Jenny Lewis on thu 14 oct 99
Hi Dianna
I'm all behind with my Clayart readings, but I hope you have by now
received some useful replies to your request. I'm not quite sure what
Don M means. Volunteers do work for which there is not enough
funding to pay people, NOT to stop the deserving poor from earning a
crust - hospitals and charities being the obvious examples that come
into my mind. Presumably there are lots of educational establishments
that cannot cope without volunteers, so, well done all those noble
people who are helping out. Or maybe I have just not seen the
meaning behind something expressed electronically - often a problem
with email communications.
It is true that checking books is essential, BUT this assumes that the
books are available (my nearest libraries have absolutely bog-all on
raku, in fact not very much on pottery, and I live in a big city). I
think though that there is still nothing to beat a personal
explanation, and anyway I understood from your message that you had
done raku before, and needed some little extra - which is not quite
the same as a bone idle beginner refusing to make any effort. Again,
maybe my misreading or misinterpreting?
Well, after all that - I am not an expert but I love raku, have taken
part in about 15 or 20 firings, and never have discovered the
"correct" temperature - probably somebody told me once what it should
be, and the information is stored somewhere in my cluttered mind, but
all we ever did was peek into the hole in the middle of the lid and
when the glaze looked right, then up went the lid and out came the
pots! Very precise. As the pots get hotter, and start to glow a
reddish/orangey colour, the glaze starts to bubble and then gradually
the bubbles smooth out, and you have to wait for the shine, when the
pot looks as if it is made of liquid. Hope I'm not getting too
technical ;-)
Hmm, does this make any kind of sense? It's difficult to describe.
If you have time, do try it out for yourself before demonstrating to
others. Mainly to get the hang of it, but MUCH more important - so
that you don't look daft in front of an audience!
Big warning - looking into the hole on top of the raku kiln should be
an oblique glance. It is NOT a good idea to lean over and try to look
straight down. Yeh, this sounds obvious, but it has always surprised
me how many people have tried to do so. The blast of heat makes them
move away pretty fast, but ...
Rambling on too long, I'll stop now. I hope this helps. Good luck
with your demonstrating, hope it all goes wonderfully well.
Jenny Lewis
overlooking Regents Park
crisp clear sunny beautiful autumn day
Marvin Flowerman on fri 15 oct 99
Jenny:
European (French) raku potters I have met refer to a maturing temperature of
960 (in one case) and 980 Centigrade (in another case) and indicate that
relying on a pyrometer rather than the human eye gives them better, more
consistant results.
Hope this helps you somewhat.
All the best.
Marvin Flowerman (marvpots@aol.com.USA)
Richard Jeffery on sat 16 oct 99
As a European (English) raku potter I would add that pyrometers are not the
best judge of heat work, and the visual indicators are remarkably good - as
well as fascinating to watch (through appropriate glasses, of course...).
More usefully, if using the rather restricted palette of commercial raku
glazes available here (No offence Steve!), there can be a noticeable
difference in maturing temperatures - white in particular needing more the
others.
I do use a pyrometer - it's useful to see how long the kiln is taking, and
some raku "finishes" - copper matt for example - do not present any visual
clues. I still rely on what the glaze looks like to decide when to take it
out, though.
If you want some good reading on raku, try Steve Branfman's book - I find it
invaluable.
Richard Jeffery
Bournemouth UK
-----Original Message-----
From: Ceramic Arts Discussion List [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.UKY.EDU]On Behalf
Of Marvin Flowerman
Sent: 15 October 1999 14:19
To: CLAYART@LSV.UKY.EDU
Subject: Re: raku firing info requested
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Jenny:
European (French) raku potters I have met refer to a maturing temperature of
960 (in one case) and 980 Centigrade (in another case) and indicate that
relying on a pyrometer rather than the human eye gives them better, more
consistant results.
Hope this helps you somewhat.
All the best.
Marvin Flowerman (marvpots@aol.com.USA)
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