JeffS73
Shohin
AS I walked through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain place where was a den, and laid me down in that place to sleep; and as I slept, I dreamed a dream. I dreamed, and behold, I saw a man clothed with rags, standing in a certain place, with his face from his own house, a book in his hand, and a great burden upon his back. I looked, and saw him open the book, and read therein; and as he read, he wept and trembled; and, not being able longer to contain, he brake out with a lamentable cry, saying, "What shall I do?"
While I still ponder the above, I decided in my mid-life, it might be a good idea to make some pots whilst I ponder. So this is where I'll put all my general potting progress, in the sharing spirit of bonsainutters everywhere.
Gratuitous overload of the latest (one) pot:
Surprisingly difficult to convey the colour and surface, it's a really great dark purple with light sandy flecks. However, it's not all good news, I found out from test bars in the same firing that the porosity is about 9.5%! Now, the open / closed ratio is low but still, it's too high.
I spoke to the manufacturers ceramics technician, and he suggested I could get it down below 3% by adding flux, so I've made some test bars, and will find out soon if that helps. Presumably, a pug mill would allow me to dose a large batch, but is there a hand method for adding dry materials to say 10-20kg of clay?
While I still ponder the above, I decided in my mid-life, it might be a good idea to make some pots whilst I ponder. So this is where I'll put all my general potting progress, in the sharing spirit of bonsainutters everywhere.
Gratuitous overload of the latest (one) pot:
Surprisingly difficult to convey the colour and surface, it's a really great dark purple with light sandy flecks. However, it's not all good news, I found out from test bars in the same firing that the porosity is about 9.5%! Now, the open / closed ratio is low but still, it's too high.
I spoke to the manufacturers ceramics technician, and he suggested I could get it down below 3% by adding flux, so I've made some test bars, and will find out soon if that helps. Presumably, a pug mill would allow me to dose a large batch, but is there a hand method for adding dry materials to say 10-20kg of clay?
