Comment

Comment by Denice E. Demuth on March 8, 2013 at 3:11pm

Yes it's all fired ceramics, the spills and molding are Cone 6 stoneware the tiles are Cone 1 Majolica. I have wanted to put some pictures on this site, George Lewter tried to help but couldn't get it to happen.  There is a picture of it on the Ceramics Monthly Forum somehow my son got it to post there.  You'll have to find it there under my membership name,  my husband just downloaded a new photoshop program.  He started having trouble also but I'm going have to wait until he has time to teach me how to use it before I try again.  I have quite a few pictures of tile murals and another fountain.   Denice

Comment by Norm Stuart on March 8, 2013 at 1:31pm

Your fountain is 9.5 feet by 5 foot, Wow! Is it all fired ceramic?

Do you have a photo?

Comment by Denice E. Demuth on March 8, 2013 at 6:03am

Norm I glad you mentioned the splashing, my last fountain is 9 and a half feet tall and 5 feet wide and it splashes about 18 inches beyond the bowl.  It's in a open courtyard so the extent of splashing is alright.  The one I am planning right now is outside but more enclosed so I'm going to have to design less splashing into it. Thank you   Denice

Comment by Norm Stuart on March 7, 2013 at 5:52pm

My memory was off, our kiln accommodates 22.5" x 17.5", and this barely fit for the bisque firing.

So each greenware piece must have measured about 20.5" high by almost 17"wide.

Laguna Big White shrinks 10% +/- 2%, so the finished piece must be about 40" x 15".

Next time I visit the finished fountain I'll measure it.

Comment by Norm Stuart on March 7, 2013 at 11:03am

We have a Cress E-36 kiln so each piece started as greenware which was just less than 17"" tall.

The immersion pump sits on the left in the bottom tray, the power-cord goes up the left column about six inches, and out through a hole and channel built into in the back. 

The 1/2" plastic water output tube from the pump goes up through the right column into the top trough. There it connects to a drip irrigation distributor, with the flow limiter removed, which distributes the water into six short 1/4" tubes of the same length each attached to one of the six slots at the top. The six tubes control the water far better than they way I designed it with the water simply flowing into the top tank and out the six outlets.

The two pieces join at a 45 degree angle, so the weight of the top locks it behind the bottom, with the bottom center flap from the top hanging over the join. There is also 3/4" flange built into the top half of the right column. I then joined the seam with black silicone gel to protect the two pieces from rubbing against each other when they expand and contract.

You have to start with the right pump for that height and test it with the pipes. Now that you know how big the plug on the power cord is going to be etc., you can then design the clay fountain to accommodate each pieces - allowing for the shrinkage of the clay.

The biggest problem with this design is water evaporation. The bottom tank only holds a day or two of water before evaporation and stray micro-drops requires a refill. The ribbed design of the water course is a bad idea. Surface tension of the water allows small bits of water to fling themselves off the fountain. You can't see them, but papers placed on the ground around the fountain get damp in a pattern which indicates droplets are falling outside of the bottom tank.

The distributor looks similar to this, but all six tubes connect on the top rather than the sides.

Here are the two ceramic parts, after the ^6, just prior to the ^06 firing.

Comment by Denice E. Demuth on March 7, 2013 at 6:39am

Norm is this a corner fountain and how large it is.  I getting ready do design a corner fountain and was wondering if there is anything structural to design in to it.  I have made several large flat wall fountains but not a corner. Your fountain is very natural, I have to design mine to withstand severe winter weather, hail and a occasional tornado.

Comment by Norm Stuart on March 2, 2013 at 11:39am

Two kiln-height pieces with ^6 Manganese Gold and Weathered Bronze Green, ^06 Cobalt over the Weathered Bronze Green to give a wet look, as the WBG came out too yellow. Functional but weighs 67 pounds. 

There is nothing as corrosive as a Manganese saturation glaze - it easily eats through kiln wash, so you must use pancakes or buy a new shelf.