Carole Fox on thu 5 jul 01
Hi clayart friends.
I have been burnishing some pots and ouch!- I wake up in the morning =
with a sore arm and shoulder. I have to do the burnishing in little =
spurts so that I don't injure myself further. I wet a small area of a =
bone dry pot (Standard raku clay) and burnish with the bowl of an old =
spoon. But now I can see the separations of the areas that were =
burnished at different times. I seem to be scratching the edge of the =
previously burnished areas. What is wrong with my technique?
I really love the gray marbled surface of a burnished pot- wish I didn't =
have to ever fire it.
Carole Fox- in Elkton, MD -where I think I may know people on a steady =
diet of ITC- quick to get all fired up and slow to cool down, for sure!
cfox@dca.net
Ron Collins on thu 5 jul 01
Burnish before the pot is completely dry, somewhere between leatherhard and
bone dry.Melinda in Guatemala
Carol Ross on thu 5 jul 01
I agree with Melinda - I burnish at leather hard. I've also found that using
a plastic grocery bag around my hand does a nice job of burnishing. The
spoon is the best, but can sometimes damage the work if I'm not vigilant!
Carol (new to the list and enjoying every post!)
> Burnish before the pot is completely dry, somewhere between leatherhard and
> bone dry.Melinda in Guatemala
>
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Rick Bowman on thu 5 jul 01
=20
=20
----- Original Message -----
From: Carol Ross
Sent: Thursday, July 05, 2001 6:45 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: Burnishing Blues
There are several levels of burnishing. I suppose the most common me=
thod is where something with a hard surface is used to push grit, grog, =
and inclusions back into the clay body when at leather hard. I have burn=
ishing stones for this and if one isn't handy I use a pecan or a wooden h=
andle. If a really high gloss is what I want, after burnishing once I al=
low the piece to dry and coat it with oil, usually corn or olive oil, all=
owing it to soak in then burnishing again until I get the gloss I want. =
There is nothing special about the oils, they're what I cook with. The r=
esult will be a very shiny piece of greenware to be fired. After firing,=
I may or may not coat it with car wax and buff with a soft cotton cloth =
for a greater shine. If I know that I am going to make something to be p=
olished in advanced, I'll wedge 2 tablespoons of oil into the clay. It s=
eems to help. Burnishing takes some practice and finding the clays that =
burnish the best. I understand that some potters use soft lard or butter=
instead of oils. If your temperatures rise above 1800 degrees the shine=
is suppose to burn off. Good luck. Rick BowmanGet more from the Web. =
FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com
Gayle Bair on thu 5 jul 01
Carol,
I have burnished pieces on my wheel using a spoon, smooth stone and recently
a piece of plastic.... no sore shoulder and a lot faster.
Now my pieces are leatherhard as opposed to bone dry. I think it would only
be a problem if the piece is thin and fragile.
Gayle Bair- Bainbridge Island WA....
Carol Wrote>>
Hi clayart friends.
I have been burnishing some pots and ouch!- I wake up in the morning with a
sore arm and shoulder. I have to do the burnishing in little spurts so that
I don't injure myself further. I wet a small area of a bone dry pot
(Standard raku clay) and burnish with the bowl of an old spoon. But now I
can see the separations of the areas that were burnished at different times.
I seem to be scratching the edge of the previously burnished areas. What is
wrong with my technique?
I really love the gray marbled surface of a burnished pot- wish I didn't
have to ever fire it.
Jim V Brooks on fri 6 jul 01
i use a piece of smooth glass to burnish my pots with......... while they are
stil leatherhard. I re-center the pieces on the wheel.. and let the wheel
turn, while i hold the glass in place to do the burnishing. It is fast and
works great. Try it.. Jim in Denton.....
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