Russel Fouts on wed 13 aug 03
Joe
>> Otherwise, bring the work into the hottest room you have and uncover it and take your chances <<
This is partially correct. Take it into the hottest room in your house
and cover it with a TENT of plastic, don't let the plastic touch the
piece. Turn the plasti tent inside out daily until the piece is dry.
Shoudn't take long.
The boiler for the hot water heater for my house is in my studio. It
gets gently warm on top. I dry solid or difficult pieces this way all
the time. works great.
The science behind the technique was explained by a former clayarter who
was an expert in commercial pottey driers for industry. They dry things
FAST in very warm, very humid rooms.
Russel
--
Russel Fouts
Mes Potes & Mes Pots
Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32 2 223 02 75
Mobile: +32 476 55 38 75
Http://www.mypots.com
Home of "The Potters Portal"
Over 2300 Pottery Related Links!
Updated frequently
My work can also be seen on:
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Pages)
EasyCraft: http://www.easycraft.org
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that
we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only
unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American
public." --U.S. President (and Nobel Peace Prize winner) Theodore
Roosevelt.
psci_kw on wed 13 aug 03
> >> Otherwise, bring the work into the hottest room you have and uncover it
and take your chances <<
>
> This is partially correct. Take it into the hottest room in your house
> and cover it with a TENT of plastic, don't let the plastic touch the
> piece. Turn the plasti tent inside out daily until the piece is dry.
> Shoudn't take long.
>
> The boiler for the hot water heater for my house is in my studio. It
> gets gently warm on top. I dry solid or difficult pieces this way all
> the time. works great.
South Florida is known for the sun and the heat. For anyone else with
similar
climate (as in the UK lately) you can also use the back seat of your car
sitting in the drive.
We've used it for years to dehydrate herbs and such. Works great for pots,
though I do
NOT leave them uncovered. That's just too fast.
On a sunny day, the inside of a car here can easily reach more than 115
degrees.
Wayne in Key West
Russel Fouts on thu 14 aug 03
>> For anyone else with similar climate (as in the UK lately) you can also use the back seat of your car sitting in the drive. We've used it for years to dehydrate herbs and such. Works great for pots, though I do NOT leave them uncovered. That's just too fast. On a sunny day, the inside of a car here can easily reach more than 115 degrees. <<
That's actually a great idea, build a solar pot drier. I know they
already exist for things like herbs and foods. I think one could easily
be build or adapted. Maybe a "cold frame". You'd want to have a way to
keep the water from dripping back on the pots but a roof of slanted
glass would probably take care of that.
Russel
--
Russel Fouts
Mes Potes & Mes Pots
Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32 2 223 02 75
Mobile: +32 476 55 38 75
Http://www.mypots.com
Home of "The Potters Portal"
Over 2300 Pottery Related Links!
Updated frequently
My work can also be seen on:
The World Crafts Council International Site: http://www.wccwis.gr
The World Crafts Council Belgium Site: http://wcc-bf.org (English
Pages)
EasyCraft: http://www.easycraft.org
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that
we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only
unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American
public." --U.S. President (and Nobel Peace Prize winner) Theodore
Roosevelt.
Joe Coniglio on thu 14 aug 03
"That's a big 10-4 good buddy."
100 Year high for rain in Connecticut this year.
I like what Tony Clennell said about wrapping up large works in old cotton
sheets and newspapers and plastic over that to keep the environment slow but
draw away the excess moisture keeping the sweat off the plastic.
It's been slow going. Adding it to the time I've got/and/had it covered.
Humidity is way up around here.
Some stuffs just not drying in non air conditioned environment. It's so damp
the AC is needed to keep things from growing.
I know lots of potters have to deal with loftier dynamics other than drying
procedures. It's still fairly important. It was awfully paramount when
attending weekly classes with no other workshop time ---trimming a pot became
a crap shoot. An awfully anxious way to learn pottery. You pay top dollar
for sessions. You start out everythings precious and you have to wait a week
to see if you have anything's that workable/(trimable). Over dry and it's
crap. Still too wet -and it went back to the shelf for another week. What
an awful way to live. Too damp and the pots wet and it's time to pack it in?
Have to wrap a pot because you have to leave and risk damaging the new turned
rim????
(And the joke is) "So this is why I drink??"
