Maggie Furtak on tue 28 dec 10
Yep...use those cones, always!
Moved to a new group studio a few years back. A cheery new studio-mate
suggested that we share some kilns. Sounded convenient. She loaded the fi=
rst
one and fired it. Eek! All my pots are monsters! I had mixed a new batch=
of
glaze when I moved in. Assumed I must have done my measuring wrong somehow=
.
Couldn't figure out any problems from my notes, so I threw out five gallon=
s of
glaze and mixed a new batch. Again, she thoughtfully plucked some of my po=
ts
from the shelf to fill her kiln. More monsters.
Turned out she wasn't using witness cones. Just relying on the sitter to t=
urn
it off, and the calibration wasn't right. The kiln was barely making it to=
cone
4. Supposed to be cone 6. Her pots all looked "fine" because she'd always
fired in that kiln and had never realized that there was a problem. Had
probably tested a lot of cone 6 recipes that "didn't work" though! Hope no=
body
was poisoned.
After that I made sure I loaded my own, and watched them through to the end=
.
Although I was always happy to put some of her pots in my kiln for her. (=
:
Use cones! Three at each peep for a glaze firing!
-Maggie
Pate Ceramics
pateceramics.etsy.com
pateceramics.blogspot.com
781-956-1364
517 Fellsway East
Malden, MA 02148
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