Crabtree, Mary B on mon 30 oct 00
Hi,
I'm new to the list as well as being new to pottery (~10 months)...have been
getting a lot of useful from reading posts on the list but only now
subscribed as I have a problem I need some advice on. Any info or
suggestions will be appreciated. Its probably an age-old question, but here
goes.
I was taught to simply wipe glaze from foot rings on pots to clean them off
before firing to prevent sticking to the kiln shelves. Most of the time
this works fine, but I've been working with a couple of glazes that seem to
be particularly runny, yet beautiful, and my last glaze firing resulted in 3
really nice pieces that melted onto the kiln shelves.
I've read that many potters use wax on foot rings. What's the consensus on
this? Will waxing up the side of the pot a bit keep the glaze from running
onto the shelves better than just removing an area of glaze? If you do wax
the rims do you use the same type of wax as used in glaze decoration
techniques? Do you brush it on (I'm not good with brushing a straight line)
or do you dip the bottoms of your pots in the wax?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions...
Mary
meb3@cdc.gov
Pat/Kent on mon 30 oct 00
Ive found that with that type of glaze i dip the top in first or make the
glaze thicker on the top and thinner on the bottom . It gives good glaze run
results and not enough on the bottom half to run on to the shelves. try
dipping a test to leave the bottom 1/4 raw while it drains and dries on the
top..then after firing see how for down the run goes.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Crabtree, Mary B"
To:
Sent: Monday, October 30, 2000 9:38 AM
Subject: Wax or not?
> Hi,
> I'm new to the list as well as being new to pottery (~10 months)...have
been
> getting a lot of useful from reading posts on the list but only now
> subscribed as I have a problem I need some advice on. Any info or
> suggestions will be appreciated. Its probably an age-old question, but
here
> goes.
>
> I was taught to simply wipe glaze from foot rings on pots to clean them
off
> before firing to prevent sticking to the kiln shelves. Most of the time
> this works fine, but I've been working with a couple of glazes that seem
to
> be particularly runny, yet beautiful, and my last glaze firing resulted in
3
> really nice pieces that melted onto the kiln shelves.
>
> I've read that many potters use wax on foot rings. What's the consensus
on
> this? Will waxing up the side of the pot a bit keep the glaze from
running
> onto the shelves better than just removing an area of glaze? If you do
wax
> the rims do you use the same type of wax as used in glaze decoration
> techniques? Do you brush it on (I'm not good with brushing a straight
line)
> or do you dip the bottoms of your pots in the wax?
>
> Thanks in advance for any suggestions...
>
> Mary
> meb3@cdc.gov
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> 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.
Czola on mon 30 oct 00
Wax on the bottoms of your pots is simply to make wiping glaze off easier.
it will have no effect on how your glaze works in the kiln... a runny glaze
will run, clear off your pot if you don't give it enough room.
the wax burns off the pot long before the glaze starts to move.
Cleo on mon 30 oct 00
Thin the wax down a bit, put your pot on the wheel, get a japanese
calligraphy brush (cheap one) dip and band. Trying to cover the bottom and
up a bit on the sides would be impossible for me to do straight. This works
really well. You'll probably have to wipe off the bottom but we're talking
seconds compaired to mintutes if you don't wax, at least for me.
Cleo
----- Original Message -----
From: Crabtree, Mary B
To:
Sent: Monday, October 30, 2000 10:38 AM
Subject: Wax or not?
> Hi,
> I'm new to the list as well as being new to pottery (~10 months)...have
been
> getting a lot of useful from reading posts on the list but only now
> subscribed as I have a problem I need some advice on. Any info or
> suggestions will be appreciated. Its probably an age-old question, but
here
> goes.
>
> I was taught to simply wipe glaze from foot rings on pots to clean them
off
> before firing to prevent sticking to the kiln shelves. Most of the time
> this works fine, but I've been working with a couple of glazes that seem
to
> be particularly runny, yet beautiful, and my last glaze firing resulted in
3
> really nice pieces that melted onto the kiln shelves.
>
> I've read that many potters use wax on foot rings. What's the consensus
on
> this? Will waxing up the side of the pot a bit keep the glaze from
running
> onto the shelves better than just removing an area of glaze? If you do
wax
> the rims do you use the same type of wax as used in glaze decoration
> techniques? Do you brush it on (I'm not good with brushing a straight
line)
> or do you dip the bottoms of your pots in the wax?
>
> Thanks in advance for any suggestions...
>
> Mary
> meb3@cdc.gov
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> 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.
>
The Buchanans on tue 31 oct 00
Mary, another thing you might try is dipping the bottom quarter or sixth of
your pot in water before glazing. It will give you a thinner glaze coat on
that area.
I will also repeat an old tip: a piece of short nap carpet saturated with
water in a shallow pan can be used to scrub glaze off the bottom with just a
couple of twists. Judi B
----- >
Nina Jones on tue 31 oct 00
Hi, Mary and welcome! =20
If your glaze is truly a runny glaze, waxing the bottom will not prevent =
the glaze from making your pot a part of the kiln shelf. The wax melts =
before the glaze does. Waxing the bottom just makes it easier or =
unnecessary, if you're very careful, to clean the bottom of the pot. =
Dry-footing (wiping the glaze off the bottom of a pot), if done well, is =
just as effective (but more difficult) as putting wax on the bottom of the =
pot to keep the pot from sticking when said sticking is caused by glaze =
left on the bottom of the piece.
A runny glaze will run right off the pot regardless of what you do to the =
foot. The only sure-fire cure is to just use on the inside of the pot or =
on a flat surface with curved sides. Sometimes applying more thinly =
works, but not for all runny glazes all the time. For example, crystalline=
glazes are GOING TO RUN! I've never heard of any way to get around this. =
So, for crystalline glazed pots, there is a special way to fire them.
Since you seem to really like this glaze, you could try applying more =
thinly to a test piece and firing it in a shallow bowl. See if heavy =
application is the reason it ran. Then there's always just picking =
another glaze you like just as well. Runny glazes can be a long term pain =
in the butt and the pocketbook.
The easiest way to apply glaze evenly to the bottom of a piece is to dip =
it in a shallow pan of wax.
Nina D. Jones
Southside Chicago
@ njones@winston.com=20
Mary Crabtree on wed 1 nov 00
Thanks so much to all who gave me advice on waxing and runny glazes. Yep,
if I'd given it a bit more thought I'd have known that the wax would burn
off long before the glaze melted and so it wouldn't help with the running.
But I do think I'll start using wax on my foot rings instead of wiping off
the glaze...sounds faster.
Anyway, thanks again for all the advice. You guys are great help!!
Mary
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