If I can walk by my pots once or twice a day, or at another level of making
potter; let some fresh slabs sun cure for an hour on some canvas or drywall
while I'm doing something else can make all the difference. Nothing pleases
me more when I don't have to fight clay that's too wet or too dry. When I'm
at the crossroads between too wet and too dry and in the (twight)light zone I
can feel satisfied I'm optimizing within the craft.
---
When I move to the southwest the wet dry scenerio is going to flip... this is
going to radically change.
Joe Coniglio on thu 14 aug 03
(Tony Ferguson) hit the nail on the head about uneven drying, breezes and
such. I'm been rotating covered pieces in the sunny window. Making pieces
sweat. Once uncovered and gone past leather a sunny window drys em up.
Also there can be "joy" in production and the drying and finishing of similar
or unlike pieces set into the background of time. An outside observer might
think this is "busy work" as you flit from pot to pot, "checking the dough"
what's ready to trim, what might be running past it's prime, something made
daily and shelved into the passage of time. But if you get enough of this
going, it can all fall into place everything gets its due course and no
waiting is needed. Bisque and firing schedules take care of the rest.
(Russel Fouts and Wayme KW) mentions the car. It is a good idea. I mention
later about sun drying slabs. This can be done on the hood of a sun baked
car. Just watch them like baking cookies!
(Pat Southwood)--echoed the problem I'm seeing the the east coast this year:
100 Year high for rain in Connecticut this year.
(Tony Clennell) I like what Tony Clennell said about wrapping up large works
in old cotton sheets and newspapers and plastic over that to keep the
environment slow but draw away the excess moisture keeping the sweat off the
plastic. _Thanks I used this method.
It's been slow going. Adding it to the time I've got/and/had it covered.
Humidity is way up around here.
Some stuffs just not drying in non air conditioned environment. It's so damp
the AC is needed to keep things from growing.
MY WORSE CASE SCENERIO
I know lots of potters have to deal with loftier dynamics other than drying
procedures. It's still fairly important. It was awfully paramount when
attending weekly classes with no other workshop time ---trimming a pot became
a crap shoot. An awfully anxious way to learn pottery. You pay top dollar
for sessions. You start out everythings precious and you have to wait a week
to see if you have anything's that workable/(trimable). Over dry and it's
crap. Still too wet -and it went back to the shelf for another week. What
an awful way to live. Too damp and the pots wet and it's time to pack it in?
Have to wrap a pot because you have to leave and risk damaging the new turned
rim????
(And the joke is) "So this is why I drink??"
If I can walk by my pots once or twice a day, or at another level of making
potter; let some fresh slabs sun cure for an hour on some canvas or drywall
while I'm doing something else can make all the difference. Nothing pleases
me more when I don't have to fight clay that's too wet or too dry. When I'm
at the crossroads between too wet and too dry and in the (twight)light zone I
can feel satisfied I'm optimizing within the craft.
---
When I move to the southwest the wet dry scenerio is going to flip... this is
going to radically change.
Snail Scott on thu 14 aug 03
At 12:58 PM 8/14/03 -0400, you wrote:
>I like what Tony Clennell said about wrapping up large works in old cotton
>sheets and newspapers and plastic over that to keep the environment slow but
>draw away the excess moisture keeping the sweat off the plastic...
>When I move to the southwest the wet dry scenerio is going to flip... this is
>going to radically change.
Yep; you just do the reverse - keep damp rags around
the work. Keeps the moisture up around the clay, but
also wicks down the condensation that would form
under the top of the plastic. Even very dry clay can
be rehydrated by this method, and with a little
practice, it can also be fine-tuned to hold a
constant moisture level, or allow controlled slow
drying.
I like cotton knits better than sheets, though.
Sheets are great for drying (as Tony said) but for
keeping clay wet, the knit holds more moisture and
can be made to conform closely to the surface
contours, allowing more even hydration.
-Snail
Pat Southwood on thu 14 aug 03
Hi,
Anyone want a slow drying environment? Bring your pot down to Cossey's =
Yard. Record time for drying a thrown 80cm high x 15cm dia cylinder? =
uncovered, in my workshop, with the door open, a mere 6 weeks. Boy have =
I got webbed feet down here in the Norfolk broads.
Yours, splish, Pat.
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