Tadeusz Westawic on wed 4 dec 96
I raku. My current fixation is large forms. For me, that is forms 20-30"
high and 10-18" in diameter. The forms are wheel-thrown. I fire to ^06
and pull the pots at that temperature. The pots may be fired and pulled
up to seven times to ^06, but reduced only on last firing. Oh, yes, I am
at 6000 feet, if that makes any difference.
I use what I know as Soldner's Raku Body:
by weight:
50% fireclay (I use Greenstripe from North American Refractories)
30% silica sand (I use 60 mesh)
20% talc (I use a fine mesh referred to as "glaze talc" in Laguna cat.)
add 2% bentonite
My large diameter lids for above forms develop a single straight crack
about two-thirds the diameter of the lid. The crack develops sometime
during post-firing reduction. The PFR takes place in a 30-gallon
galvanized trash can.
Pipenburg seems excited about kyanite addition to raku body to reduce
thermal breakage, a discovery he credits to Steven Kemenyffy. Good. I
want to try a kyanite addition to the above body. Has Anyone tried this
with the same or a similar body? What results? What proportions by
weight? I figure about 25% by volume from other body formulae in the
Pipenburg book.
Suggestions and caveats welcome.
Tadzu
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