Garry Wakely on wed 12 jul 00
Hi All,
I have a question regarding a pit firing project that I hope to undertake.
My wife is 9 months pregnant, and we are going to do a torso cast of her,
and I am hoping to pit fire the positive. My question is: Can I pit fire
the greenware positive, or do I have to have it bisque fired first? It
will be much easier to pit fire a greenware from the point of transport as
we are out on a farm, and creating a pit for the firing out here will be
much easier than transporting it elsewhere for bisque firing and then
transporting it back for the pit firing.
Any advice?
Thanks.
Garry
___________________________________________________
On the day of the dead, when the year too dies,
Must the youngest open the oldest hills
Through the door of the birds, where the breeze breaks.
There fire shall fly from the raven boy,
And the silver eyes that see the wind,
And the Light shall have the harp of gold.
By the pleasant lake the Sleepers lie,
On Cadfan's Way where the kestrels call;
Though grim from the Grey King shadows fall,
Yet singing the golden harp shall guide
To break their sleep and bid them ride.
When light from the lost land shall return,
Six Sleepers shall ride, six Signs shall burn,
And were the midsummer tree grows tall
By Pendragon's sword the Dark shall fall.
Susan Cooper - Silver on the Tree
L. P. Skeen on wed 12 jul 00
Garry,
I wouldn't try pit firing w/out bisquing first. You run too much risk of
bustin' the bust, so to speak, when you're throwing wood on the fire, or
thru uneven heating, residual water in the clay, etc.
----- Original Message -----
From: Garry Wakely
To:
Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2000 1:38 PM
Subject: Pit firing info needed.
> Hi All,
>
> I have a question regarding a pit firing project that I hope to undertake.
>
> My wife is 9 months pregnant, and we are going to do a torso cast of her,
> and I am hoping to pit fire the positive. My question is: Can I pit fire
> the greenware positive, or do I have to have it bisque fired first? It
> will be much easier to pit fire a greenware from the point of transport as
> we are out on a farm, and creating a pit for the firing out here will be
> much easier than transporting it elsewhere for bisque firing and then
> transporting it back for the pit firing.
>
> Any advice?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Garry
>
> ___________________________________________________
> On the day of the dead, when the year too dies,
> Must the youngest open the oldest hills
> Through the door of the birds, where the breeze breaks.
> There fire shall fly from the raven boy,
> And the silver eyes that see the wind,
> And the Light shall have the harp of gold.
>
> By the pleasant lake the Sleepers lie,
> On Cadfan's Way where the kestrels call;
> Though grim from the Grey King shadows fall,
> Yet singing the golden harp shall guide
> To break their sleep and bid them ride.
>
> When light from the lost land shall return,
> Six Sleepers shall ride, six Signs shall burn,
> And were the midsummer tree grows tall
> By Pendragon's sword the Dark shall fall.
>
>
> Susan Cooper - Silver on the Tree
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
>
emily ivey on wed 12 jul 00
i don't bisque before i pit fire and most of my stuff doesn't
break. however, since this is a kind of important object, i would go to
the trouble of hauling it to a kiln to be bisqued. better safe than
sorry.
emily
On Wed, Jul 12, 2000 at 01:38:53PM -0400, Garry Wakely wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> I have a question regarding a pit firing project that I hope to undertake.
>
> My wife is 9 months pregnant, and we are going to do a torso cast of her,
> and I am hoping to pit fire the positive. My question is: Can I pit fire
> the greenware positive, or do I have to have it bisque fired first? It
> will be much easier to pit fire a greenware from the point of transport as
> we are out on a farm, and creating a pit for the firing out here will be
> much easier than transporting it elsewhere for bisque firing and then
> transporting it back for the pit firing.
>
> Any advice?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Garry
>
--
emily ivey
artist in residence, gweezle bur poetry manufacturing
http://www.earthandfire.com
Shelley Corwin on wed 12 jul 00
i would say much depends on how thermally tough your clay is. a slab is
generally harder to fire w/0 bisque. you can bisque in a self-cleaning oven.
or, you could sawdust fire it, which would be gentler. then, it's easier to
transport or fire. shelley
Shelley Corwin on wed 12 jul 00
one other thing-if your wife is 9 months pregnant-make the cast!! worry about
firing it later. things happen!
Shelley Corwin on wed 12 jul 00
i was thinking-if you're on a farm-do you have grass fed sheep or cow manure?
just fire it the bust under a bucket, look up juan quezada or ask kurt wild.
just don't make the slab too thin. better to bisque some way. maybe sawdust.
