Patrick Cross on thu 14 dec 06
How about a two-piece plaster press mold to make the blank clay lug...could
even have starting depressions for the cone locations built in. That would
take away some of the moisture for those of us who often forget to make the
cone packs ahead of time.
Or...really fancy...the two parts of the mold could be hinged together in a
little wooden frame...(think, fold-over omelet pan...or hey, just use an old
omelet pan to make this...) On one half of the mold would be locations to
actually load the cones to be used...set at the appropriate angle
automatically. Load in the clay...fold it together (and let it set for a
few minutes if need be)...Presto.
Is that going a little too far?
Patrick Cross (cone10soda)
On 12/14/06, Vince Pitelka wrote:
>
> > What if he just fired the holder, allowing for shrinkage? Stick the
> > cones in after firing?
>
> Well, yes, I suppose you could make your own bisque-fired cone plaques
> that
> just have a hole to fit the cones. I like the cones to be locked in
> place,
> and thus I like to make traditional cone packs.
> - 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/
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>
Vince Pitelka on thu 14 dec 06
Forgive me for such an bold promise, but in almost 40 years of all sorts of
firings I cannot recall ever having a cone pack blow up or otherwise fail.
So either my memory is failing me, or I make good cone packs. When I left
my studio in California in 1985, I discarded a 30-gallon drum filled to the
brim with used cone packs. The following instructions are for a cone-10
cone pack with a body reduction cone that will melt to a puddle by the time
you reach high-fire temperatures, and thus must be accommodated with a melt
basin. Adapt to your own needs. Obviously, if you are doing low-firing, or
if you don't have any low temperature cones in a mid-range or high-fire cone
pack, you don't need a melt basin.
Aside from small single-cone packs that are sometime used to check the
temperature in different parts of a kiln, a normal cone pack generally
includes a warning cone (one cone below the desired maturation point), a
firing cone (indicating the maturation point), and a guard cone (one cone
above the maturation point). Some people like a few lower-temperature cones
that indicate progress on the way up to maturation point, but once you get
to know your kiln that probably isn't necessary. For a cone-10 reduction
firing, I use a cone 08 body reduction cone (or a cone 012 if I want carbon
trapping or copper reds), and then cones 9, 10, and 11.
Roll out a 1/2"-diameter coil of clay. For each cone pack, cut a section 3"
long. At one end, form a little elongated melt basin in line with the cone
pack, pinching the clay very thin. This is appropriate if you have a single
low temperature cone that is going to puddle when you reach higher
temperatures. If you have a series of low-temperature cones in a mid-range
or high-fire cone pack, the best way to proceed is to make the cone pack
with no melt basin, and then place the whole cone pack in a small pinched
tray that will catch all the melted cone material.
Hold any cone upright against a table top. The angle on the bottom of the
cone will make it stand at the angle it should be in the cone pack. Press
the base of the cone 08 into the coil of clay directly next to the melt
basin so that it is leaning towards the melt basin at the approporiate
angle, but when viewed from the end of the cone pack is standing vertically.
Push the cone in as far as it will go, so that there is only a very thin
layer of clay under the bottom of the cone. Press the cone 9 into the coil
directly adjacent to the cone 08 at the appropriate angle, with no space at
all between the bases of the two cones. Do the same with cones 10 and 11,
with all cones in a line so that in the firing they will each bend over the
previous one.
After all cones are pressed in place, with your index finger on one side of
the cone pack and your thumb on the other, squeeze the clay together in the
spaces between each cone, so that it pushes the clay up against the cones
and broadens the base, reinforcing the cones and making the cone pack more
stable. Do the same at either end of the row of cones, and pinch off any
excess clay beyond the cone 11. Take your needle tool, and poke plenty of
holes into the thicker portions of clay between the cones and at either end
of the cone pack.
The whole point here is to eliminate any chance of the cone pack blowing up
during the firing. To accomplish that, make sure that you don't use any
more clay than necessary, make sure you push all cones in as far as they
will go, trapping only a very thin layer of clay beneath each cone, and make
sure that you ventilate all the ticker areas with plenty of needle-tool
holes. Such a cone pack will still hold the cones firmly at the correct
tilt.
When you are done, you can place these cone packs in a gas firing, turn on
the kiln, and raise temperature quite fast. Moisture will escape very
quickly, and the cone packs won't blow up. If you make cone packs ahead of
time and let them dry out, that makes them easy to handle, but the point is
that if you get in the habit of making cone packs like this, they will never
blow up, no matter the firing process or protocol, no matter who is firing
the kiln, no matter whether they are completely dry or still damp. It's
just a good habit to get in to.
