Gene and Dolita Dohrman on mon 18 oct 04
Well, it seems that I cannot wait for Phil to design the Hammer Holster, =
I am going to have to just use the plain old framing hammer we have =
sitting on my glaze counter (what an appropriate spot). Mixed 8 glazes: =
Bailey's Randy's Red, MC6G Variegated Blue, Ron Roy's Liner White, Tom =
Buck's Sea Green, MC6G Licorice, Val Cushing's Weird Matte, MC6G =
Spearmint, and MC6G Raw Sienna. I did all the tests as I was supposed =
to. A friend fired the small tiles in her test kiln. Each one came out =
beautifully. After running tests on tiles, I used some of those lovely =
mugs that were part of my '100 mug' travesty and had another friend fire =
those in her small kiln. A few were a bit iffy, noticed pinholing, some =
too thick, some too thin. Then I thought, OK-go for it. Started =
glazing good (and I am using the term loosely here) pieces. Let me tell =
you, with 2000 g. batches of glaze, dipping proved to be difficult-took =
me 5 hours to glaze a load for a 7 cu. ft. kiln. Ridiculous. What a =
newbie.
Was told by L&L to separate the sections evenly with the shelves. I =
cannot begin to tell you what a pain in the (fill in any body part you =
wish to here) that was. Couldn't do it and fill each section, ended up =
staggering the center shelves. The tech at L&L kindly sent me Ron and =
John's glaze program, step by step. Figured I was good to go. Hah!
Turned it on at 8:30 in the evening thinking, "Well, a slow bisque takes =
about 11 hours so a glaze firing going to 2190 with a slow cool should =
take even longer." Mistake #1. =20
Quickly figured out my first mistake by realizing I should set the alarm =
for 2:30 a.m. and get out to the studio to check the cones. Perfect =
timing. There were 5 minutes left in the 20 minute hold. Had trouble =
seeing the cones at this temp. (forget my theory of pulling the peeps =
with the vent on-didn't really work at the higher temp.) but was able to =
see that the ^6 was perfectly bent-or so I thought. (Hah! again) =
Mistake #2. =20
Crawled back into bed feeling rather smug that everything had gone =
perfectly. Mistake #3.=20
However, by this time there was no correcting Mistakes 1, 2 or 3. =
Husband checked the kiln before he went to work. Came up and told me =
that it was still in the controlled cooldown. Perfect, I thought. =
Mistake #4. =20
I get up around 8:30 and go out to the studio. Thought I might just =
verify the cone position. Well....what I did not see at 2:30 a.m. I =
could plainly see at 8:30. ^7 was obscenely bent on top of the ^6. I =
knew I was in trouble. Various scenarios went through my head as I =
waited for the kiln to cool completely. By the time lunch time rolled =
around, I had accepted the loss of the pieces and was now more worried =
about the shelves. As long as my shelves were not destroyed I was =
willing to take the loss on the pieces (as if I had a choice!). Opened =
the kiln about 11:00 that night. Just as I thought-a lot of very brown, =
nasty pots. Some ran onto the clay pads I had placed under the more =
questionable pieces (no mistake there!). I did have one obnoxious pot =
actually 'spit' the glaze off the shoulder, missing the pad completely =
and depositing the glaze on my shelf. Nice.=20
With my L&L Easy Fire kiln during bisque firing it was easy to turn the =
kiln back on if it had not quite reached cone, set it to a higher cone, =
and just watch carefully; shutting it off when the cone bent. However, =
with a soak at the end of a glaze firing and a controlled cooldown, it =
is a bit more complicated. I had programmed the kiln to go into a hold =
at 2190. The tech at L&L (a real patient, sweet guy) said to lower the =
end temp. for the next firing and run a test. Well, hell! A test with =
a kiln load of what!? He suggested fire brick with all the shelves and =
posts in the kiln. =20
This is what I have decided. There will be no more carving and piercing =
for now. I am going to pump out bowls and cylinders that could perhaps =
have some redeeming qualities with nice glazes on them. I need to see =
how the glazes react to a firing. I feel that if I fill the kiln with =
other 'stuff', I will be firing blind. I will take a digital of the =
cones and send it to my friend Rob at L&L. At this point I am thinking =
of dropping the end temp to 2170. AND I WILL BE IN THE STUDIO DURING =
THE LAST HOUR OF THE FIRING!=20
Upon reading back through this, I see I have only listed 4 mistakes. =
Good grief, if only there were 4! The whole afternoon of loading the =
kiln caused a huge fever blister to emerge from my upper lip a couple of =
days later. And I am doing this because I love it?! I mentioned to my =
husband that it was a damn good thing I am not trying to make a living =
from this, and his reply was "Honey, if you were trying to make a =
living, you would have had to file for Chapter 11 a long time ago!" I =
have to tell you though, he had his arms around me at the time.
