Malone & Dean McRaine on thu 30 may 02
> Aloha from Kauai. I am out here in the middle of the
>Pacific on an island that many call paradise. It's really beautiful and
>I'm lucky enough to support my wife and myself with our pottery
>business. We're pretty far off the beaten track and I rely quite a bit
>on magazines and books for news of the ceramic arts world and new
>creative ideas and directions. I'm in the process of making a kilnload
>(24 cu ft) of work to fire
>in paper saggars using Dannon Rhudy's article in Pottery Making
>Illustrated as a
>guide. (Dannon, if you see this I'd love to hear from you) I also read
>through all the postings on the
>subject in the Clayart archives. I single fire all my ^10 work and am
>tempted to try to do the same with papar saggars but it sounds like a
>recipe for disaster from Dannon's comments about students' efforts. My
>time is precious and I always try for the most direct route from making
>to finishing. I have a couple of questions that I'm hoping someone will be
>kind enough to answer...
>
>Any thoughts, experience or guidance on single firing work in paper
saggars?
>
>Dannon mentions that she has fired as high as ^8, anyone else tried
>this? What kind of results,
>i.e. colors and surfaces do you get at this temp? High firing appeals
>to me since the work is more durable and there is the potential for
>functionality.
>
>When you fire work in paper saggars do you fire in reduction or oxidation?
>
>Virtually everybody uses salt in pit and sawdust firings. I was
>surprised that Dannon said she had problems with it in paper saggars. What
>happened?
>
>I've never heard of purple or lavender from epsom salts and/or cow
>manure. Would this be from magnesium? I can't wait to try it, any
>guidelines? Do you think cow manure from the garden shop will work?
>
>Have you ever tried a matt raku glaze in a saggar?
>
>Have you ever tried soaking sawdust or shavings in solutions of salt,
>copper sulfate, or epsom salts, drying it, and using it in saggars?
>This question stems from some pit firings that I did that lead me to
>think that those materials didn't vaporize enough to make rich colors
>when they were sprinkled dry around the pieces. I though if they were
>dispersed into the sawdust in this way they might vaporize more easily
>and make richer colors. This was also suggested by some potters' work
>at the Raku Ho'olaulea on Oahu who use sea salt-soaked wood in their pit
>fire and get nice salt fuming from it. My wife & I made a video of this
>event that included pit firings and a discussion of salt-soaked wood.
>
> Mostly I'm using white terra sig made from ball clay
>on a porcelain body. I have a great method for making bulk terra sig,
>by the way, and if anyone's interested I'll share it. I don't like the
>hassle of brushing it so I make a 5 gal bucket and just dip my pieces.
>
>Blessings,
>Dean
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