Sometimes my students learn the hard way by going through the experience of
having their kiln packs blow up. If they realize this early enough in the
firing, they can shut off the kiln and unload enough wares to to clean out
all the little pieces of exploded clay, reload, make new cone packs, and
start the kiln up again. If they don't realize soon enough, then they go
ahead and fire the kiln by the remaining cone pack or by the seat of their
pants or by pyrometer and hope for the best, and unload the kiln to find
little chunks of clay and melted cone stuck all over the ware through a good
part of the kiln. As you can see, it just isn't worth it to ever use an
improperly-made cone pack.
One of my students thought he had a great idea. He made a supply of cone
packs and bisque fired them in the test kiln to cone 018. Sounds like a
good idea, huh? But they came out of the firing with the binder burned out
of the cones so that they were extremely brittle and crumbled when handled.
- 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/
Vince Pitelka on thu 14 dec 06
> What if he just fired the holder, allowing for shrinkage? Stick the
> cones in after firing?
Well, yes, I suppose you could make your own bisque-fired cone plaques that
just have a hole to fit the cones. I like the cones to be locked in place,
and thus I like to make traditional cone packs.
- 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/
Alyssa Ettinger on fri 15 dec 06
i miss the cone packs i made in college: clay mixed with the vermiculite the
cones were packed in, and cones shoved in.
i think i need to go buy some vermiculite. only i doubt i could get some in
a tiny bag.
Kathy McDonald on fri 15 dec 06
For years I used to make cone packs up 20 to 30 at a time.
I needed at least 6 per firing because I was firing a rather
unpredictable 50 cu ft down draft, and I needed to know what
was going on in the kiln.
These were made by the following process...
1) wedge vermiculite into clay body... usually a hi fire stoneware
2) form into cone packs that were about 1 inch thick by 2 1/2" long
to hold about 3 cones at proper angles.
3) insert cones and line em all so that you could see how the cones =
lined=20
up (imagine a group of soldiers on parade if you were the drill master)
4) Let them dry for a couple of days, (or if you forgot and are really =
rushed
in your kitchen oven for 1 1/2 hours at 250 degrees)
Don't recall ever having these blow up and they bend much better than
the ones you buy. Not sure why but they seem to give me a more true =
reading
of heat work than the commercially produced ones at c 9/10 .
Kathy ( who's got to get the tree up today)
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG]On Behalf Of Lee Love
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 5:40 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: How to Make the Perfect Cone Pack
On 12/15/06, Vince Pitelka wrote:
>
> One of my students thought he had a great idea. He made a supply of =
cone
> packs and bisque fired them in the test kiln to cone 018. Sounds like =
a
> good idea, huh? But they came out of the firing with the binder =
burned out
> of the cones so that they were extremely brittle and crumbled when =
handled.
What if he just fired the holder, allowing for shrinkage? Stick the
cones in after firing?
--
Lee in Mashiko, Japan
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
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
_________________________________________________________________________=
_____
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at =
melpots@pclink.com.
--=20
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.409 / Virus Database: 268.15.18/586 - Release Date: =
12/13/2006
=20
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12/15/2006
=20
Patrick Cross on fri 15 dec 06
ehn...vermiculite's good for all sorts of things...go get a big bag at your
local nursery supply and use what's left over from cone packs to re-pot your
studio plants. What?...don't have any studio plants, you say? Well, just
one more reason to support your local mom&pop nursery...and while you're
there maybe expound on the possibility of selling your work in their shop..
Patrick Cross (cone10soda)
On 12/15/06, Alyssa Ettinger wrote:
>
> i miss the cone packs i made in college: clay mixed with the vermiculite
> the
> cones were packed in, and cones shoved in.
>
> i think i need to go buy some vermiculite. only i doubt i could get some
> in
> a tiny bag.
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>
Lee Love on fri 15 dec 06
On 12/15/06, Vince Pitelka wrote:
>
> One of my students thought he had a great idea. He made a supply of cone
> packs and bisque fired them in the test kiln to cone 018. Sounds like a
> good idea, huh? But they came out of the firing with the binder burned out
> of the cones so that they were extremely brittle and crumbled when handled.
What if he just fired the holder, allowing for shrinkage? Stick the
cones in after firing?
--
Lee in Mashiko, Japan
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
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
Patrick Cross on fri 15 dec 06
Hey Kathy...and all other Tree-puttin'-up-procrastinators. When I put mine
up (yesterday) I had a DUH moment.
