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oyster shells for salt fire

updated sat 7 oct 06

 

Yeti on wed 4 oct 06


I am curious to see if anyone has information on whether oyster shells would
function the same as sea shells in a salt load. I am in the mid-west, but
live about a Creole restaurant and the trash is always littered with bag
upon bag of those guys.

I am going to try this regardless so I will let you know how it comes out if
there are no responses.

Thanks for any input.

--
I must create a system or be enslaved by another mans; I will not reason and
compare: my business is to create.
William Blake

Vince Pitelka on thu 5 oct 06


>I am curious to see if anyone has information on whether oyster shells
>would
> function the same as sea shells in a salt load. I am in the mid-west, but
> live about a Creole restaurant and the trash is always littered with bag
> upon bag of those guys.

Yeti -
First, please sign your posts with your name at the bottom. It's just
decent list behavior.

Second, the only problem I can see with oyster shells is that it will take
so much wadding to fill them, and that the outside of the shells will not
leave a pleasing pattern on the surface of the pot. The whole idea of using
pectin or scallop shells or other similar variations is that after the
firing, the calcined shell washes away with water, and you are left with the
pleasant pattern of the shell in any glaze or ash that has run down around
the shell. You would not get that effect with an oyster shell.

If you do try it please let us know how it turns out.
- 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 fri 6 oct 06


On 10/6/06, Vince Pitelka wrote:

> Second, the only problem I can see with oyster shells is that it will take
> so much wadding to fill them,

I have used broken pieces of larger shells between wadding and pot.

--
Lee in Mashiko, Japan
http://potters.blogspot.com/
"Let the beauty we love be what we do." - Rumi
"When we all do better. We ALL do better." -Paul Wellstone