Making an oval pot - a potter tale retold

[mudlarkpottery]

Sorry Paul. When I saw the spacers inside the pot, I thought that's how you'd fire them.
Penny.

[pjkatich]

Tragedy strikes - and now there are two.

Unfortunately, the second pot did not survive it's encounter with the falling piece of kiln furniture. For educational purposes I have included several photos of the failed pot. The sad part is that this failure was totally avoidable. This failure was a direct result of my negligence.

The damage shown in the following photos was not evident to the naked eye after the accident. If it were, this pot would not have been fired.

In the following photo, I have circled in red the spot where the piece of kiln furniture struck the inside wall of the pot. The blue arrows point out the damage caused by the impact.

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The next photo shows a better view of the damage looking down into the pot.

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And this photo shows the damaged area from the underside of the pot.

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Nonetheless, the other two pots survived the bisque firing and are shown below.

Here are a few photos of pot #1:

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pot1.end.view.jpg

pot1.top.view.jpg

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And here are a few of the remaining pot:

pot2.side.view.jpg

pot2.end.view.jpg

pot2.top.view.jpg

At this point, the two surviving pots are inspected for flaws and then cleaned in a tub of water. I do this to remove the fine dust, which is a by product of the bisque firing, from the surface of the pots. This dust could interfere with the next step - glazing.

That's all for now, please stay tuned for the next installment.

Cheers,
Paul

[pjkatich]

Another great installment Paul!
This tale almost has everything... suspense, mystery, thickening plot and informative too! When will you weave a love story into it?
Regards,
Steven

Steven,

Now you can add tragedy to the list.

The love story comes at the end when you finally get to see the finished pots.

Once again, thanks for the positive feedback.

Have a great day.

Paul

[anttal63]

looking good pal!

[pjkatich]

Comedy snide remarks all part of a story which I find very interesting.

Now for every one, you know when you want a hand made pot and you wince at the price now you know why.
You get a bloody long winded story that takes for ever.
Last time I asked my Doc i was told the average with what I have is 12 years I have gone 26 so I might make it to the end eh!! Well done again Paul Pup

Pup,

Have no fear mate, this story does have an ending. I just don't know what that ending is yet.

I fired the kiln yesterday and the two remaining pots were part of that load.

Hopefully, I will be unloading the kiln on Monday and will know at that time if this story has a happy ending.

In the mean time, I will try to get the good folks here at Ausbonsai caught up and current.

Thanks for your participation.

Cheers,
Paul

[Pup]

Paul unfortunately you are now part of the OH!! bugger movement. This is now OH! bugger pt 3.
I hope I was not part of the cause of your impatience, because of mine towards this saga.
If you read an OH! bugger moment you will understand that I know how you feel.
You have two by the look of it very nice pots to come, as I have the possibility of a nice tree!!!
Again thank you Paul what I like is, we can point out our failures, as well as our triumphs. Pup

[mudlarkpottery]

Paul, is there a reason you bisque to 04? Will it make the clay not accept the glaze? Or am I jumping the gun again?
Penny.

[pjkatich]

Paul, is there a reason you bisque to 04? Will it make the clay not accept the glaze? Or am I jumping the gun again?

Penny,

Bisque to 04 is the common practice at the facility I work at. This clay bodies I use are about the same porosity as a good earthenware container when they come out of the bisque kiln. The pots can be handled without fear of damage and because of the porosity, the glazes are accepted without problem.

Cheers,
Paul

[pjkatich]

Now it's into the glaze room to mix up the glazes for each of the two remaining pots.

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I have been working with some ash based glazes of late and the next set of photos shows the two glazes samples that were selected for use on the remaining pots.

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The next photo shows a very important tool required for this part of the process - a good respirator with P-100 filters.

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Another important tool is shown in the next photo - a scale to weigh out the materials. This one happens to be a triple beam scale - what can I say, I'm old fashion.

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I will be mixing a 400 gram batch of each glaze and will start with the first ingredient - potash feldspar.

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The next ingredient is mixed hard wood ash.

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The next ingredient is grolleg.

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And the final ingredient for this glaze is the colorant - Red Iron Oxide.

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Each of the ingredients is placed into a plastic, snap-top container as shown in the next photo.

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The top is put in place and the dry ingredients are thoroughly mixed. The top is removed and enough warm water is added to cover the dry ingredients as shown in the next photo.

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The next photo shows the second batch of glaze at this point. The only difference between the two is the colorant. This batch has a bit of Chrome Oxide added instead of the RIO.

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The lids are put back on and the two batches of glaze are set aside for at least 24 hours to allow the dry ingredients to fully hydrate.

That's all for now.

Please check back for the next installment.

Cheers,
Paul

[mudlarkpottery]

Is the ash washed or unwashed? I use unwashed ash from my wood heater. I like the effect from the soluble minerals.
Where do you work? From the look of the equipment and materials, I'll come over and work there for free. There's nothing old-fashioned about triple beam balance scales, they are still the most accurate and don't breakdown like electronic scales and still work in dusty conditions.
Penny.

[pjkatich]

Is the ash washed or unwashed? I use unwashed ash from my wood heater. I like the effect from the soluble minerals.
Where do you work? From the look of the equipment and materials, I'll come over and work there for free. There's nothing old-fashioned about triple beam balance scales, they are still the most accurate and don't breakdown like electronic scales and still work in dusty conditions.
Penny.

Penny,

The ash is washed.

I work at one of the local colleges, in my opinion, they have the best facilities in this area.

You are absolutely right about the triple beam. This one has outlasted it's own weight in digital scales.

Cheers,
Paul

[pjkatich]

Another chore for today is cleaning and prepping the kiln shelves for the upcoming firing.

The following photo shows the materials needed to complete this part of the task: a bucket of kiln wash, a painter screen, and a foam roller. Not shown is a good stiff paint scraper.

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Each of the kiln shelves is inspected and any loose material or bits of glaze are removed with the paint scraper. The next photo shows the shelves after they have been cleaned.

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Then using the foam roller, a new coating of kiln wash is applied to the shelves and allowed to dry. The next photo shows the shelves at this point of the process.

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Once they have dried, the shelves are inspected again and touched up as needed. Then they are set aside until it is time to load the kiln.

That's all for now.

Please stay tuned - more to come.

Cheers,
Paul

[Pat K]

The damage shown in the following photos was not evident to the naked eye after the accident. If it were, this pot would not have been fired.

Paul, you can show cracks in greenware by spraying the suspected area, lightly, with water...the invisible cracks will appear as a dark line.
Soldier-on Paul.....I'm still enjoying the ride!

Pat

[pjkatich]

Paul, you can show cracks in greenware by spraying the suspected area, lightly, with water...the invisible cracks will appear as a dark line.
Soldier-on Paul.....I'm still enjoying the ride!

Pat,

Thanks for the tip and the positive feedback.

Cheers,
Paul

[Bretts]

Still following Paul but now you've overtaken me
We are packing the kiln for a bisque firing next week but I have only just finished attaching the feet to my wheel thrown pots and as I had that first one warp from drying too quick I am drying real slow and they won't be ready for that firing.
Sorry Pup youll have to wait