Ben Friesen on tue 31 may 05
Hi all,
I've been having trouble with my mug and pitcher handles developing =
small cracks while drying. Is it normal to have to go back and slip the =
cracks or rewet and fill in with clay?? My method is to throw a mug, let =
dry to a wet leatherhard, pull or extrude an handle and attach with wet =
slip... score and slip, that is. What could I do different to stop the =
cracking??
Thanks for any suggestions,
Ben Friesen
Stonepath Pottery
Abbotsford, BC, Canada
Lee Love on wed 1 jun 05
Ben,
Sounds like your mug bodies are a lot dryer than your handles. They are
attached at two ends and as they shrink, it causes stress on the
handles. I would not patch the cracks because the tension is still there
and they will probably crack again in the bisque.
I know there are different ways to do it, but this is what I have been
doing lately. I often pull handles first, lay them on a plastic sheet on
a board, let them dry a little then cover them up. Then I throw my
bodies, let them dry and then attach the handles.
If I am doing inlay, I throw the bodies, then pull handles (let them dry
a little then cover them), texture the body, dry a little, slip the
bodies, dry a little, and then attach the handles. After the handles are
on, I scrape the inlay off, leaving it only in the recesses.
--
李 Lee Love 大
愛 鱗
in Mashiko, Japan http://mashiko.org
http://hankos.blogspot.com/ Visual Bookmarks
http://ikiru.blogspot.com/ Zen and Craft
"With Humans it's what's here (he points to his heart) that makes the difference. If you don't have it in the heart, nothing you make will make a difference." ~~Bernard Leach~~ (As told to Dean Schwarz)
Rod Wuetherick on wed 1 jun 05
" What could I do different to stop the cracking??"
Ben,
Joining things in ceramics always works better when moisture content is
close. Cover your mugs up when you have thrown them and attach handles as
soon as possible. Haven't we been here before? You asked months ago about
"why" your handles were popping off and you were given a plethora of
excellent advice. This again would be the same thing.
Think about it! Leatherhard pot and wet plastic clay. Will they shrink at
the same rate? Who will shrink more and whom less? What happens when the
shrinkage differential is large? Who gets broken?
peace,
rod
Ben Friesen on thu 2 jun 05
Thanks for the input on this subject..
To be more precise I do attach when the mug, whatever, is as damp as =
possible--I can barely trim it... once attached I cover and leave for a =
week with the exception of larger pitchers which I leave covered for =
sometimes up to 3 weeks. The one thing I see here is maybe I need to let =
the handles dry a bit more before I attach them... also spray the body a =
bit before attaching...
And I want to try the cider vinegar thing as well...=20
I do recall asking about the strength of crazed ware... how it affected =
handles and that but not about attaching handles. anyway, I live in a =
bit of a whirlwind here so you're probably right Rod, I may have asked =
this before--my apologies for belaboring the subject... :) For some =
reason my filter system does not allow me access to the archives so I =
can't even check....... oh well.....=20
Thanks again,
Ben Friesen
Stonepath Pottery
Abbotsford, BC, Canada
bonnie staffel on thu 2 jun 05
Dear Ben,
I have found that using Lana Wilson's Magic Water. I have not had all this
trouble since I started applying it to the leather hard mug and a soft
handle. Even if a crack might develop on drying, you just put a few drops
in the crack and massage it with a wooden tool. Usually, it will be healed
and go through the firing with no crack.
Regards,
Bonnie Staffel
http://webpages.charter.net/bstaffel/
http://vasefinder.com/bstaffelgallery1.html
Charter Member Potters Council
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