Lowell Barron on tue 13 jan 04
Hi All, I have been lurking for some time and love this website....it is =
just wonderful...very helpful to me. I have just returned to "potting" =
after many years of dabbling in it whenever I could get the time.
I am getting ready to make my own glazes again and try firing at home =
once again. I had been relying on my few pieces being fired for me at =
our local Guild. The last time I fired this kiln was about 5 years ago. =
It is in an unheated garage - I live in chilly Ontario - and I am =
wondering if it is still all right. (Seems OK when I turned it on).
It is a small kiln made by PV enterprises of Waterloo Canada and =
measures 17 across (octagonal) by 18 deep. It has two controls with 1-10 =
on the dial. I do have a kiln sitter and a pyrometer but that is it. I =
have read the archives and really wonder what I will be able to do with =
this kiln. Perhaps I will need to upgrade the kiln sooner rather than =
later!
I have been reading a lot on glazes and particular enjoyed Ron and =
John's book....most helpful to me. I plan to try out many of their =
glazes as well as repeat a couple from years past - not sure how they =
will work though as we have moved since I used them before.
At this point I am wondering what to make to fill this kiln while I test =
both it and the glazes. It needs to be work that I don't mind losing =
(too much) if it all doesn't work out. Perhaps little bowls? Small =
plates? It seems to me that if the kiln is not fairly full that you do =
not get a good result.
Any advice that you can give me would be much appreciated. Many thanks.
Lowell Ann in frosty Ontario.
Carol Tripp on wed 14 jan 04
Hi Lowell,
How lucky you are to have Ron and John's book when starting out. It will
save you lots of misses in the glaze quest. Anyway, as for what to make as
"sacrificial ware"? Make pots you will use. My cupboards are full of mugs,
cups and all sizes of plates and bowls is all sorts of glazes and
combinations of glazes. I imagine your test batches will be small to start
so try making mini pots thrown off the hump to go along with your test
tiles. Small bowls off the hump are good too. If you like a glaze, make a
larger batch and glaze bigger items. You are just going to have to accept
the fact that you will be using a lot of clay and a lot of glaze as
experiments. Some will work, some will be for the hammer.
Remember to make notes. You may say to yourself, "Oh, I'll remember which
glaze combo I used." or " I'll know which glaze I used on that pot." Ha. I
have a lovely bowl that I glazed in my first ever firing and I was so
excited that I just popped pots in the glazes any old way. And could I ever
replicate the effect? No. Note how you stacked the kiln and which glazes
went on which shelf. Most electric kilns fire cooler on the bottom so some
glazes do better down there than others. Note the outcome of each firing.
Have fun and best regards,
Carol
Dubai, UAE
Lowell wrote, in part:
am getting ready to make my own glazes again and try firing at home once
again....
>
>I have been reading a lot on glazes and particular enjoyed Ron and John's
>book....most helpful to me. I plan to try out many of their glazes as well
>as repeat a couple from years past - not sure how they will work though as
>we have moved since I used them before.
>
>At this point I am wondering what to make to fill this kiln while I test
>both it and the glazes. It needs to be work that I don't mind losing (too
>much) if it all doesn't work out. Perhaps little bowls? Small plates? It
>seems to me that if the kiln is not fairly full that you do not get a good
>result.
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