Simona Drentea on wed 12 nov 03
A few more questions from a newbie :-)
Why are slab rollers so expensive? I was a computer geek in a former life,
so I have to analyze everything. A slab roller seems to be a big wheel
attached to a drum on a heavy table base. What am I missing? It seems to me that
one shouldn't cost more than $200-300. I just learned how to throw a slab, but
I like the uniformity that a slab roller provides. If I understood why one
costs so much, then maybe I could justify buying one :-)
Also, I saw in Ceramics Monthly a woman using a metal basket to fire small
raku pieces. Has anyone used one of these baskets? Do they work well? Would
they work well for small flat pieces? Do they last? I've heard that the high
fire wire tends to bite the dust after 3-4 uses.
Thanks,
Simona
clay.music on wed 12 nov 03
Hi Simona,
Years ago I did quite a bit of raku firing all of it small flat pieces. The
system that worked for me was either placing my work directly on the kiln
shelf or on a firebrick. When it was time to take it to the combustibles I
used the bottom of the broil pan that came with my oven. (I don't cook and
it should be used for something) I used tongs to rake the piece of work onto
the bottom of the broil pan and dashed it to the combustibles. Something
interesting I discovered after keeping good firing logs is that the flat
pieces actually need a little longer firing cycles than the vertical work my
friend was firing at the same time.
Happy firing!
Sara O'Neill
Geometrix Clay Designs
Durham, NC
>
> Also, I saw in Ceramics Monthly a woman using a metal basket to fire small
> raku pieces. Has anyone used one of these baskets? Do they work well?
Would
> they work well for small flat pieces? Do they last? I've heard that the
high
> fire wire tends to bite the dust after 3-4 uses.
>
> Thanks,
> Simona
>
>
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Laurie Kneppel on wed 12 nov 03
I knew a potter years ago who made their own slab roller using steel
pipes, cables and gears and a table. I saw it once and it did work
quite well apparently. I don't know if they got the plans from a book
or magazine or just made it up after looking at a Brent they had at the
college.
Does anyone know? Maybe that's one way to get an inexpensive
slabroller, but you have to take into account how valuable your time is
and figure that into the final costs. I figured for me it was cheaper
in the long run to buy one since I think there was some welding
involved in that home made one.
I'm also looking for a way to raku fire beads. I've been placing larger
beads on small stilts and scooping them up with tongs, but I have no
idea what to do with smaller beads. It seems that in a basket I would
definitely not want to use a crackle glaze or they would melt into the
basket. Even so, has anyone done large scale raku firings of beads? I'd
love to hear a good way to do it.
Laurie
Sacramento, CA
http://rockyraku.com
On Wednesday, November 12, 2003, at 11:21 AM, Simona Drentea wrote:
> A few more questions from a newbie :-)
>
> Why are slab rollers so expensive? I was a computer geek in a former
> life,
> so I have to analyze everything. A slab roller seems to be a big wheel
> attached to a drum on a heavy table base. What am I missing? It
> seems to me that
> one shouldn't cost more than $200-300. I just learned how to throw a
> slab, but
> I like the uniformity that a slab roller provides. If I understood
> why one
> costs so much, then maybe I could justify buying one :-)
>
> Also, I saw in Ceramics Monthly a woman using a metal basket to fire
> small
> raku pieces. Has anyone used one of these baskets? Do they work
> well? Would
> they work well for small flat pieces? Do they last? I've heard that
> the high
> fire wire tends to bite the dust after 3-4 uses.
>
> Thanks,
> Simona
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> _______
> 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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