Earl Brunner on fri 14 sep 01
Becky, you are using the wrong "Hammer" to deal with this problem.
You are going to put a lot of energy into trying to save this thing and
it still (even if you succeed in repairing the visible crack) mostly
likely will not be able to take the temperature changes of cooking in
it, and that is what you made it to do.
Move on with it.
becky schroeder wrote:
> i just unloaded a bisque firng which contained a HUGE casserole which i
> really would like to try and save. of course i realize the prudent move
> would be to ditch the thing but i'd like to try anyway.
>
> Hamer and Hamer describes this crack as a G crack, straight across the
> bottom but not up the side. it is very narrow. says it is from uneven
> drying. i plan to follow the advise in the archives about using paper clay
> to repair. my question is: hamer says i can repair the crack but when i
> glaze fire i can't take the piece to a higher cone than i bisqued. i
> bisqued
> to cone 05 and the clay is cone 5. obviously a casserole that should be
> fired to cone 5 would be useless if only fired to cone 05. any chance i
> can
> sucessfully break this rule hamer sets out. i hate to waste the energy
> (mine and the electric companies) if there is no chance of sucess.
>
> any advise or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
>
> becky schroeder
--
Earl Brunner
http://coyote.accessnv.com/bruec/
bruec@anv.net
becky schroeder on fri 14 sep 01
i just unloaded a bisque firng which contained a HUGE casserole which i
really would like to try and save. of course i realize the prudent move
would be to ditch the thing but i'd like to try anyway.
Hamer and Hamer describes this crack as a G crack, straight across the
bottom but not up the side. it is very narrow. says it is from uneven
drying. i plan to follow the advise in the archives about using paper clay
to repair. my question is: hamer says i can repair the crack but when i
glaze fire i can't take the piece to a higher cone than i bisqued. i bisqued
to cone 05 and the clay is cone 5. obviously a casserole that should be
fired to cone 5 would be useless if only fired to cone 05. any chance i can
sucessfully break this rule hamer sets out. i hate to waste the energy
(mine and the electric companies) if there is no chance of sucess.
any advise or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
becky schroeder
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Sandra Talarico on fri 14 sep 01
Becky,
If the piece is alreayd bisque fired - the technique
I was taught was to grind up some bisqued clay - as fine as you
are able. Then mix it with some glaze and fill in the crack
as best you can with a toothpick, or something small enough
to mash the glaze/bisque mixture into the crack.
Not sure paper clay will work at the bisque stage. But,
then again, I've never used paper clay.
Sandy Talarico
Charles Moore on fri 14 sep 01
Becky,
I have found paper clay to be valuable in re-attaching pieces, but not in
repairing bottom cracks. Maybe someone out in Clayartland has developed a
way to mend bottom cracks?
Charles
Sacramento, CA
----- Original Message -----
From: "becky schroeder"
To:
Sent: Friday, September 14, 2001 7:36 AM
Subject: firing a cracked casserole
> i just unloaded a bisque firng which contained a HUGE casserole which i
> really would like to try and save. of course i realize the prudent move
> would be to ditch the thing but i'd like to try anyway.
>
> Hamer and Hamer describes this crack as a G crack, straight across the
> bottom but not up the side. it is very narrow. says it is from uneven
> drying. i plan to follow the advise in the archives about using paper
clay
> to repair. my question is: hamer says i can repair the crack but when i
> glaze fire i can't take the piece to a higher cone than i bisqued. i
bisqued
> to cone 05 and the clay is cone 5. obviously a casserole that should be
> fired to cone 5 would be useless if only fired to cone 05. any chance i
can
> sucessfully break this rule hamer sets out. i hate to waste the energy
> (mine and the electric companies) if there is no chance of sucess.
>
> any advise or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
>
> becky schroeder
>
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> 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.
Cindy Strnad on fri 14 sep 01
Hi, Becky.
I'm assuming this casserole is for your own personal use. Ordinarily, I
would throw such a piece away, that cracked during the bisque firing. It's a
lot of trouble to fix it--more so than if it had waited for the glaze firing
to crack. Such pieces are only worth saving, IMO, if you have a lot of
sculptural work involved, or if they belong to a very young student. But
here we go. Get a sufficiently-sized lump of clay that's gotten slightly too
stiff to work. Knead in some sugar. It will get softer and very sticky. Keep
adding sugar until the clay has reached a good, soft consistency, then pack
the crack with your sugar clay.
