rickmahaffey on mon 6 mar 00
We learned the term "water smoking" for the phase of the bisque where
all of the physical and perhaps the chemical water (memory is a little
shaky) is driven out of the ware in the early part of a bisque firing.
This term may be a bit archaic, but I still like it better than steaming
as a description.
Rick Mahaffey
Tacoma, Washington, USA
Jeff Campana on tue 7 mar 00
I thought water smoking was the word used to describe the process where you
pour a bunch of water in the bottom of a salt kiln filled with wet pots.
The steam from this water helps to evenly dry the kiln. 30 min after all
the water is off the floor, crank the kiln and fire normally. Some of the
older students here actually did this a few years before my time, and said
it worked fine. So is this process called water smoking?
rickmahaffey wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> We learned the term "water smoking" for the phase of the bisque where
> all of the physical and perhaps the chemical water (memory is a little
> shaky) is driven out of the ware in the early part of a bisque firing.
> This term may be a bit archaic, but I still like it better than steaming
> as a description.
>
> Rick Mahaffey
> Tacoma, Washington, USA
vince pitelka on tue 7 mar 00
> We learned the term "water smoking" for the phase of the bisque where
> all of the physical and perhaps the chemical water (memory is a little
> shaky) is driven out of the ware in the early part of a bisque firing.
> This term may be a bit archaic, but I still like it better than steaming
> as a description.
I have to second Rick Mahaffey on this. In the early 1970s, when I and
various friends started building our own kilns in Humboldt County, CA,
(while I was still an undergraduate at Humboldt State Univ.) I fondly
remember outdoor kilns in that cool damp climate, giving off smoky steam as
the as the chemically-combined water and the carbonates dissociated and
outgassed. This would always result in smoky condensation around the places
where the vapors could escape from the kiln. Later in the firing, the heat
coming out of these same openings would burn off the effect immediately
around the opening. It is a distinct look, not shared by tighter indoor
kilns. "Water smoking" always seemed the appropriate term.
Best wishes -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Home - vpitelka@dekalb.net
615/597-5376
Work - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 ext. 111, fax 615/597-6803
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
vince pitelka on wed 8 mar 00
> I thought water smoking was the word used to describe the process where
you
> pour a bunch of water in the bottom of a salt kiln filled with wet pots.
> The steam from this water helps to evenly dry the kiln. 30 min after all
> the water is off the floor, crank the kiln and fire normally. Some of the
> older students here actually did this a few years before my time, and said
> it worked fine. So is this process called water smoking?
No. The water-smoking period is the stage from about 800F to 1200F in a
bisque fire or single fire, when organics, sulfates, carbonates, nitrates,
and chemically combined water are outgassing as a smelly, smoky, sulfrous,
steamy gaseous mix.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Home - vpitelka@dekalb.net
615/597-5376
Work - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 ext. 111, fax 615/597-6803
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
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