Dolita-heading out to the studio-Hammer Time=20
dohrman@insightbb.com
Louisville, KY
Hal Giddens on mon 18 oct 04
>
> From: Gene and Dolita Dohrman
> Date: 2004/10/18 Mon PM 01:16:13 EDT
>Mixed 8 glazes: Bailey's Randy's Red, MC6G Variegated Blue, Ron Roy's Liner White, Tom Buck's Sea Green, MC6G Licorice, Val Cushing's Weird Matte, MC6G Spearmint, and MC6G Raw Sienna. I did all the tests as I was supposed to. A friend fired the small tiles in her test kiln. Each one came out beautifully. After running tests on tiles, I used some of those lovely mugs that were part of my '100 mug' travesty and had another friend fire those in her small kiln. >
I'm sure I missed something there since I'm not the sharpest tool in the tool shed. You said two test were done in two friend's kilns. Did you do a test firing using your kiln?
Hal Giddens
Home Grown Pottery
Rockledge, Georgia USA
kenhal@bellsouth.net
Gene and Dolita Dohrman on mon 18 oct 04
No, I did not. The first test was done in a small test kiln - 16 small free
standing tiles. Two for each glaze. The second was done in about a 3-4 cu.
ft. electric kiln by a friend of mine. 12 mugs total. How on earth do you
do a 'test' in a 7 cu. ft. kiln? I guess the fact I was willing to lose all
the pieces I had in the first firing sort of made it a test in itself. I
had only fired the kiln 4 times previously and it was all bisque ware. I
was prepared for the glaze results to differ from the other kilns.
Dolita
dohrman@insightbb.com
Louisville, KY
> I'm sure I missed something there since I'm not the sharpest tool in the
tool shed. You said two test were done in two friend's kilns. Did you do a
test firing using your kiln?
>
>
> Hal Giddens
> Home Grown Pottery
> Rockledge, Georgia USA
> kenhal@bellsouth.net
Hal Giddens on tue 19 oct 04
Unfortunately I don't have the problem of having a 7 cu. ft. kiln since all I have is a small Skutt but from what I've read and been told it is possible that you could have done everything right in your firing and the pots would have not come out okay. Seems to me that testing in two different kilns is kind of like test driving a ford and a chevrolet before deciding to buy a untested lexus. Are there not potters that test pots with small loads in bigger kilns?
Also I think it is great that you were able to document all the things you think you did wrong. I make so many it's hard for me to keep up with them. Slow drying, fast drying, short bisque firing or whatever. None of those causes me near as much trouble as myself. I am easliy my own worst enemy when it comes to making pots.
I'm sure your next firing will come out great.
>
> From: Gene and Dolita Dohrman
> Date: 2004/10/18 Mon PM 07:47:18 EDT
> To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
> Subject: Re: First Glaze Firing-Hammer Time-Long
>
> No, I did not. The first test was done in a small test kiln - 16 small free
> standing tiles. Two for each glaze. The second was done in about a 3-4 cu.
> ft. electric kiln by a friend of mine. 12 mugs total. How on earth do you
> do a 'test' in a 7 cu. ft. kiln? I guess the fact I was willing to lose all
> the pieces I had in the first firing sort of made it a test in itself. I
> had only fired the kiln 4 times previously and it was all bisque ware. I
> was prepared for the glaze results to differ from the other kilns.
> Dolita
>
> dohrman@insightbb.com
> Louisville, KY
>
> > I'm sure I missed something there since I'm not the sharpest tool in the
> tool shed. You said two test were done in two friend's kilns. Did you do a
> test firing using your kiln?
> >
> >
> > Hal Giddens
> > Home Grown Pottery
> > Rockledge, Georgia USA
> > kenhal@bellsouth.net
>
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Hal Giddens
Home Grown Pottery
Rockledge, Georgia USA
kenhal@bellsouth.net
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