Why does this work? The sugar makes the clay softer without adding water.
This allows you to work with clay that isn't going to shrink as much as
normal clay. I'm not sure how the sugar does this--that's for others to
explain.
Warning: your casserole will probably crack again during the glaze firing.
Do the same things again, then glaze over the area you've packed with the
sugar clay and refire s-l-o-w-l-y. You will still be able to see the crack,
but this will most likely fill it so that the casserole is useable. Just be
careful not to give it any thermal shocks.
Best wishes,
Cindy Strnad
Earthen Vessels Pottery
RR 1, Box 51
Custer, SD 57730
USA
cindy@earthen-vessels-pottery.com
http://www.earthen-vessels-pottery.com
KLeSueur@AOL.COM on fri 14 sep 01
If you plan to keep this casserole for yourself, by all means try to repair
it. But if you plan to sell it or if there is any possiblity that someone
else will use it I would advise destroying it. I know this is hard. But the
liability is too great. If it cracks in use someone could be seriously hurt.
Kathi LeSueur
Tommy Humphries on fri 14 sep 01
Ok, if you just have to save this piece, then there are several options.
Some of them have already been mentioned. You could go ahead and glaze the
pot and fire it. If the crack is not over 1/32" or so after the glaze
firing, get some good thick glaze and rub it into the crack well, packing it
in to fill it. When refired this glaze will melt into the crack POSSIBLY
repairing it well enough to use.
Another method that I have used to get around cracks, is a bit
controversial. Get out the trusty dremmel tool (or similar) and widen the
crack to 1/8" or more. Glaze the pot as usual. then sit the pot on a square
of WELL COMPRESSED kaowool. the bottom should be tight against the fiber
(wet the bottom of the pot and press it into the fiber, it should stick)
With a needle tool tease the fibers up into the crack from inside the pot.
Take dry glaze powder and sift it into the bottom of the pot brushing it
into the crack, leaving it slightly mounded along the crack.
Fire the pot on the kaowool. when the pot is cool carefully pull the fiber
off the bottom of the pot and sand (WEAR LUNG PROTECTION!!!) the fiber off
the glaze that is on the bottom. If done correctly only a slight grinding
will be needed to get the bottom smooth again. I have used this method to
create steins with translucent glaze only bottoms, but the cooling must be
sssllllooowww.
Tommy
----- Original Message -----
From: "becky schroeder"
To:
Sent: Friday, September 14, 2001 9:36 AM
Subject: firing a cracked casserole
> i just unloaded a bisque firng which contained a HUGE casserole which i
> really would like to try and save. of course i realize the prudent move
> would be to ditch the thing but i'd like to try anyway.
>
> Hamer and Hamer describes this crack as a G crack, straight across the
> bottom but not up the side. it is very narrow. says it is from uneven
> drying. i plan to follow the advise in the archives about using paper
clay
> to repair. my question is: hamer says i can repair the crack but when i
> glaze fire i can't take the piece to a higher cone than i bisqued. i
bisqued
> to cone 05 and the clay is cone 5. obviously a casserole that should be
> fired to cone 5 would be useless if only fired to cone 05. any chance i
can
> sucessfully break this rule hamer sets out. i hate to waste the energy
> (mine and the electric companies) if there is no chance of sucess.
>
> any advise or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
>
> becky schroeder
>
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> 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.
>
Jim Bob Salazar on sat 15 sep 01
a cracked casserole is a cracked casserole even if you have "fixed" it, and....
i think the whole concept of making stuff an putting your name on it goes way
beyond liability. knowing what you know about clay, would you buy a casserol
that had any hint of repair or poor craftsmanship? even if you keep the thing
and have it under a plant you are always gonna know "it has a crack clear
across the bottom". take what you have learned about the casserold, quit
fretting and just make another. i'm guessing this would make YOU feel better.
jim bob
> If you plan to keep this casserole for yourself, by all means try to repair
> it. But if you plan to sell it or if there is any possiblity that someone
> else will use it I would advise destroying it. I know this is hard. But the
> liability is too great. If it cracks in use someone could be seriously hurt.