The worst part of the process for me is getting the dang light strings
on...having to pass the lights back around the tree and taking up the
slack...over and over and over...you know the routine This year...and (WHY
DIDN'T I THINK OF THIS BEFORE??)...I got my Lazy Susan screwed-to-a-bat
thingy and slipped it under the tree's stand temporarily. Well really I had
to get an even larger bat to go on my lazy susan bat to make it more
stable. Anyway, you see where this is going right? You get to stand in one
spot while you lace the tree up with lights (as you turn the tree) Nice
for putting the ornaments on too.. And I suppose you could just leave the
lazy susan under the tree and change "the view" every once in a while if you
want...
Don't anybody get any bright ideas about doing this on your Brent CXC....I
will not be held responsible.
Patrick Cross (cone10soda)
On 12/15/06, Kathy McDonald wrote:
>
>
> Kathy ( who's got to get the tree up today)
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG]On Behalf Of Lee Love
> Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 5:40 PM
> To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
> Subject: Re: How to Make the Perfect Cone Pack
>
>
> On 12/15/06, Vince Pitelka wrote:
>
> >
> > One of my students thought he had a great idea. He made a supply of
> cone
> > packs and bisque fired them in the test kiln to cone 018. Sounds like a
> > good idea, huh? But they came out of the firing with the binder burned
> out
> > of the cones so that they were extremely brittle and crumbled when
> handled.
>
> What if he just fired the holder, allowing for shrinkage? Stick the
> cones in after firing?
>
> --
> Lee in Mashiko, Japan
> Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
> 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
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>
> --
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.1.409 / Virus Database: 268.15.18/586 - Release Date:
> 12/13/2006
>
>
> --
> No virus found in this outgoing message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.1.409 / Virus Database: 268.15.20/588 - Release Date:
> 12/15/2006
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>
Tara Mooney on fri 15 dec 06
Patrick,
Really off topic, but I had a electric turning tree stand that even
played tunes.
It was bought in the 60's. They must still make them.
T
On Dec 15, 2006, at 2:54 PM, Patrick Cross wrote:
> Hey Kathy...and all other Tree-puttin'-up-procrastinators. When I put
> mine
> up (yesterday) I had a DUH moment.
>
> The worst part of the process for me is getting the dang light strings
> on...having to pass the lights back around the tree and taking up the
> slack...over and over and over...you know the routine This year...and
> (WHY
> DIDN'T I THINK OF THIS BEFORE??)...I got my Lazy Susan screwed-to-a-bat
> thingy and slipped it under the tree's stand temporarily. Well really
> I had
> to get an even larger bat to go on my lazy susan bat to make it more
> stable. Anyway, you see where this is going right? You get to stand
> in one
> spot while you lace the tree up with lights (as you turn the tree)
> Nice
> for putting the ornaments on too.. And I suppose you could just leave
> the
> lazy susan under the tree and change "the view" every once in a while
> if you
> want...
>
> Don't anybody get any bright ideas about doing this on your Brent
> CXC....I
> will not be held responsible.
>
> Patrick Cross (cone10soda)
>
>
> On 12/15/06, Kathy McDonald wrote:
>>
>>
>> Kathy ( who's got to get the tree up today)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG]On Behalf Of Lee Love
>> Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 5:40 PM
>> To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
>> Subject: Re: How to Make the Perfect Cone Pack
>>
>>
>> On 12/15/06, Vince Pitelka wrote:
>>
>> >
>> > One of my students thought he had a great idea. He made a supply of
>> cone
>> > packs and bisque fired them in the test kiln to cone 018. Sounds
>> like a
>> > good idea, huh? But they came out of the firing with the binder
>> burned
>> out
>> > of the cones so that they were extremely brittle and crumbled when
>> handled.
>>
>> What if he just fired the holder, allowing for shrinkage? Stick the
>> cones in after firing?
>>
>> --
>> Lee in Mashiko, Japan
>> Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
>> 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
>>
>>
>> ______________________________________________________________________
>> ________
>> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>>
>> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>>
>> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
>> melpots@pclink.com.
>>
>> --
>> No virus found in this incoming message.
>> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
>> Version: 7.1.409 / Virus Database: 268.15.18/586 - Release Date:
>> 12/13/2006
>>
>>
>> --
>> No virus found in this outgoing message.
>> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
>> Version: 7.1.409 / Virus Database: 268.15.20/588 - Release Date:
>> 12/15/2006
>>
>>
>>
>> ______________________________________________________________________
>> ________
>> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>>
>> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>>
>> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
>> melpots@pclink.com.
>>
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> _______
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
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