gail@matra.com.au on thu 16 jan 97
>I just thought of one other thing, early in the firing
>(~350 degrees) there can be some pretty ugly fumes. Make sure your kiln is
>well vented.
So I've discovered, in a recent firing, where I included some paper clay
work in a soda firing. (20 cubic foot, LPG outdoor kiln)
Thank god the early stages of firing were in the wee hours of the morning,
so the smell was mostly gone by the time my neighbours were getting up.
"Pretty ugly" is a fair description..."foul" would be another. Reminded me
of a studio I used to work in years ago, where there were lots of stray cats
in the neighbourhood, and the toms had taken to pissing on the big
insulating brick kiln in the back yard. Early stages of firing that kiln
were about as bad as my recent firing with paper clay!
As I've spent many years developing my work with soda firing so as not to
annoy my neighbours with salt fumes, it seems somehow inappropriate to hit
them now with paper clay fumes...and I didn't particularly enjoy the fumes
either. I suppose it didn't help that in the early stages of this firing,
there was low cloud, fog, drizzling rain, and no wind, so the fumes hung
around for a long time. But the smell was so bad, it's put me off trying it
again in any weather.
Yes, paper clay does have some amazing properties, but this is one I'd
rather do without. I'd appreciate some discussion on how people have
managed to cope with this problem.
..............................................................
Gail Nichols gail@matra.com.au
SODA GLAZE CERAMICS http://www.matra.com.au/~gail/
Sydney, Australia
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YiLi Lin on fri 17 jan 97
can someone please tell me the qualities of paper clay? thanks.
YiLi Lin
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