Comment

Comment by Donna Ferrara on March 23, 2012 at 6:29pm

hi Jan

yes it sounds like we do the same thing, and I had read that holding the firing at a constant temp for around 20 mins resulted in another cone raise....

my kiln shuts off at cone 5-5 1/2 i restart it by lifting up the lever that drops, restarting by pressing the button and slowly dropping the lever

I then fire until my cones are slumped -to a cone 6- then i shut it off 

 I let the temp drop down a little 1500-1600 F and then hold at med for around 40 min.  there so much info out there, and I'm not sure really what is necessary to do.  I have had much better results soaking, so I know that works, but it  seems at what temp and time seems different for everybody

I'm having a hard time seeing the halo and the cones, so I blow thru the peep hole with my hair dryer! 

 i would love a auto controller too but i want a brent slab rollar first....!!!

Comment by Jan Wallace on March 23, 2012 at 5:39pm

Donna, my kiln is manual too and I am the same as you. It depends on how I feel or how busy I am. I may stand there and wait for the kiln to reach temp 1200c, then hold it for a while or depending on whats in the kiln I let it switch itself and cool naturally. When I have done this in the past though, my cones have not even started to bend, so its more likely a Cone 5 firing. When I have the time I 'kiln watch'. My kiln also tends to take about 15 - 20 mins after the internal pyro reads 1200c for my cones inside to drop (watch through the spyhole). I then leave it for another 20mins with the kiln on 50%/Medium setting, allowing it to soak, then switch off. I then come back at intervals and turn the  kiln back to read the temp. Once its at about 900 - 950c, I turn it back on and put it on medium and hold at that temp for up to an hour. If I do not watch my kiln closely, and have it set on a setting that is too high, it would prob fire Cone 7. Its is a bit of a bother and I would love to have an auto controller, but I guess we learn more this way.

Tom, I had a look at Steven Hill's site. I absolutely love his dinner sets and you must be very excited to start experimenting. His work is so inspirational. I have to buy some strontium before I can start mixing my glazes, but hope to have some tests in my next glaze firing. I think its a good idea to throw cylinders for testing so that there is more surface area to see your results plus you will see how they react on a vertical surface. What particular glazes are you making for your tests?

Comment by Tom Waggle on March 23, 2012 at 8:41am

I really like the Nutmeg, great orange color.

I have about 5-6 more glazes to mix up.  I have made 1 gallon batches of nearly all the Steven Hill glazes, I have 2 more of his to make (watercolor blue and watercolor green). I am going to mix up 4-5 other glazes in smaller test batches to try out.  Nutmeg may be an addition to that group. 

When I have them all mixed I will try them out on some test cylinders.  SH recommended using cylinders to test the spraying and layering effects, rather than smaller test tiles.  So I need to throw some cylinders and have them ready.  I am going to do a batch following the Single-firing schedule and another using bisque ware and the Bisque schedule, hopefully by the end of next week.

Here is a link to SH's website where there are all the different types of functional ware he makes.

http://www.stevenhillpottery.com/StevenHillPottery/TopShelfPottery/...

  The Dinnerware link shows some great stuff, I really love the "cool palette" he uses with the Strontium Crystal Magic Cool as his base glaze.  Very frosty and soft looking.  http://www.stevenhillpottery.com/StevenHillPottery/TopShelfPottery/...

Here is nice warm orange and brown set http://www.stevenhillpottery.com/StevenHillPottery/TopShelfPottery/...

Comment by Donna Ferrara on March 23, 2012 at 3:00am

i really like that...I'm going to make  up a small test batch with the red art and try it

 it's not a red as the orange brown

it looks a little shino like too, which i've been wanting to fool around with

i found that soaking for 30-45 minutes at temperature (cone 6) actually resulted in reaching another cone (7)

do you find that?  so I usually let the kiln drop down to 1800 to 1500 degrees and then soak

I do it manually so it all depends on how tired I am of waiting, and how lax I am about remembering to check how far the kiln's temperature has dropped down

Comment by Jan Wallace on March 22, 2012 at 10:52pm

Great, thanks Donna. Tom and Donna... here is the pic of the modified 'Nutmeg'. As stated earlier, its Richards Busch's original recipe and I just replaced the ball clay with my own locally found Red Clay (like your Redart i guess). I think my kiln most likely underfired a little on this day, so perhaps more like Cone 5 was achieved as I did not soak at Cone 6. Just went off at 1200c but did soak around 950c for 45 mins. I think I will test it with a thicker application too. Perhaps we should add this as a discussion?  I will ask George.

