David Hendley on wed 18 jan 06
Well, after years of experience, I just stopped using cones
and fired by atmosphere color, for my bisque firing. It's no
big deal, after all, to be a few degrees off in the bisque.
Really, if you have been using the same electric kiln for a
while, firing by time is probably plenty accurate.
A firing with a cone every once in a while will confirm that
you are still in the neighborhood.
And, of course, as I have been famously teased about on
Clayart and else where, I sometimes make my own cones
for my glaze firings.
I only need one cone per firing because I've been firing this
kiln for many years and it is totally reliable and consistent,
with no hot or cold spots.
It's really no big deal to make cones- start with the Segar
formula and make a recipe using a glaze calculation program.
My cones cost about 10 cents for a box of 50.
I use basic ingredients such as Custer feldspar, whiting,
and EPK kaolin, but in a "pioneer" situation, you could
use whatever ingredients you have available to make cones
by trail and error.
The way to think of cones, after all, is as a mixture that
is half-way between a claybody and a glaze, so the proper
mix of your clay and glaze materials will make a cone for
the temperature you desire.
Making your own cones is a great learning experience to
help in understanding your ceramic materials.
David Hendley
Old Farmhouse Pottery
david@farmpots.com
http://www.farmpots.com
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