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raw glazing body query

updated mon 14 jun 99

 

Malone & Dean McRaine on sun 13 jun 99

Aloha All:
I've been raw glazing with two clay bodies from Laguna, Dave's porcelain
and S-60 stoneware. The porcelain is very easy to work with and I have very
few glazing losses. Thinner pieces I glaze (dipping) one side at a time
with only a few minutes between the outside and the inside. Thicker ones,
like platters, I completely immerse with great success. The stoneware is
much more difficult. I have to glaze one side and then let the piece dry
for several hours before glazing the other or I get cracks and bubbles
galore in the clay. Platters have proven to be very difficult, breaking
often no matter how much I dry them, if I dip. I can spray them but it's a
hassle and I think there may be a better clay body for me. Any other raw
glazers have any ideas about this? Does it have to do with the openness of
the clay body, particle size, or some other factor?
Thanks,
Dean, gorging on mangoes in Kauai.