Thursday, March 4th, 2010
I was greatly saddened to find that many of my favorite glazes and underglazes are being discontinued.
Mayco/Ceramichrome and Duncan are discontinuing a large number of their products. What is left will be a very small selection which I find very limiting to my creativity.
I understand part of why they are cutting back. It is the economy and the fact that the ceramics industry has fallen into a real depression. If a product does not sell, they cannot keep producing it. It is up to the consumer to support the manufacturers. The same thing has been happening to the mold manufacturers and the suppliers of all related ceramic products. That has been happening with all the ceramic shops that have gone out of business over the past few years.
This is a very sad thing and I hope that all of you will make a concerted effort to help revitalize the ceramics industry with your enthusiasm, support and efforts. We all have to fight forward and do what we can to support all aspects of this industry.
Knowing that many great products will no longer be available, I encourage you to contact your favorite suppliers and even new suppliers and stock up on any of your favorites that you find are being discontinued.
Go paint something today — have fun in the mud
Saturday, January 16th, 2010
There are many ways to fire your clay. Artists experiment and develop new firing techniques and methods all the time. There are two primary methods most commonly referred to as Oxidation and Reduction firing. In addition there are offshoot methods like wood/pit firing and salt glaze firing. Included in the reduction firing there are additional techniques which will be discussed further in other articles, like Raku, Horse Hair, Bone/ash, etc.
Knowing how Oxidation and Reduction firing works, will help the ceramist to better understand the other types of firing as well as many techniques.
Oxidation Firing
Most commonly, the ceramist will use the Oxidation type of firing for their ware. This is typically done in an electric kiln; but can also be done in gas or propane kilns. In this process, the kiln has adequate oxygen to interact with the glazes during the firing stage. The results are most typically bright and rich colors.
Most of the commercial glazes on the market are designed to develop specific colors under the conditions of Oxidation firing. This firing can be accomplished at low or high temperature ranges. Oxidation results are predictable in that they will match the color intended by the manufacturer when fired to the temperature suggested by the manufacturer.
For final results in the color to be achieved, it is necessary for the presence of adequate oxygen during the last part of the firing process.
Reduction Firing
Most usually, reduction firing is favored by potters and is done using gas, propane or other fuel burning kilns or methods. Reduction firing is the exact opposite of Oxidation firing. It is the lack of oxygen in the last part of the process that is critical for the desired effects. Fuel burning kilns give the artist control of how much or how little oxygen enters the firing chamber and when. Preventing oxygen from interacting with the glaze maturation creates unusual and sometimes unpredictable results. There are many popular techniques that utilize reduction firing such as Raku, Horse Hair, Salt Glazing, and more.
The corrosiveness of these methods makes them undesirable for electric kilns.
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010
Submitted by Mal of L’Oie Peintre in France:
In writing this article I have made two presumptions, rightly or wrongly, that you are already familiar with the firing process of an electric kiln fitted with a kiln sitter, or that you are investigating the possibility of purchasing your first kiln fitted with an electronic controller and have already read Majik’s article on “How To Fire Your Kiln”. By saying this it will save a lot of repetitive comments on firing techniques.
I also wish to make it quite clear that I am in no way associated with, or connected to any kiln or controller manufacturer.
So firstly what are some of the advantages of electronic controllers?
1. Firing to whatever cone temperature you require can be done without the use of pyrometric cones. So, you no longer need to have a wide variety of cones to fire at different temperatures. You simply pre set the cone number that you require and the kiln will cut off at the appropriate temperature. This is very useful if you are like myself and experiment firing glazes to different temperatures to those recommended by the manufacturers, or if you want to use potters glazes which are not always fired to the more commonly used cone 06.
2. The start time can be delayed to suit your personal needs. If you have a studio or shop that is open to the public you don’t normally want to have the kiln firing when you have clients or students present. So the start time can be pre set to when you are closed and you don’t have to be there to start the firing process. It will then run through the firing cycle until the pre set cone no. is reached.
3. This facility can also be used to take advantage of “off peak” electricity, thus reducing energy bills and helps to make you a little more Eco friendly
4. If you wish to change the rate of fire or ramp normally slow, medium or fast, this can also be done without your being present.