>
> Kathi LeSueur
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> 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.
John Baymore on sat 15 sep 01
First of all....... I think repairing a piece like a casserole that is
DESIGNED to be subject to thermal stresses is pretty questionable to star=
t
with. You are just begging for it to fail........ hopefully not when it =
is
being held over someone's lap while it is filled with hot contents .
Repairing something like the infamous "Scarab Vase" is one thing. But I
don't think most work really deserves repairing ...... just put the same
effort into making a new piece.... and it'll probably come out better
anyway.
On to abother somewhat related subject...........
Another method that I have used to get around cracks, is a bit
controversial. Get out the trusty dremmel tool (or similar) and widen
the
crack to 1/8" or more. Glaze the pot as usual. then sit the pot on a
square
of WELL COMPRESSED kaowool. the bottom should be tight against the fiber
(wet the bottom of the pot and press it into the fiber, it should stick)
With a needle tool tease the fibers up into the crack from inside the pot=
.
Take dry glaze powder and sift it into the bottom of the pot brushing it
into the crack, leaving it slightly mounded along the crack.
Fire the pot on the kaowool. when the pot is cool carefully pull the fib=
er
off the bottom of the pot and sand (WEAR LUNG PROTECTION!!!) the fiber of=
f
the glaze that is on the bottom.
Tommy,
I think that you might want to mention here WHY this is "controversial",
for the benefit of people who might not know as much about refractory
ceramic fiber as you do. It is certainly possible that newer clayworkers=
will come across this post and assume that it is controversial because so=
me
will say "it doesn't work" to fix cracks. I don't think that is what you=
are implying here.
If someone is reading this "fixing" thread or single posts on this subjec=
t
from the thread..... please..... before you handle refractory ceramic fib=
er
for any use....... do some research about the possible health hazards of
the material so that you KNOW what you are working with beforehand. RCF =
is
highly suspect to simply be sort of "man-made asbestos" as far as health
issues are concerned. The definitive data is not in yet, and won't be fo=
r
some time, but it is under study (since it is a material used heavily in
industry right now) and the preliminary info doesn't look all that good.
Informed consent is the "by word" here for me. If you learn what the
health specialists are saying about the material and then you chose to us=
e
it anyway.... that is your choice. Oh..... please be careful that you
don't expose OTHERS who have no idea of what you are exposing them to. =
Fiber dust gets around.
And while you are at it..... be careful breathing the dust you create wit=
h
a dremel grinding bisqueware too. Likely contains free crystaline
silica...... you might want to look that one up too .
Best,
..............................john
John Baymore
River Bend Pottery
22 Riverbend Way
Wilton, NH 03086 USA
603-654-2752 (s)
800-900-1110 (s)
JohnBaymore.com
JBaymore@compuserve.com
John.Baymore@GSD-CO.com
"Earth, Water, and Fire Noborigama Woodfiring Workshop 2002 Dates TBA"=
Jim & Martha McGrath on sun 16 sep 01
At 06:37 PM 9/14/01 -0400, you wrote:
>If you plan to keep this casserole for yourself, by all means try to repair
>it. But if you plan to sell it or if there is any possiblity that someone
>else will use it I would advise destroying it.
Why not use it as a planter? Then the bottom crack won't matter. I know I
hate to throw things away, too! Recycle, reuse, blah, blah blah.
Martha McGrath
Deer Run Colored Coopworth & Bluefaced Leicester Sheep in WV
www.deerrunsheepfarm.com
Your clicks fight hunger at The Hunger Site!
www.thehungersite.com
annelorre dostal on mon 17 sep 01
why spend the time to fix the cassarole that you know is already broken.
the amount of energy and time spent on saving that one piece could be
dedicated to making 5 more. and with each piece made, there is only room for
improvement.
chalk it up for experience, take what you have learned from your cracked
cassarole and apply it to your next, better cassarole.
beauty in function
annelorre dostal
in midland texas where we are finally getting rain
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