Ron Collins on wed 24 oct 01
It has been a week, and about time to bag the porcelain. It smells =
like buttermilk, has the consistency of bread dough, and has "risen" =
with a very puffy , breaddough look....but wedges down easily and is =
plastic as can be. It still continues to rise, and should slow down =
soon. Even if it rises again after I wedge it, and bag it, it's not =
that big a deal to re-wedge. The black basalt body is not quite as =
plastic, naturally with all the additions of 50% basalt, but it's =
totally acceptable. I stomp it down, and it still puffs back up, so =
primary fermentation is still going on. I must have used too much =
sugar. That is a variable that is controllable, but I wanted to see =
what would happen if I got as many dead micro organisms in that clay as =
I could, as quickly as I could. As far as getting the porcelain very =
plastic, very quickly, I consider it a success. I have already hand =
built a few pieces, just to see if the piece itself would puff up and =
rise, but of course, it didn't, but would have been a neat =
look...puffy.....anyway, I think it's a great idea, very easy, and seems =
to work like a charm. The body is not "weak" , soft or flimsy in terms =
of it's workability after it's wedged a little. It seems to tighten up =
just fine, but until primary fermentation is over, it keeps puffing back =
up again. .... fun to watch , but I don't know what will happen with the =
smell in a few months, so that may be the downside, who knows, but I can =
always put some chlorox in then ....the pee sure made the yeast =
happy...Melinda Collins, Antigua, Guatemala=20
Ron Collins on thu 25 oct 01
I know that I've created just a giant petri dish of seething various
organisms, but I can spray chlorox to kill the little live ones, before I
put it away for a few month...it's just so smooth and nice...I encourage
anyone who makes their own to just ferment a little test batch and see for
themselves...after primary fermentation, a week or two, then spray it with
chlorox, kill them, and no more will grow, but you've already got plenty of
them in there.....Ron doesn't like my lowfire talc body, blames stuff on the
clay, but it's not the clay's fault, it' just new clay...I told him we would
ferment up some and see if it's not better, in just a few days....so far, so
good....Melinda Collins, Antigua, Guatemala
Cindy Strnad on thu 25 oct 01
Dear Melinda,
I'm watching your experiment with great interest.
Just don't breathe in the fumes too deeply. grin> Can't wait to see how it comes out.
Cindy Strnad
Earthen Vessels Pottery
RR 1, Box 51
Custer, SD 57730
USA
cindy@earthen-vessels-pottery.com
http://www.earthen-vessels-pottery.com
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