John Jensen on wed 12 may 04
I fire sculpture all the time...some of it quite thick. I don't have my
firing schedule at hand but I can give you some idea. First of all I
use a computer controlled kiln and that makes all the difference, as far
as ease is concerned. I try to keep the thickness under two inches, by
hollowing as much as possible. Where you can't reach to hollow you
can drill moisture release channels (if a four inch chunk of clay has a
tunnel running through the middle, then it is effectively only two
inches thick). Let it dry as long as you can...depending on the
humidity it could be as little as two weeks.
First section of the firing: Slowly (50 degrees/hr)go to around 200
degrees F and hold that for ten hours, then go up to 220 degrees and
hold that for 8 hours...the work should be dry by this point. Then go
up at 25 degrees per hour till you reach 500 F. Next go up by 40 degree
per hour till you reach 900 50 degrees till you get to 1200, then 75
per hour till you get to 1940 (cone 04) up from there you are on your
own.
Just a suggestion.
The whole thing takes about two and a half days. Check out the
sculpture on my web page to see some of the things I didn't blow up.
John Jensen, Mudbug Pottery
mudbug@toadhouse.com , http://www.toadhouse.com
tammy brown on thu 13 may 04
Hey John
I like your website
and your sculptures
and even more than all that
I thank you for your firing sequence to try
i didnt know where to start
now i have a reference point from which to experiment
i know you always risk losing things
but if you do sculpture of that thickenss you also
know how disappointing it is to lose something lke
that that you have worked on for so long...so I shall
test...test...test....and see what I get with my new
kiln..
Thanks again
Tammy
>
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tammy brown on fri 14 may 04
>
> John Jensen, Mudbug Pottery
> mudbug@toadhouse.com , http://www.toadhouse.com
Mr. Jensen
Now that is exactly what I was looking for ...some
honest suggestions at firing sequences. I can't wait
to try it. Of course these pieces need to get dry but
I can test while I wait. What type of clay do you use
for your sculptures? Earthenware, stoneware? What
material do you use to decorate them with? As you have
read I seem to not be having luck with that. I have a
heavy thick sculpture that I finally got off the
armature and I am afraid I may have cleaned out too
much and thinned some of the walls too much, but time
will tell. Do you use slips, do you create them
yourself or do you use colored glazes...and out of
curiousity do you make your own glazes?
My kiln cannot get here soon enough...
It sounds as if you can understand my grief at firing
these heavy pieces at least...loss rate...and all.
thanks for your advice there
Tammy
>
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