Junk

Sooo, did a firing over thanksgiving, it was successful, but not super awesome. Some ok stuff, and something that didn't really fire. Here they be:

A victim of my own work

I attempted to start my Bisque last night, and it blew up 3 pieces, at which point i pulled the plug until Sunday.

It was a combination of Wet pieces, and 1 with an air bubble, but boy did they explode. The wet ones shattered everywhere, and the one with the Air bubble blew out the side and bottom.

I know better, but i didn't listen to myself. The reality is, i need to take great care when prepping, and i need to wait at lest 3 days from the time i create, to the bisque to allow from sufficient dry time.

Meh

Almost there

I'm a few days away from Bisque #2 in my hodgepodge kiln. I think i have everything i need for success now, i've got the right Glaze, i know how to get the kiln to the proper cone temp, and i even have a more suitible clay (FOR THE NEXT BATCH). I think after this round, i'm going to attempt a PIT firing at my dad's place, i may actually save 4-5 pieces just for that purpose. So maybe if i create 4-5 more in the next few days, i can get them in the bisque. Word...



On another note, i have "special ordered" a Vinyl flooring called Allure from Home Depot, it's a light Bamboo, and I'm going to do the whole 500sq feet of our kitchen/living space in the house, it's a really cool product, it looks and feels just like wood, but it's totally waterproof, and durable, and 1/3rd the cost of wood. If it works out well, I'll do the entire upstairs of the house, and trash the dog-pee carpet!

couple more pieces

I'll throw a couple more pieces for my next firing here this weekend, and see how it goes, i have a couple of shapes that i really like, and some other stuff that i don't. I'm still trying to find my stuff again, but i don't think I'm too far off. I will probably put a little more effort into the last couple of pieces i do this time, and see where it goes.

-LB

Lull

I'm in a bit of a ceramic lull at the moment. I need to produce about 10 items (8-10), to fill the kiln for the next Bisque, i suppose i could do more, and just not finish in one firing. Probably something like 3 larger pieces, and 7 small, if i were to get some new, larger stilts, i could fit one more shelf in the kiln, and place some smaller stuff also.

Now that i have the issues with Cone's, Glaze, and temp figured out, it should be ok. The kiln can reach CONE 06 (not 6), without any issue, and i can probably Bisque at 04-06, and then low fire Glaze at 06.

My next task is to call, or drive by this propane place. They re-fill tanks instead of exchanging them, so I'm hoping that it will be cheaper. It's costing me $18-21 dollars to exchange a tank, and it's taking 75% of 1 tank to do either firing. So what happens is i take in a 3/4 empty tank to get exchanged, and waste the excess fuel, plus pay a bit more.

I need to find my Style again. Right now i'm throwing various objects, but i find i don't really have a "voice". I want to throw more "robust" style bowls and such, i have found some inspiration from the website of Legendary potter Otto Heino, although i don't want to spend too much time there, for fear my stuff will end up looking just like his (his are great, but i want to be unique).

Meh.

What a dumb ass

So there i wuz, firing away with my custom kiln, thinking that it JUST WASN'T GETTING HOT ENOUGH. I was wrong, 4 of the 5 bottles of Glaze i purchased were Cone 5/6, not cone 05! Major difference! Cone 5= 2300 degrees. Cone 05 is about 1800 degrees. Shit bricks man! I could not figure out why my 06 cone would bend, but the Glaze would not flux.....

It's because I'm a retard.

But at least i voted Blue.

-LB

Mother *&%$#er

Well, i re-ran my Firing for 2 hours, with the FLU 70% closed, and it got hotter, so i had to go this morning and pickup another propane take, and try this again. I'm hoping that restricting the FLU will cause more of the heat to stay in the kiln, and out of the air.

Here's the one Piece that actually Fluxed in the 2 firings, it looks kinda funny, not enough Glaze on it, etc...



-LB

The day after

Well, candy-day in America is over, now all we have left is Election night. I have a re-Firing to look forward to. So the kiln fired last night, 5 hours, but i did something wrong, only 1 of any of the 6 pieces in the kiln Fluxed at all, and it was a larger Vase at the top.

I think, THINK, that i need to dampen the flu on the kiln, to get it to hold on to some of the heat it's pushing out of the lid hole. I hope that's the issue, because it's just not getting a high enough temp to fuse the Glaze on the pottery, not even close (probably 1-200 degrees off), what trips me out is that the 1 piece fluxed a little bit, looks kinda funny. It must have trapped heat in the position it was at in the kiln, and when i blocked the flu last night, it trapped enough in that pocket to reach CLOSE, to Cone 06.

Meh, i'll try again today with the remainder of my Propane, see how hot i can get it, and then get the tank refilled.

I was way silly thinking it would work on the first shot! Hell, it might take 10 shots!

Happy Nov 1st.

-lb