Steven's Glazes - Tested at Cone 6

[George Lewter]

Is anyone testing some or all of Steven's cone 10 glazes at Cone 6. If so, can you let us know about the results with close up pictures and firing details?

 

So, CM?!. Can you share any details with us?  Are the glazes all formulated the same as they were in his handouts, or has he made flux adjustments for the lower firing temperatures?  What kind of firing schedule are you using?  Are you also firing the gas kiln to cone 6?

 

I asked Steven a year ago if we could publish the Glaze recipes here, but never got an answer, so we've just referred our members to Lakeside Pottery where the recipes are online, but it would be nice to have them right here. 

[1jayg6b8kqblz]

Appologies if I have missed it in the string... but is anyone firing green, as Hill does, or are you spraying his glazes on bisque?

[1jayg6b8kqblz]

Some I see are noting they are glazing on bisque. Im curious to the outcomes of green firing. Broken pots etc or is all well. 

[George Lewter]

I started single firing last Fall and have had few problems using Laguna B-Mix5 and #80.  Look to the discussions under the "Fire It Once" group for more info, results, etc.  You must use slower heating ramps until you get up over 1400 deg. F, after that fire normally. 

[martha peddicord]

Hi, Stacy,    I am firing on bisque, just got the glazes from a March workshop with Steven where we fired on both greenware and bisque in the same kiln.  My tests done there came out well, only issue was some blistering on the top of one where I think I put too much of too many glazes, especially WCgreen.

I am getting multiple sprayers set up this weekend.   This is all so different than the MC6 glazing I have been doing.  A lot of people at the clinic were using Tucker Porcelain and did not have blistering issues.

[1jayg6b8kqblz]

Thanks for the info. Good to know. Also, for those curious about the site and the job it's doing, SH had GLAZEMIXER.COM mix a batch of his glazes and was very pleased with the outcome.

I have checked in on "Fire It Once" but was still curious how this group was doing and their thoughts.

 

Thanks for the info.

[martha peddicord]

I would appreciate some thoughts on firing schedules for the SH glazes.  I was getting a solid and even ^6 throught out my computer driven Skutt 1027 that  I have been firing for 2 years.  I ran my first kiln of SH glazes yesterday.  I have his handout for firing .  He uses a lower peak temp than I have been, I go to 2195* with a 15 min. soak, then ramp down slowly with a soak at 1800* of 30 min, getting nice matt glazes..  He reccommends a 1 hour hold at peak temp to get from the ^5 he peaks at to a six down throught the soak.  I had been getting solid ^6 with the 2195 peak and a 15 min soak.

 

So......I thought if my kiln gets the solid ^6 evenly, why would I change it  much?  Every kiln has it's own way of firing, right??  So all I changed was more soak at 2195, from 15 to 20 min, then followed SH's recs to drop fast to 1700, soak there an hour then 50* an hour down from 1700 to 16oo. Then off.

 

The kiln fired for 13 hours, packed really full, and ...... the cones at the thermocouple hardly made solid ^5, with major uneven cones from shelf to shelf????   How could I have increased the peak soak by 5 minutes and have the cones show cooler that the 15 min soak at 2195* I had been doing all along with great ^6 results?

 

Any ideas? 

[Mary Jane]

That result seems very strange.  I wonder if your previous firing schedule had cooled much more slowly to get to the 1700, and that could possibly account for some of the difference.  How did the pots turn out? 

 

 

[martha peddicord]

I wish I knew.  I had been dropping 500*/hr from peak to 1800, holding there for 30 minutes, then150* hr to 1700* then off.  Consulted with John Hessleberth on this since I use many of his glazes.  Steven drops at 9999*/hr from peak to 1700 because he says that SCM can be rough if cooled too slowly, but he did not say what 'too slow' is.

I also had the kiln paacked, many little hump test pots tucked into every spot, under the lips of big bowls, and test tiles sitting in all spaces.  Would that make a diff ?  The top shelf was a solid 3" down from the lid, but it had two coils in that 3"  The top shelf was not even a good ^5!

The pots were a total experiement, combos of SH and MC6 glazes, all turned out shiney, that surprised me.  And the speckled white stoneware was spotted like a glossy dalmation.  UUUUUgly.

[Mary Jane]

I would have thought more pots would have kept the kiln hot longer so I don't see how that would lessen the cone.  Curious to hear other people's thoughts on this. 

[George Lewter]

The long (1 hr) soak serves a couple of functions.  It evens out the the temperature in the kiln, and it allows crystals to grow. Steven used the same idea even when firing to cone 9. He took it up to where cone 8 fell and held that temp for an hour which allowed cone 9 to also fall. Given that he is now doing an uncontrolled temperature drop at the end of the soak, the soak is probably where most of the interacting between the glaze layers is taking place.  The soak is not the part of the firing cycle where you want to cut corners, if complex glaze interactions is what your looking for.

[martha peddicord]

So are you saying that even tho cones are about heat work, a combination of temp and time and soak, that I should use the soak to get to the cone I need, , is that why the peak temp is so low, at only cone 5,, so that the long soak will end up at ^6?

 

Is the rapid temp drop after the soak part of why all glazes were ultra shiney?

[CM Partin]

I talked to Steven yesterday and the kiln he is firing in now he has to up his top temp by 20 degrees to get 6 down. He said the colors were not as vibrant and he just re-fired the kiln and it turned out great.