karen terpstra on mon 25 mar 02
Well, thanks to a bunch of clayart gurus who saw my black gunky mug at
NCECA, I can't blame the wet wood, uncured wood, zirconium, potassium,
kiln wash, or old boyfriends practicing juju, on screwing up our last
firing. We just fired that kiln waaaay too hot! Too much ash glaze
melted melted right down the side and collected underneath. We
evidently had some real hot spots in that kiln. Gonna have to see if
orton makes a cone 16!
It really doesn't surprise me now. We struggled so hard with the wood
and the weather..... Actually had to WORK that last time to raise the
temperature and obviously did it way better than what we thought! Our
cones in the spy holes were misleading.
Sorry can't remember who was telling me about "heat rise". I don't know
how to explain it very well but you get heat rise and then during the
soak, it rises some more...That's important in our kiln to even out the
top of the kiln. Well, it can get way hotter than what you think. I
think that's where our problem was. Learning how to soak a wood kiln
can be challenging. Again, so many variables can affect the soak.
It's like learning about the flame....where the "hot" part of the flame
is in the kiln. Where the flame is doing the most good at the time.
Confusing for new woodfirers.
Happy firings,
Karen Terpstra
ps. Yikes....Mug Exchange.... my 2 new mugs that I mentioned
earlier.....I BOUGHT my pony hoof mug from D. Hendley. waited for it
for months. I like the idea of holding it down to one item apiece.
| |
|
