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rough salt fired wares

updated tue 21 mar 06

 

Emily Lees on sun 19 mar 06


I just participated in a group wood firing with salt. About half of my pots
came out really gritty feeling (Mine were not the only ones). What can I do,
if anything, to salvage them?

John Britt on sun 19 mar 06


Emily,

A lot of people who wood fire or salt wood fire will sand their work with
emory cloth or the black sandpaper (forgot the name) that is very fine
after the pieces come out of the kiln.

Hope it helps,

John Britt
www.johnbrittpottery.com

Dave Finkelnburg on sun 19 mar 06


Emily,
It would help to know if these pots were these
glaze or unglazed? Is the roughness due to
blistering, or due to bare clay? Thanks!
Dave Finkelnburg

--- Emily Lees wrote:
> I just participated in a group wood firing with
> salt. About half of my pots
> came out really gritty feeling (Mine were not the
> only ones). What can I do, if anything, to salvage
them?


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Emily Lees on sun 19 mar 06


Some pots were unglazed, some had slip, and some were glazed. I used 2
different clay bodies -- Aurora from Highwater clays, and Standard clay
119. There wasn't any blistering, but there wasn't a lot of salt peel,
either. They were in different parts of the groundhog kiln. I was not
the only one with this result.

Thanks.

Dave Finkelnburg wrote:

>Emily,
> It would help to know if these pots were these
>glaze or unglazed? Is the roughness due to
>blistering, or due to bare clay? Thanks!
> Dave Finkelnburg
>
>--- Emily Lees wrote:
>
>
>>I just participated in a group wood firing with
>>salt. About half of my pots
>>came out really gritty feeling (Mine were not the
>>only ones). What can I do, if anything, to salvage
>>
>>
>them?
>
>
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Dave Finkelnburg on sun 19 mar 06


Emily,
What to do is as much an artistic question as
anything, so please accept this as simply presenting
options...I'm not suggestion what you should
do...that's up to you. :-)
It's already been suggested that you sand or
polish the pieces with a fine abrasive. Depending on
the roughness of the surface, that may do what you
want.
I assume you fired to cone 10 or higher. As a
first attempt you can take the blistered pieces and
refire to cone 5 or 6...the blisters should heal with
a good soak there but you will likely see color
differences.
I have also successfully taken blistered pots and
sprayed them with a salt solution, salt dissolved in
hot water sprayed on a hot pot, and then refired to
cone 5 electric. This can change the color of iron
present, but does give additional sodium glaze
reacting with the clay body. Fire at a conservative
rate...not too fast...and you shouldn't have dunting,
or any bloating problems at that low a temperature,
but the sodium will melt. You can test and do this
more than once if need be.
Hope you find a satisfactory solution!
Dave Finkelnburg

--- Emily Lees wrote:
> Some pots were unglazed, some had slip, and some
> were glazed. I used 2
> different clay bodies -- Aurora from Highwater
> clays, and Standard clay
> 119. There wasn't any blistering, but there wasn't
> a lot of salt peel,
> either. They were in different parts of the
> groundhog kiln. I was not
> the only one with this result.


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Merrie Boerner on sun 19 mar 06


Dear Emily,
I'm sorry that your woodfired pots are not what you expected. Kiln
surprise is one intriguing part of woodfiring that compels some of us to
keep accepting the challenge with a passion. Keep your rough pots just as
they are. You may learn to love them in a few years. They are precious
jewels.......irreplaceable.....one of a kind. I met some woodfiring potters
who had a display in the Chinese Garden in Portland. They fire to cone 8
BECAUSE they like the rough ash !
What cone was down when you closed up the kiln? Were the cones even (or
fairly even) throughout the kiln? Did one of your clays seem more rough than
the other? Were the unglazed pots rougher than the glazed pots ? How long
was the firing ? Were the pots stacked very close to each other? Is this
kiln in Arkansas ?
Merrie in Mississippi



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Vince Pitelka on sun 19 mar 06


>I just participated in a group wood firing with salt. About half of my pots
> came out really gritty feeling (Mine were not the only ones). What can I
> do,
> if anything, to salvage them?

Emily -
Go to your local hardware store or home improvement center and buy some
160-mesh "wet or dry" emery paper. It's just waterproof sandpaper. Hold
the pots under running water and sand lightly with the sandpaper. That will
remove the surface "tooth." They also get smoother with use. This often
happens with salt-fired ware.
Good luck -
- Vince

Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/

lee love on mon 20 mar 06


--- In clayart@yahoogroups.com, Emily Lees wrote:
>
> I just participated in a group wood firing with salt. About half of
my pots
> came out really gritty feeling (Mine were not the only ones). What
can I do,
> if anything, to salvage them?

Emily, can you share some photos with us?

I polish my unglazed shigaraki woodfired pots.

--
Lee In Mashiko, Japan
http://mashiko.org
http://seisokuro.blogspot.com/

Bonita Cohn on mon 20 mar 06


-- ditto to other suggestions - sanding with "wet" sand paper - the black
fine stuff.
also I have refired the wares to cone 9 or 10 and it melts and enhances
with a lustrous effect the rest of the work in the kiln. Just remember to
put alumina powder under the pot so it won't stick to a kiln shelf.

The rough stuff is actually an effect I like, and have not refried, er
refired a lot of work with it. It is unmelted ash and it has the look of the
ages. I have a collector who only wants this effect. The challenge is, on
what kind of work will this look good.

Good luck, Bonita in San Francisco.
Where it has snowed, hailed, rain and rainbowed since returning from NCECA.
My cat is missing. so I am busy posting to craigslist and peppering the
neighborhood with flyers.

I got a Mug of Hank Murrow in the exchange! Mel gave me the first red dot!
So wonderful to put face to people's names... and great things to see...our
show in Hillsboro was wonderful and well attended reception. High point was
introducing myself to Val Cushing - how much I owe to him - that Robert
Turner was my teacher at Alfred that one semester...glad he was the one to
speak of Robert. His handbook is full of the handouts I got a school that
year of the Pentagon Papers...

Stayed in Portland until Monday, but I missed the plane, so really
Tuesday...
Got to see the shows in the outskirts of town that were still up.

And the dance was fun!
My red boa is proof I was rally there...not a dream...like Brigadoon.

Ivor and Olive Lewis on tue 21 mar 06


Dear Emily Lees,=20

You did not tell us about the firing temperature of the kiln. I suspect =
that the ware you describe did not get hot enough to promote the =
chemical reactions between the Sodium Chloride and the Potash minerals =
(Muscovite Mica, Potash Felspar etc) in the clays that were used.

It also sounds as though there was an unevenly distributed draught =
through the ware in the kiln.

Another thing. Was this a new kiln?

Best regards,

Ivor Lewis.
Redhill,
South Australia.