mel jacobson on sat 18 aug 07
my god, what is better than bee's wax for resist.
nothing. ( i have kept a hive of bees in my backyard
for 30 years. now they are gone...left me for better people.)
i have just opened one of those firings that is
just perfect. not a second in the firing...almost
100 pots. so:
i have put a few pix on my clayart website.
you can see how i use hot wax.
formula: 536.009.01
any kind of wax...candles, paraffin, bee's wax, canning wax.
add to it any oil.
lamp oil
turpentine
kerosine
solvent
veg oil...
and add oil to taste...see how thin you want the mix.
i heat wax in a presto deep electric fry pan. it sits on a plywood
board...i keep a towel close to throw on it if it where to flash a fire.
no carrying, just a towel. smother..that is the key. i set the
heat indicator for medium heat...about 360 or so. but, who
knows what it actually is. melted, but does not smoke is the key.
i keep about 10 brushes right in the pan. all sizes and shapes.
(Yes, there is venting.)
a great big round decorating wheel sits next to the wax. pot on wheel,
spin with my hand....away goes the wax. it flies about a bit, but then
i take a heat gun later and melt it into paper towel. what i love about
hot wax is that you get one good chance. it does not correct...unless you
re/bisque the pot. i love that adventure.
when it works, it is magic.
i cannot use water based waxes...they just don't work for me.
i know many love them, but hot wax is my best friend.
there is a very nice oil spot pot on the web page. it is a re/fire with
my black oil spot glaze...small crack...so i flooded the pot with pete's red,
fired it hot, and wham...what a beauty...have two almost the same.
big oil spots with a sky blue glaze on black.
(copper red does not always re/fire perfect red. of course i love it when
it fires blue.) nice accidents.
and, there is nothing in my mind that is as nice as a perfect firing.
all the cones over at the same time, cone 10+ throughout the kiln.
the experiments and serendipity comes from new glaze ideas..not
a mis/fire. and, the new ideas can be repeated to some degree.
a cold spot firing will never be the same the next time.
and, if you depend on the back bottom to always be cone 8..hmm,
what happens when the kiln inverts the firing?...those cone 8 glazes
are running all over the shelves. i would never depend on my cold spots
to always be cold spots....it can change fast with a different stacking.
i am trying to get over the cold spots...lifting the shelf up higher and
using tuning bricks in the flame way.
i have been messing with a flame deflector/tuning brick.
i have added a cross piece about 3x6 inches on top of the tuning brick.
i know it has pushed the flame to the top...as my top is the
same temp as the bottom. and, i pulled the brick 10 inches closer
to the flame. i think it is now in the right place...so, i itc'd it in place.
next week is my backyard sale. sent out the invites, we will see
what happens.
mel
from: mel/minnetonka.mn.usa
website: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
Clayart page link: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
Terrance Lazaroff on sun 19 aug 07
Mel;
You mentioned that the bees were gone. Did they die? Did they just
disappear? or did the fly away with the queen?
I read an article that the world bees are dying. It frightens me, as these
animals are very important to our food chain.
Terrance
Visit Terry's website at http://clayart.ca/
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