Karen Shapiro on tue 26 mar 02
Hi fellow rakuers,
I have ordered a larger raku kiln since my work is getting larger and I can no longer fire in my present kiln. I am getting the "clam shell kiln" from Clayart in Tacoma (built custom for me in a larger size). I plan to be pulling some of the more awkward pieces without the use of tongs and would love some tips from those of you who have been so bold. The protective suit is much too expensive for me to handle at this point, so I'm wondering what will REALLY be necessary. Of course, I'll be buying the "super duper" gloves. Anyone have any suggestions for alternatives to the rest of the paraphernalia?
thanks,
Karen in Gualala
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Bruce Girrell on tue 26 mar 02
Karen Shapiro wrote:
> Of course, I'll be buying the
> "super duper" gloves.
I'd like to mention two points that you may wish to consider:
1) When you pick up a piece using these gloves, you must touch the piece
only in areas where there is no glaze or else you'll look like Br'er Rabbit
and the Tarbaby.
The gloves will stick to the molten glaze and, of course, solidify the glaze
so that extraction is next to impossible. At best, you'll have an imprint of
the gloves on the glaze.
2) If you do not place the pieces in a reduction can then you must also be
aware that the gloves will leave a pattern (the weave of the glove) on the
surface of the clay. This is not much of a problem if you are reducing,
though, since the pattern is obliterated by the smoke.
I wear a heat reflective apron and a fire resistant jacket (both from Ward
Burner Systems) over regular clothing. You might be able to get by with just
the heat reflective apron and some heavy clothing. Do not wear synthetics.
We handle pieces by hand sometimes because the tongs make marks on the clay
surface and since we don't reduce the pieces we can't leave any surface
marks. Fortunately, we don't glaze the pieces either, so we can pick them up
using a couple of pieces of refractory ceramic fiber. To ensure that the
RCF leaves no marks we fire it along with the pieces so that it is perfectly
clean. If you use RCF you can use a lighter duty glove, but you must wear a
respirator.
Bruce "you may wonder how I know these things, especially item #1" Girrell
Richard Jeffery on tue 26 mar 02
use an old pair of gloves to act as wads between the gloves you wear. but
expect some marking of the glaze, if there is any. alternative is to let
item cool a little first, but then you get less reduction.
how big are we talking, anyway?
i think i've seen something - probably in Steve Branfman's book - about
laying the piece over onto a sheet of plywood to move it out of the kiln.
perhaps i imagined that.
Richard Jeffery
Web Design and Photography
www.theeleventhweb.co.uk
Bournemouth UK
-----Original Message-----
From: Ceramic Arts Discussion List [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG]On
Behalf Of Karen Shapiro
Sent: 26 March 2002 18:27
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: raku - pulling without tongs
Hi fellow rakuers,
I have ordered a larger raku kiln since my work is getting larger and I can
no longer fire in my present kiln. I am getting the "clam shell kiln" from
Clayart in Tacoma (built custom for me in a larger size). I plan to be
pulling some of the more awkward pieces without the use of tongs and would
love some tips from those of you who have been so bold. The protective suit
is much too expensive for me to handle at this point, so I'm wondering what
will REALLY be necessary. Of course, I'll be buying the "super duper"
gloves. Anyone have any suggestions for alternatives to the rest of the
paraphernalia?
thanks,
Karen in Gualala
---------------------------------
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Movies - coverage of the 74th Academy Awards®
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Andi Fasimpaur on tue 26 mar 02
At 10:27 AM 3/26/02 -0800, you wrote:
>The protective suit is much too expensive for me to handle at this point,
>so I'm wondering what will REALLY be necessary. Of course, I'll be buying
>the "super duper" gloves. Anyone have any suggestions for alternatives to
>the rest of the paraphernalia?
My husband recommends "a series of disposable assistants"
Good luck...
Andi.
LOGAN OPLINGER on wed 27 mar 02
Karen in Gualala
I found these web sites that have additional various types of aluminized heat reflective clothing at what I think are reasonable prices:
http://www.mifco.com/scstore/
http://www.stancomfg.com/alclo.htm
http://www.interstatesafety.net/products/
http://www.pro-am.com/
http://www.esafetyworld.com/index.cfm
These are just a few I found through "Google".
There are many other web sites for companies selling aluminized heat reflective clothing.
In addition to the gloves you are getting, the absolute minimum protective clothing I would recommend would be:
Steel mesh face shield w/ head gear,
Aluminized sleeves
Aluminized apron, long
Others who also have done this type of rakuing will have good recommendations.
Good luck,
Logan Oplinger
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Karen Shapiro on wed 27 mar 02
Hi all,
First of all, many thanks for all the advice. I particularly like the "disposable assistants" idea ...
It may help to know that these are not "pots" but large flat sculptures -- like, picture a 26" long by 3" deep box with a mostly open back. Not only is my existing kiln too short, I am also too short to pull the piece out and over. With this "clam shell kiln", one side opens out and down, exposing the piece so I can pull it directly without reaching into the kiln, then into the reduction can.
I'll keep you all informed on how it goes when I get the new kiln and try out some of your suggestions.
thanks,
Karen in Gualala
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Richard Jeffery on wed 27 mar 02
that helps
this is how I remove my large (only 20" or so) clocks, which are glazes.
put into kiln to back - with hole for inserting mechanism in my case - faces
door/access.
when done, use a hook to remove. in fact I use my raku tongs upside down,
and closed, to make that hook - the two arms/handles add stability.
needs a quick practice cold to make sure balance is OK, that you can
actually get the thing out and into its reduction chamber without too much
additional cussin'
good luck
Richard
Richard Jeffery
Web Design and Photography
www.theeleventhweb.co.uk
Bournemouth UK
-----Original Message-----
From: Ceramic Arts Discussion List [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG]On
Behalf Of Karen Shapiro
Sent: 27 March 2002 17:38
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: raku - pulling without tongs
Hi all,
First of all, many thanks for all the advice. I particularly like the
"disposable assistants" idea ...
It may help to know that these are not "pots" but large flat sculptures --
like, picture a 26" long by 3" deep box with a mostly open back. Not only
is my existing kiln too short, I am also too short to pull the piece out and
over. With this "clam shell kiln", one side opens out and down, exposing
the piece so I can pull it directly without reaching into the kiln, then
into the reduction can.
I'll keep you all informed on how it goes when I get the new kiln and try
out some of your suggestions.
thanks,
Karen in Gualala
---------------------------------
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Movies - coverage of the 74th Academy Awards®
____________________________________________________________________________
__
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.
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