Lili Krakowski on sat 14 jun 08
Heaven knows I try to stay calm and rational. But then I read or hear
stories ideas and my spine freezes, my mind boggles, etc.
Yes! Insane potters have introduced moth balls (now extremely costly|)
through the peepholes of their electric kilns, when the kiln was red hot!
Or hotter! And the mothballs have shot out and hit them, causing grave
injury! Esp. when the potter was peeking into the kiln to check what his
idiocy was doing--and got popped in the eye. I do not know whether
blindness resulted or not.
I know I sound like Mom and not putting beans in your nose (I actually heard
recently of a child doing so good a job, it needed surgery). Anyway. DO
NOT PUT FEED STUFF INTO YOUR ELECTRIC KILN! That is not what the peepholes
are for!
I do not know if there are pyrometers made for introduction into peepholes,
but if they are they would be designed by people who actually know what they
are doing!
Kilns are wonderful things. They are NOT toys.
As to Bone Ash. Whether natural (there was huge uproar about that at the
height of the Mad Cow epidemic) or some other source of phosphate is used,
it DOES NOT GIVE TROUBLE ANY MORE THAN ANY OTHER GLAZE MATERIAL. Without a
tidge of difficulty any, all, glaze materials can be made to "give trouble."
We get these inquiries and they are on the level of "will pepper spoil my
soup?" Yes! If you throw in a bottle of Habanero, rather than adding a
tidge and tasting. A glaze (as a rule) is a carefully balanced product and
one really needs to study and learn and test, and not think, aha, I can
throw all this together and it will be ok.
Except for the materials that are toxic, or give off toxic fumes, our
materials are gentle, sweet, kind and helpful. But they demand respect and
care and knowledge. Please all you Newbies: go to the library. Start
reading the technical books...
Lili Krakowski
Be of good courage
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