microwave oven

[Lawrence Weathers]

I just became the owner of a new microwave oven I don't have a current use for. Has anyone found something to use one for in pottery?

[Nadine Mercader]

It can make a great damp cabinet for one item at a time!  Just don't turn it on!

[Sandy Whitley]

A microwave oven is great if you want to remove drips of wax or run over of wax from your piece.

[Belinda Willis]

A microwave is part of my studio.

To accelerate the drying process when I'm in a rush, I often place freshly thrown pots in the microwave for 10 to 20 seconds then let them sit for 20 minutes. Doing this a couple of times will move a piece to leather hard very quickly. I never do more than 10 or 20 seconds at a time tho because steam pockets can develop inside the clay that will ruin the piece.

I also use a microwave when I want to re-glaze a fired piece. I'll heat the piece and dip it while warm. That allows the glaze to dry much quicker than normal. Once the first layer of glaze is no longer runny, I'll heat the pot again and usually the pot gets hot enough that a second dip into the glaze gives the perfect coverage. The dipped pieces can steam right out of the microwave so figure out how you're going to handle the pot in advance. I usually only re-glaze the top 1/3 of a fired pot so I use a towel to pick my pots up by the base. For the few times I've wanted to re-glaze an entire pot, I've used glazing tongs.

[Lawrence Weathers]

that's very useful.

have you ever had any problems causing cracks in greenware?

thanks.

[Belinda Willis]

The way I learned to nuke pots for only 10 to 20 seconds was by ruining a pot. I don't use the microwave in this manner very often but it has worked great when I do. I learned to be patient and heat an item for a very short time, just until the clay is warm...too hot and you risk steam pockets. The microwave heats the water molecules from the inside so the clay dries out very evenly.

I use this method mainly when carving roller stamps. Fresh clay doesn't carve well so I quickly move it to a workable stage with my microwave. But like any tool, you have to learn how to use it in the manner that serves you best.

And to answer you specific question, no I've never experienced cracks because I've never dried pieces more than soft leather hard....and by that, I mean soft leather hard after the piece has sat for 20 or 30 minutes to cool. Once it cools off, the piece starts drying normally.

[Jeff Poulter]

I have used a microwave to heat small things in order to re-glaze them, but most the time I use a pre-programmed firing schedule to heat.  When I'm trying to dry pots out in a hurry, I just set them on the kiln before running a different kiln load.  By the time the firing is done, all the pots are dry that were sitting on top of the kiln.  Never had a cracking issue either. Bear in mind that I've never taken something right off the wheel & set it on top of a kiln, usually i let it dry for a while before it goes on top of the kiln.   jhp

[Rodney Allen Roe]

My studio has electricity and even a heat pump but no water.  I haul water from an outdoor hydrant and in the winter from the house..  I would use it to heat water,  In my former life I worked in laboratories where we used them to speed up some chemical reactions.  I can't think of an example of that kind in the pottery studio.  Maybe someone else can.