5. There are certain glazes and techniques that require a “hold time”; again this can be pre programmed into the firing cycle according to your requirements.
6. Choosing your firing time carefully enables you to fire the kiln according to ambient temperatures. By this I mean that if you are working in a warm or hot environment, i.e. S. California, Texas, Caribbean etc, then the kiln can be fired overnight and not in the heat of the day. Or on the contrary if you live in Alaska, the firing can be timed to finish just before you start work, so that the kiln heat has already warmed the workplace.
To read the rest of this article, click here.
Thursday, October 15th, 2009
Firing your kiln is really simple, but there are so many variables and factors that come into play that one should not take anything for granted.
There are many types of kilns and several types of firing processes. Here we will primarily address the basics of firing and address specific types and situations in separate articles.
Newer kilns have computerized controls which is pretty much just a matter of setting and forgetting.
Older kiln styles are either manual or come equipped with kiln sitters and/or timers. Some people with manual kilns will use Guide Cones and/or pyrometers to help control temperatures. A timer is used as a back up to help prevent over firing and meltdowns.
Pyrometers are also used in the place of kiln sitters and timers.
To read more about how to fire a kiln, click here.
Sunday, March 8th, 2009
Yes, it is…it is definitely Spring here in the deep South. I am so excited. I’m anxious to get doing things again and am torn between playing in the mud or playing in the mud. We moved into a new house last summer and I am so curious to see what the spring will yield in our yard and gardens and I am chomping at the bit to get out there and start working on all the garden plans I’ve laid out in my head over the winter months.
The Forsythia is blooming, Hickory trees have popped open, daffodils everywhere. I even see my hyacinths starting to open up…WOW, I have a great start. There are a few things I don’t recognize yet, but they have buds on them as do several other flowering trees. First thing I need to do is cut back the Crepe Myrtle before it starts to bud…. Oh so much to do!!!
Yes, I am going to have problems. Lots to do outside, but there is still so much I want to get started in my casting room. As I mentioned before, we recently moved and I have several thousand molds in my workshop. Thankfully most got sorted and put away before cold weather; but there are still a hundred or so that I need to get up on shelves. There are so many items I want to get poured up and ready for sale as well as painted so I can get some pictures for my planned project classes… oh my! Spring does revitalize one, doesn’t it?
I learned while in retail sales with my brick and mortar store, that you always plan about 9 months ahead, so if I start talking Christmas, I’m not crazy. One has to do that in ceramics too because production takes time, especially if you want to turn out quality creations. So don’t get lost in all of the other things to do and the joy of being outside, be sure to ‘think ahead’ and not get caught at the last minute wanting to get things made for special occasions.
Saturday, February 28th, 2009
With kilns going high tech with computerized operation, many of the older kilns are becoming dinosaurs. Owners of these older kilns are having problems finding replacement parts for the kiln sitters. In fact, manufacturers of the sitter assemblies have discontinued many of the parts.
I heard today that Skutt has purchased the rights to manufacture and sell many of these parts, it will take a few weeks before availability.
Thank heavens someone is watching over us at Skutt. Find more information about Skutt products by clicking here.
Wednesday, February 25th, 2009
(Pyrometric) cones have been used for around a hundred years as a way to control and monitor the firing of ceramic and pottery pieces. Pyrometric cones are used to measure heatwork during the firing process. They help determine if ware has reached maturity, if the kiln is operating properly, and if problems occur in a kiln during the firing process.
A cone is a slender pyramid or more recently bar of carefully controlled clay compositions that are developed to react repeatedly and consistently to varying degrees of heat. Their consistency has a range of about 50 degrees from one use to another. Cones are numbered so as to show how much heat they absorb before bending or ‘melting’. They bend when they begin to form glass from their composition melting. Cones can only be used once.
When originally developed by Orton, cones were numbered 1 through 20 with 20 being the hottest. When they developed cooler cones, they reversed the numbering by adding a zero in front of the number 01, 02, 03 etc. with cone 022 being the coolest. Cones currently range from coolest 022 to hottest 42. It is critical that when firing a kiln you be sure to check that instructions say cone 05 rather than 5, for example, in order to achieve success with the firing of your item. Firing an item at cone 5 that is supposed to be fired at cone 05 can only result in disaster.
To read the rest of this article, click here.