May Luk on sun 4 jan 04
Hi all;
I have little pieces of off-white "sand" bits landing on my pots in my kiln
in the last few firings. The are always on the bottom shelves. It just
happens, Russel from Brussel was visiting me at the studio. He did some
observation and deduction, we reckon it's from the props or the worn kiln
shelves.
What should I do:
1-Vaccume? I borrowed a vaccume cleaner and did it once, but it still
happened.
2-Check props and replace? I don't know how to check which prop is ready to
go. They all showed a bit of wear and tear on the edges. I wonder what's the
shelf life of props.
Another related question, perhaps, is the kiln wash. When I first did my own
firing a year ago. I didn't know how to put kiln wash properly. On my own, I
just put 3 thick coats and my wash is very think and goes off to the side of
the shelves. The kiln wash is given to me by the previous owner, so I don't
know what's in it. Maybe some of the bits are from the falling kiln wash?
How do I remedy this situation if I want to eliminate a variable?
BTW; I fire to cone 7-9
T.I.A.
Happy new year.
May
London, UK
John Rodgers on sun 4 jan 04
May,
I never kiln wash my posts, and I never kiln wash the bottoms of my
shelves. Shelf bottoms that have been kiln washed are notorious for
dropping little bits of material on whatever is below them. Glaze sure
looks crummy with kiln wash bits in it!!!
If I need to turn the shelves over for use to ensure the shelves don't
sag ove time, I always scrub down the old kiln wash with a power wire
brush, then blow it off with air, then wash down with pressure hose.
After thorough drying, I wiln was the side that will be up, leaving the
side to be down, free of any new kiln wash.
Regards,
John Rodgers
Chelsea, AL
May Luk wrote:
>Hi all;
>
>I have little pieces of off-white "sand" bits landing on my pots in my kiln
>in the last few firings. The are always on the bottom shelves. It just
>happens, Russel from Brussel was visiting me at the studio. He did some
>observation and deduction, we reckon it's from the props or the worn kiln
>shelves.
>
>What should I do:
>1-Vaccume? I borrowed a vaccume cleaner and did it once, but it still
>happened.
>2-Check props and replace? I don't know how to check which prop is ready to
>go. They all showed a bit of wear and tear on the edges. I wonder what's the
>shelf life of props.
>
>Another related question, perhaps, is the kiln wash. When I first did my own
>firing a year ago. I didn't know how to put kiln wash properly. On my own, I
>just put 3 thick coats and my wash is very think and goes off to the side of
>the shelves. The kiln wash is given to me by the previous owner, so I don't
>know what's in it. Maybe some of the bits are from the falling kiln wash?
>How do I remedy this situation if I want to eliminate a variable?
>
>BTW; I fire to cone 7-9
>
>T.I.A.
>
>Happy new year.
>
>May
>London, UK
>
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william schran on sun 4 jan 04
May wrote:>I have little pieces of off-white "sand" bits landing on
my pots in my kiln
in the last few firings. The are always on the bottom shelves.
..... put 3 thick coats and my wash is very think and goes off to the side of
the shelves. The kiln wash is given to me by the previous owner...<
Sounds like you may have bits of kiln wash flaking off and falling
into the kiln as you put in the shelves. Suggest you knock/grind off
as much wash as you can, especially the edges, wipe with sponge &
water, then apply new kiln wash with a paint roller, 2 coats in
adjacent directions, staying away from the edges.
I've been using a mix of 50/50 alumina/kaolin that seems to not flake
as much as the traditional silica/kaolin wash.
Bill
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