certain clay bodies and glaze combo's?
They went yrs and yrs with no pin holing and then POW HUGE LOSS's and
frantic searching for answers..
They tried the bisque slower or higher though most already bisque to 04.
slow down the cool off ... Nothing worked for the local clay bodies we could
buy in Asheville,NC. We trucked it in from Minnisota and then Florida
and now someone in Charlotte NC is carrying a clay body that doesnt pit.
I noticed the biggest offenders were the Chunns and the rutile blues... A
few other of the shiney variety cone 10 glazes..
It sure would be interesting if washing the pots first would STOP the
pitting.. I dont use those glazes and or the red claybodies so didnt have
many problems with pits though I cant say I havent had any.. just not
enough to get upset about.
What do you think Dave? What changed in the clay body or the Kaolin mines
that would suddenly throw pin holes into any pots not washed off first when
no problems existed prior?
Cat Jarosz in vivid color SPRING TIME in the mnts of NC... learning to be
awake daytime after 10 plus yrs of nite shift... the 3 am potter...
www.catjarosz.com
www.guildcrafts.com/cat/
V)''(V woof & >^..^< mew
(_o_)
\||/ chicks with beards rule!!
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