 

Comment by Donna Ferrara on March 22, 2012 at 3:19pm

hi Jan

there is also a combination glaze resulting form a line blend of nutmeg and white satin matt, by Bill Schran.  I have used it to mimic the effects of wood fire. I'll post it in the glaze recipes, and dig around to see if I have a picture of it to post.

Comment by Jan Wallace on March 22, 2012 at 2:27pm

That is quite a description, thanks! I have read about Cone 10 'Yellow Salt' glaze. Would be interesting to search for Cone 6 variations, if any?

I have been making up new glazes this week to do another firing. Some of which are Copper Matts and Metallic glazes at Cone 6. Ran out of test tiles though so I have had to make more. Recently, I modified 'Nutmeg' to replace the ball clay with locally found red clay (my own Redart and my little tin of gold) with some interesting results. It looks a little like a shino glaze when application is thin and has, I think, qualities of wood/salt firing when thicker. With more testing, that is what I hope to achieve. Perhaps used in conjuction with other glazes, this would work. I built a wood kiln about ten years ago. It was VERY HARD work to fire on my own and in addition to that there were months of preparation in the cutting and splitting of timber. I was younger then, not that I am old now (41) but can't imagine having the energy to do that on my own now or the luxury of having the time. I used to throw soda in too which gave me some interesting effects, but never had the opportunity to fire gas with soda. Maybe I will build a small soda kiln one day. I will post a pic of my modified Nutmeg as soon have time. There is an interesting pdf doc by Richard Busch called 'A Woodfired Look'. I found it yesterday. I am going to try the original nutmeg and my nutmeg over a white to see what happens. Here is the link.

http://www.ceramicartdaily.net/booksales/Electric_Busch.pdf

When are you firing the Skutt kiln with your tests?

 

Comment by Tom Waggle on March 22, 2012 at 9:00am

The teapot glazes are as follows: spout, rim, handle and top of knob are all Yellow Salt.  The body and lid are Oribe Green with perhaps some Laura's Turquoise.  The Body and lid were sprayed, while the Yellow Salt was brushed on.    The black on the body is the result of the green glazes being applied thicker (they turn a nice very matte black in Soda atmosphere when "too thick").

The mug in profile pic is the same combination of glazes.  The Orange streak is the bare clay body, no glaze at all.  I brushed wax resist on prior to glazing (to keep that stroke from getting any glaze on it), with the orange streak basically being the brush stroke.  In a good soda firing the soda reacts with the bare clay body to create the characteristic rusty oranges.  These can range from bright orange to deep maroon depending on the clay body, and the luck of the firing.  You can also see the Orange bare clay soda reaction on the edges of the handles and rims where the Yellow Salt was not applied thick.  It is a very nice effect.  Often times the oranges don't come out good at all and there is great disappointment shared by all when the kiln is unloaded.  This is one of the reasons I am intrigued by the Steven Hill Cone 6 Oxidation, DEPENDABILITY and some measure of CONTROL! Also the gas-fired soda kiln at the local community college is an ordeal to load, requires two days of baby-sitting during the firing and a pain to unload and clean up.  Can't wait to load the Cone 6 into the Skutt electric, set the controlled program and go home....

Comment by Jan Wallace on March 21, 2012 at 6:05pm

By the way. Love the mug in your profile pic. Is that soda fired also? Shino?

Comment by Jan Wallace on March 21, 2012 at 6:04pm

I would love to be able to duplicate this type of glazing at Cone 6. I love soda firing Tom as well as woodfired pottery. My aim is also to be able to duplicate or even get close to duplicate this look with Cone 6 glazes. I think it is achievable.

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