Chris Schafale on wed 22 oct 03
I have some glazes which look great on vertical
surfaces but tend to pinhole and not look so hot on the
flat surface of plates. Been wondering if I could prop
them up in the kiln somehow so that the surface was
tilted a little, to encourage the glaze to move more. At
the moment, I'm thinking in terms of putting the plate
on a setter, and then propping up one side of the setter
as much as I can without causing the plate to slide off.
What I'm wondering is whether it would stay in that
position, or whether as it heated and cooled, it would
move enough to cause it to slide down, thereby running
the rim of the plate into the shelf and making a mess
that I have to grind off. Maybe I could make a special
setter-cookie with a depression that would hold the foot
of the plate so it couldn't slide?
Has anyone tried this? Any other ideas? I'm firing to
cone 6 in an electric kiln, if that makes a difference.
Thanks.
Chris
Light One Candle Pottery
Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, USA
(south of Raleigh)
candle@intrex.net
http://www.lightonecandle.com
Lois Ruben Aronow on wed 22 oct 03
Depending on what kind of clay body you are using, and how thin your
plates are, you may get some warping. I wouldn't try this with
porcelain, for example. I would also be concerned about the plate
moving around when it reaches the highest heat. Stuff does move and
dance inside the so unless something was dead flat, I'd be worried
about movement (of the plate, not of the glaze). =20
You've already thought about the issue of the glaze sliding off the
plate and onto the kiln shelf - be sure to put something under the
plate (a bisque cookie, for example) in case the glaze slides off, so
it won't wind up on the kiln shelf. You will also need to consider
how you would be glazing the footring, as you don't want a wobble or
something due to uneven glaze.
************
Lois Ruben Aronow
www.loisaronow.com
Modern Porcelain and Tableware
Paul Gerhold on wed 22 oct 03
Chris,
All you need is a lip at the bottom of the plate to keep the plate from
sliding down. You can cut a piece of kiln shelf to do the job or just make a tile.
It helps if the foot of the plate is pretty vertical and of course not
glazed. You can almost get to a 45 degree angle this way.
Modifications of this technique are useful for firing some pieces that are
too big to fire flat in the kiln.
Paul
LindaBlossom on wed 22 oct 03
Dear Chris,
I have made flat, square plates that needed to have their glaze run. I made
little ramps of refractory clay from Laguna (used to be 2272, Joe Koonz
knows the new number) and fired the plates at an angle on these ramps. The
ramps were about 6 "- 7" long and tapered from a point to about 3/4" or 1".
I don't see why you could not prop the setter up slightly. You could use
pieces of soft brick that you could cut off about an inch thick - in fact,
you could use these bricks to cut the ramps too.
Linda
Ithaca, NY
> I have some glazes which look great on vertical
> surfaces but tend to pinhole and not look so hot on the
> flat surface of plates. Been wondering if I could prop
> them up in the kiln somehow so that the surface was
> tilted a little, to encourage the glaze to move more. At
> the moment, I'm thinking in terms of putting the plate
> on a setter, and then propping up one side of the setter
> as much as I can without causing the plate to slide off.
> What I'm wondering is whether it would stay in that
> position, or whether as it heated and cooled, it would
> move enough to cause it to slide down, thereby running
> the rim of the plate into the shelf and making a mess
> that I have to grind off. Maybe I could make a special
> setter-cookie with a depression that would hold the foot
> of the plate so it couldn't slide?
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