mel jacobson on sat 12 jul 03
at hay creek this summer we did some
alternate firing methods to cone 11, reduction.
bob anderson/raku fame/ and i decided to
take nils at his word and try some fast up, no reduction,
slow down, reduce at the end.
worked like a charm.
we fired 5 times in 7 days. our small 18 cube
flat top...nils burners, 25 lbs of pressure/propane.
it is a blazer, so we went fast on the way up.
we loaded, shut the door. put on the burners, full.
no heat up at all. just full bore. no reduction, damper
wide open. took it to cone 11 that way. four hours.
we turned off the kiln, dropped it to 1900F and put
one burner on low, damper fixed so it would hold at
1900F for two hours.
let it slow cool to 1750F and did our reduction with wood
scrap. on one occasion we over did the reduction. too much
wood, for too long. smokey looking pots. (rather nice however.)
in every case we had 100 percent reduction...
nice color, great shino, red etc. it worked for us
and we proved that you can get reduction up/down or in
the middle. it was interesting to try, and we did not
lose a pot.
i don't think i will always fire this way. i am not going to
change things too much at home, but it was important
to try nil's method, and see what would happen. bob was
willing to sacrifice his nice teapots and platters, so i thought
....well, hell, who cares if my pots get ruined. the world will
not be out a thing. but, i took out some very nice black shino
bottles, and a dozen nice rhodes 32 bowls.
it really blew us away to see the deep black patterns, as we
did not reduce at all on the way up. the black came from
the end of the firing. interesting.
anyway.
take it for what it is.
try if you want.
kurt sure was happy today...firing down. he was
a bit shy about it....with his 600 dollar pots all
lined up in his kiln...hundreds of hours of decoration...
and, i did not want to see a disaster either...he would
have charged me for the pots. (joke)
but, he had the courage to try a new way...and it worked.
again, thanks to our pal in oregon.
it is the way of the craftsman...try a new way, do not
be afraid. it just may be better. trust your friends,
trust your intuition.
it is a must.
mel
From:
Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S.A.
web site: my.pclink.com/~melpots
or try: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
new/ http://www.TICK-ATTACK.COM
LindaBlossom on sun 13 jul 03
Mel,
This brings to mind Feriz's insistence that we don't need to be tending
those kilns for hours and hours - just turn it on and go. My problem would
be thick items. Can't really do this with a pedestal sink or sink. Joinery
and thickness being of issue. But it would be fun to do with tiles. I too
wonder why you chose wood rather than damper to induce reduction. Where did
you put the wood in...burner port or spy holes?
Linda
> we fired 5 times in 7 days. our small 18 cube
> flat top...nils burners, 25 lbs of pressure/propane.
> it is a blazer, so we went fast on the way up.
>
> we loaded, shut the door. put on the burners, full.
> no heat up at all. just full bore. no reduction, damper
> wide open. took it to cone 11 that way. four hours.
>
> we turned off the kiln, dropped it to 1900F and put
> one burner on low, damper fixed so it would hold at
> 1900F for two hours.
> let it slow cool to 1750F and did our reduction with wood
> scrap. on one occasion we over did the reduction. too much
> wood, for too long. smokey looking pots. (rather nice however.)
>
> in every case we had 100 percent reduction...
> nice color, great shino, red etc. it worked for us
> and we proved that you can get reduction up/down or in
> the middle. it was interesting to try, and we did not
> lose a pot.
>
> i don't think i will always fire this way. i am not going to
> change things too much at home, but it was important
> to try nil's method, and see what would happen. bob was
> willing to sacrifice his nice teapots and platters, so i thought
> ....well, hell, who cares if my pots get ruined. the world will
> not be out a thing. but, i took out some very nice black shino
> bottles, and a dozen nice rhodes 32 bowls.
>
> it really blew us away to see the deep black patterns, as we
> did not reduce at all on the way up. the black came from
> the end of the firing. interesting.
> anyway.
> take it for what it is.
> try if you want.
>
> kurt sure was happy today...firing down. he was
> a bit shy about it....with his 600 dollar pots all
> lined up in his kiln...hundreds of hours of decoration...
> and, i did not want to see a disaster either...he would
> have charged me for the pots. (joke)
> but, he had the courage to try a new way...and it worked.
> again, thanks to our pal in oregon.
>
> it is the way of the craftsman...try a new way, do not
> be afraid. it just may be better. trust your friends,
> trust your intuition.
> it is a must.
> mel
> From:
> Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S.A.
> web site: my.pclink.com/~melpots
> or try: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
> new/ http://www.TICK-ATTACK.COM
>
>
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Fredrick Paget on sun 13 jul 03
Mel,
I think this might work even if you don't reduce at all and let the
pots cool off. Then in a second firing bring 'er up to 1900 F and do
the reduction with wood strips.
Reason I think this will work and at least needs to be tried out is I
do it with crystaline glazed pots that have a copper green crystal
pattern and after the second firing the crystals are red. Here I
have to do it in two firings because the crystals are done in an
electric kiln with computer control. And I don't want to stick wood
in my electric kiln.
Maybe those reduction glazes could be fired in an electric kiln and
reduced in a gas kiln later???
Fred
>at hay creek this summer we did some
>alternate firing methods to cone 11, reduction.
>
>bob anderson/raku fame/ and i decided to
>take nils at his word and try some fast up, no reduction,
>slow down, reduce at the end.
>
>worked like a charm.
........mel
--
From Fred Paget, Marin County, California, USA
Dannon Rhudy on sun 13 jul 03
Fred said:
> Maybe those reduction glazes could be fired in an electric kiln and
> reduced in a gas kiln later???>>>>>
Yes, it is possible that they could. But unless it is necessary
for a reason such as striking your copper crystalline glazes to
turn them red, it would be a huge waste of time and fuel. If
it can be done in one go, then it should be. My opinion.
regards
Dannon Rhudy
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