Cindy Strnad on wed 12 jul 00
Garry,
You can pitfire unbisqued work, but the chances of breakage are much higher.
It just boils down to, "Do you feel lucky?--Well, do ya?" The more
even the walls of the piece are in thickness, the better your chances. Less
complicated pieces with no attachments do much better than complex works.
Also, there is the important matter of protecting your piece from heavy
pieces of fuel. It's your call. The piece may break even if you bisque it
first, and then again, it may not break even if you don't.
Cindy Strnad
Earthen Vessels Pottery
RR 1, Box 51
Custer, SD 57730
earthenv@gwtc.net
Bruce Gioia on thu 13 jul 00
----- Original Message -----
From: emily ivey
> however, since this is a kind of important object, i would go to
> the trouble of hauling it to a kiln to be bisqued. better safe than
> sorry.
________________________
Garry Wakely wrote:
> > Can I pit fire
> > the greenware positive, or do I have to have it bisque fired first.
_______________________
Hauling a large thin green ware piece to an outside kiln
runs its own risk of breakage...
Remember as you have a molded negative
you also have the luxury of trying again.
If the travel time is too much trouble
For convenience sake I would try the raw pit fire...
naturally laying the piece flat and encouraging an even burn
to maximize the chances for an even thermal expansion/contraction.
If that fails ..no prob,
plan B
Bruce [g]
ps. To minimize the risks iether way
I would make the piece out of paperclay.
As a bonus....it'll be lighter to handle.
,
Diane G. Echlin on thu 13 jul 00
How do you lie a cast of a nine-month pregnant belly flat???
Bruce Gioia wrote:
>
> For convenience sake I would try the raw pit fire...
> naturally laying the piece flat and encouraging an even burn
> to maximize the chances for an even thermal expansion/contraction.
> If that fails ..no prob,
> plan B
>
> Bruce [g]
>
> ps. To minimize the risks iether way
> I would make the piece out of paperclay.
> As a bonus....it'll be lighter to handle.
>
> ,
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
Janet Kaiser on thu 13 jul 00
Pit firing 9 month pregnant wives is against the law!
Janet Kaiser - boggling at the thought of casting
someone about to go into labour....
The Chapel of Art . Capel Celfyddyd
HOME OF THE INTERNATIONAL POTTERS' PATH
Criccieth LL52 0EA, GB-Wales Tel: (01766) 523570
E-mail: postbox@the-coa.org.uk
WEBSITE: http://www.the-coa.org.uk
----- Original Message -----
> I have a question regarding a pit firing project that
I hope to undertake.
>
> My wife is 9 months pregnant, and we are going to do
a torso cast of her,
> and I am hoping to pit fire the positive. My
question is: Can I pit fire
> the greenware positive, or do I have to have it
bisque fired first? It
> will be much easier to pit fire a greenware from the
point of transport as
> we are out on a farm, and creating a pit for the
firing out here will be
> much easier than transporting it elsewhere for bisque
firing and then
> transporting it back for the pit firing.
>
> Any advice?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Garry
Bruce Gioia on fri 14 jul 00
----- Original Message -----
From: Diane G. Echlin
> How do you lie a cast of a nine-month pregnant belly flat???
_______________________
Hhhhmm...ya your right, I can't quite figure that one!
(My wife was bigger than a beach ball.)
_______________________
> > ps. To minimize the risks iether way
> > I would make the piece out of paperclay.
> > As a bonus....it'll be lighter to handle.
_______________________
Futhermore...
If you wish to go full coverage
here is an insurance plan
that will give you both
Fire and travel protection....
Ceramic Monthly, May, 1979.
Fibre Slip Ceramics
By Jim Danisch.
Jim uses polyester and nylon fibres
that can be used to produce fibre slip.
Used in conjuction with various fabric panels.
He has made porcelain slabs up to 3 ft circular
and 3/4 inch thick with no warpage.."perfectly flat"
Quote:
Open Casting in Plaster Molds
Successive layers of fibre slip can be
built up in a plaster mold.
Work in thin layers, allowing each to become
leather hard before adding the next.
Casts may also be reinforced with layers of fabric,
although the fibre slip is very strong in itself.
"The procedures are about the same as working
with fibre glass and resin, with slip taking the place of resin."
I would translate this to paper clay slip
and loose weave muslin /cheese cloth
or cotton mosquito net material.
Build and layer as outlined above.
You'd have to make a real effort to break this one.
Bruce
,
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