Charles and Tamara Schulz on mon 24 nov 97
the latest thread on repairing pots/ethics has caught my attention. I'm
pretty new to this so I have my fair share of cracked bottoms and rims and
handles that pull away from cups. greenware just gets recycled, but alot of
these cracks don't show up until after the bisque firing so they go out
with the trash. can any of these be saved? how do you patch a pot? I'm not
selling these items so ethics is not an issue for me. I have destroyed many
beautiful greenware pieces because of one small crack. I would love to
prevent this as well as keep my bisque ware out of the landfill.
I would be truly thankful for any help sent my way.
Tamara---------Okinawa
John Christie on wed 26 nov 97
Dear Tamara of Okinawa
Wheras damping an area of bone dry pot with water must usually be fatal, stro
ng vinegar can be used without any harm coming to the surrounding dry area of
clay. We get "non-brewed condiment" from the local chippie (fish and chip
shop) - which is in reality just dilute acetic acid. Apply this magic stuff
with a small watercolour brush to the crack; the clay will become soft and
slightly frothy and can then be worked and the crack repaired; if you need a
bit more clay just soften a scrap with the vinegar and use this as a filler.
Another use for this excellent stuff (acetic acid) is as a flocculent for
slip or glaze - if you find that your slip or glaze is a bit on the thin
side, a few drops of acetic acid will usually produce a dramatic
thickening. The alternative would have been to have waited overnight to take
off the settled water. Calcium chloride or dilute hydrochloric acid will do
as well but you can't use them to soften cracks in dry pots or flavour your
chips (fries) as far as I know.
John Christie
Elgin, Scotland.
JockyC@aol.com
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