fire happy

updated fri 6 jun 03

primalmommy on mon 2 jun 03

I've had Marc Ward's article from clay times folded over for a long time
but haven't gotten to the project...

So yesterday hubby gave me a jump start, found a hole saw to cut a hole
in the side of my salvaged kiln carcass... I propped up the weed burner
on some bricks and fired it up, nice and slow since things looked damp
and spiderwebby in there. I put in a little test cone of some local clay
that's bisqued at 06 but a glassy green puddle at 6.. and a bunch of low
test bars (like 22 and 018 and up.) I decided to let it go for two hours
while I puttered around the garden and studio, and checked with the
pyrometer or cranked it up every once in a while and wrote it down. Jeff
is supportive but never gets too involved -- but he was fascinated by
this whole thing. Checked the pyrometer like every 5 minutes ("you need
more data points to graph the increase!") That's my science nerd.

Little did I know it would get to cone 4! It would have kept going if I
didn't turn it off. My wimpy test bars are tiny black puddles... my
local clay bent over, gone glassy green... a log full of notes about
where the temp went when I opened the damper a bit, or closed it...
moved the burner forward or back... baby steps, compared to the veteran
fire-eaters on this list, but my little synapses were firing.

Here's my question: now that I have this fun, fast, cheap new toy (so
unlike my cavernous, expensive, predictable electric) -- what can I do
with it? I appreciate the raku of others but have no driving need to
make the traditional kind, especially as I am a bit over-cautious about
toxic glaze materials or fumes (especially with the kids/nest of
birds/veggie garden nearby.)

I DO love saggar fired stuff, terra sigs and salt fired stuff, little
artifacty looking pieces and shiny black smothered-bonfire stuff like
Vince does... I love the idea of Dannon's paper saggars, and like the
look of crackled white glaze and smoky marks. I am wondering what "naked
raku" is about. I'm guessing it's not like Soldner's naked claymixing,
naked partygoing, naked everything else... (as much as I have come to
love it) ... I'm guessing that for raku one would at least require
asbestos underwear. It might be impractical for those (thank you janet)
"dangly bits". Anyway, I am off to the archives to explore new
possibilities... and would appreciate any ideas for what to look up!

Yours, Kelly Averill Savino in Ohio... now able to find just the right
maturation point for my local clay without spending a fortune firing a
big, almost-empty kiln to test it.. packing my bags for Lacrosse
already!

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Lee Love on tue 3 jun 03

----- Original Message -----
From: "primalmommy"

> with it? I appreciate the raku of others but have no driving need to
> make the traditional kind, especially as I am a bit over-cautious about
> toxic glaze materials or fumes (especially with the kids/nest of
> birds/veggie garden nearby.)

Hi Kelly,

Raku doesn't have to be toxic. We are too brain-washed by
chicken-littles that get some kind of sadistic charge out frightening people.

Use a fritted glassy glaze made with safe materials and don't quench it in
water. It is more functional than many sagger fired works. A good fitting
shiny glaze has a better chance of being safe than a matt one with oxides on the
surface. I used a fat white glaze with oxides only on the outside. At the
time, it was the closest thing I could make to shinos (if you do post firing
reduction, the crazing gets nice dark coloring.) Some of the pieces I made
are over 12 years old and still kicking. Raku can be pretty durable if you
don't dunk them in cold water. And Raku technique isn't just low fired ware.
A friend of mine here in Mashiko fires his pots to stoneware temperatures and
does post firing reduction. He has a really fine black glaze.

I don't trust saggered fired work with salt and sulfides as well as I do
traditionally salt-fired work. You find a lot of this material that will brush
off the fired pieces.

For crying out loud, the people from the homeland of Raku are the
longest living people in the world. If raku was so bad for your health, they
wouldn't live so long. ;^)

--
Lee In Mashiko Ikiru@hachiko.com
.
"With Humans it's what's here (he points to his heart) that makes the
difference.
If you don't have it in the heart, nothing you make will make a
difference."

~~Bernard Leach~~
(As told to Dean Schwarz)

Ron Roy on tue 3 jun 03

Hi Lee,

I was going to say - you probably don't know what is going on in America -
but I think you do. I know of someone who got manganese poisoning from
doing Raku.

I wonder if you can conceive of someone who honestly cares about other
potters poisoning themselves - who don't get any charge at all about
bringing the subject up and in fact feels it is their duty to encourage
potters to understand their materials and processes.

I have a different point of view.

I am more concerned about the potters who are brain washed into thinking it
is all safe. The truth - as usual - lies somewhere in between.

Your name calling does nothing to augment the logic of your argument -
perhaps you did not have the time to expand your thoughts in a reasonable
way.

RR


> Raku doesn't have to be toxic. We are too brain-washed by
>chicken-littles that get some kind of sadistic charge out frightening people.

Ron Roy
RR#4
15084 Little Lake Road
Brighton, Ontario
Canada
K0K 1H0
Phone: 613-475-9544
Fax: 613-475-3513

Elizabeth Herod on tue 3 jun 03

Kelly--

That is exciting! =20

I have a very old electric kiln here that my teacher gave me, along with al=
l
of her Ceramic=B9s Monthlys. Aren=B9t they fun to go through?!

I haven=B9t done anything with the kiln yet as it seems we haven=B9t had more
than one day of sunshine in the midst of flooding rains for the last two
months.

I want to use the old kiln for saggar firing. I=B9ve been smoking my pots in
my old gas smoker, and sometimes I=B9ve used the chimenea. The smoker
generally does not get hot enough for me to get good color or the atmospher=
e
has too much oxygen. The smoker is good for variations of black and white,
though, but when compared to a black that comes from the pit, it seems more
brown.

I=B9ve followed Vince=B9s instructions on making the terra sig. I=B9ve made a fe=
w
discoveries on my own by accident. When I don=B9t like something, I just
torch off the spots and start again.
I have one pot that has been in various stages 4 times. :)

I=B9m still in search of the elusive magenta red that I have gotten only one
time. Of course that time, it was in the chimenea, and the pot blew up, bu=
t
it is the color I want. :)

So, I=B9ve pretty much decided that the old kiln will be used for saggar
firing. Now I need a few good days and a jump start to get it going.

Did you follow Mark=B9s instructions? Did you build the brick base and the
hole for the burner?

Have fun with the fire.

Regards
Beth

william schran on wed 4 jun 03

Primalmommy wote: raku" is about. Anyway, I am off to the archives to explore new
possibilities... and would appreciate any ideas for what to look up!

Plug in "naked raku" as a key word in your search.
Naked raku is the technique of applying a slip to bisque fired clay,
subjecting the work to raku firing, including post firing reduction,
then peeling off the slip to reveal black "crackle" lines on the
"naked" white clay body.
The slip recipe I use is: 3 parts silica & 2 parts kaolin. I apply
this rather thickly on the bisqued pot, then apply a thin coat of
clear glaze (this helps to hold the slip in place during the firing).
I find burnishing the pots helps to allow the slip to peel off easier
after firing. I also apply a coat of paste floor wax to the pot after
peeling off the slip for a nice final finish.
Bill