David Hewitt on mon 28 may 01
I use a mother of pearl on glaze lustre on what I call my Pink Lustre
design (The pink comes from the underlying glaze not the lustre). While
I am generally happy with the results, I do have some problems and would
welcome hearing of others experiences and techniques in this field.
The problems that I wish to experience from time to time are:-
1. I sometimes seem to miss some parts of the surface.
2. I sometimes find the lustre looks a little 'misty' and appears to
have run down in a curtain effect, which I assume is because I have
applied it too thickly.
My current method of application is to have the bowl or vase on a
banding wheel which I can spin easily and to apply the lustre with a
1/4" wide brush. The bottle tops are small in diameter and a much wider
brush is not really possible. I try to apply as thinly as possible by
covering as great an area as possible with each 'loading' of the brush,
but at the same time trying to make sure that all the surface has been
covered.
I fire in a small electric kiln (Cromartie CTL75) to 800 oC. I do not
use a cone. How accurate is the temperature setting? I am not exactly
sure, but I would suspect from comparisons when I do use cones that it
reads low not high. This usually takes around 4 hours, increasing the
regulator settings every hour starting at the lowest 1 setting.
I do not have any problem with the durability of the lustre.
I sometimes think that some bottles of lustre apply more easily than
others and have wondered if the solvent 'carrier' for the lustre differs
at times.
Any comments would be appreciated
--
David Hewitt
David Hewitt Pottery ,
7 Fairfield Road, Caerleon, Newport,
South Wales, NP18 3DQ, UK. Tel:- +44 (0) 1633 420647
FAX:- +44 (0) 870 1617274
Web site http://www.dhpot.demon.co.uk
Jean Cappadonna Nichols on tue 29 may 01
David,
I'm not sure why you don't use a cone as you did not say, however, I fire
lustres usually to ^018 or the highest cone recommended by the manufacturers;
Crack the lid open about a 1/2"-1", or to the width of a stilt; turn kiln on
high; leave on high with the lid cracked during the whole firing and cooling
process. If you have a small load or small pieces, place them on the top
shelf of your kiln.
If your Mother-of-Pearl appears to be dull (you said, "misty", so I'm not
sure if you mean dull or not), it could be that you are using too hot a
firing cycle (or too long ). Dullness can also occur if the application is
too heavy. Lustres can be thinned (they tend to thicken over time) with
thinners made especially for them--apply only 1-2 drops with an eye dropper
as it thins rapidly. Poor ventilation can also be a cause of dullness. Firing
with the lid open can remedy this--sounds risky, but this method has never
failed for me.( thanks to Verne Funk for teaching me this method).
If you do a lot of lustre firing or want to do more, there is a book called
Metallics and Lustres by Hugh Giese, Daisy Books, 1982. I know that Axner
Pottery Supply in the U.S. still carries it for a remarkable $5.95. Axner's
website, should you choose to pursue it: www.axner.com.
Best of luck,
Jean Cappadonna-Nichols in hot and muggy Florida, waiting for the fires to
stop, the rains to begin, and the Hurricanes to NOT!
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