David Orser on sun 11 oct 98
sounds like a risky, if not downright foolish combination.
the "conventional wisdom" that i've always heard is that the
fumes from molten paraffin are particularly nasty, and to be avoided at
all ages. not to mention the risk of fire and the possibility of burns.
one potter i know of uses a specially designed sort of box with a hood
that vents the fumes. the fan that vents these fumes which are flammable
must be of the "explosion proof" variety. in my current studio i dont
have this option and when i do use "wax" resist i use the aftosa green
and is tolerable but not ideal. as for waxing the bottoms of pots, i
find this to be a awaste of time
as the glaze does bead bead up on the liquid wax resist surface and needs
to be wiped off anyway, adding yet another step.
I have found that if i simply saturate the foot of a pot by
dipping it in a bucket of clean water for a few seconds, thus saturating
it, after glazing a quick swipe with the sponge the glaze comes away
clean with very little effort.
this method has a secondary advantage. when using glazes that
tend to run (e.g. RUTILE BLUE) by dipping the pot further up from the
foot this saturation and decrease in absorption equals a thinner coat of
glaze near the foot where running is an issue (no pun intended).
obviously, the longer you hold the piece in water the the less absorption
of glaze. this allows a great amount of control and save time grinding
kiln shelves. and by teaching this to students, puts in their hand the
responsibility of how their piece comes out and helps them uderstand the
concepts of glaze viscosity.absorption, etc... i dont know how mant
times i've heard teachers giving the standard glaze rap 'wax the bottom
so it won't stick" i've students come to me with their glazed bottom pots
glued to a shelf and say "but i waxed the bottom".....
went on longer than i planned to, i'll get off my waxbox now.
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