Kanorin's chunks of fired mud

[Kanorin]

These two got reddish brown on top of white.

And these got sea foam green on top of a caramel brown.


And then we shall see what colors ACTUALLY show up…or how many pieces I stuck to the kiln rack.

 

[Kanorin]

Question for the bonsai potters in the audience:

How do you achieve glazing on the outside of the pot whilst leaving the inside unglazed?
-For my first glazing experience, I dunked my entire pots in glaze and then it was taking forever to remove the glaze from inside the pot with a sponge...maybe it's easier to just paint on the glaze on the outside with a brush??

 

[August44]

Put the glaze where you want with a brush. You also might want to learn how to smooth the pots out with wet fingers or a wet sponge. Wire holes need to be larger.

 

[JeffS73]

Question for the bonsai potters in the audience:

How do you achieve glazing on the outside of the pot whilst leaving the inside unglazed?
-For my first glazing experience, I dunked my entire pots in glaze and then it was taking forever to remove the glaze from inside the pot with a sponge...maybe it's easier to just paint on the glaze on the outside with a brush??

If you plug the holes from the inside, you can dunk the pot and the pressure created inside the pot will stop the glaze covering the inside...most of the time!

 

[Wood]

In this video, Katsuichi Shibata of Shibakatsu-en uses masking tape and newspaper inside the pots. You can see it in the shot while the pots are drying on the shelf, at about 15:00

 

[RJG2]

Wax resist?

* I'm not a potter, I just play one on TV.

 

[Kanorin]

Wax resist?

* I'm not a potter, I just play one on TV.

Yes this would work. It would take a minute or two to paint on the wax, then you need to let it solidify for a few minutes. Probably still faster than my original method. And you could easily line up 5 pots: wax, wax, wax, wax, wax and by the end the first one is probably ready to glaze.

 

[Colorado]

do you then just fire it and the wax melts away? Or do you have to remove the wax before you fire it?

 

[August44]

do you then just fire it and the wax melts away? Or do you have to remove the wax before you fire it?

Fire away. Wax will do it's job and disappear.

 

[Pitoon]

Yeah, I got a similar tip from the class instructor this week...it helps if the clay is allowed to dry for a few hours first, then make the holes. This week I let the slab dry for ~2 hours on a concrete board (helps suck the moisture out of the clay) before making the holes with those hole-punching tools. We shall see how that large rectangle does!

I've had a few successful bisque firings with some of the early smaller pieces (no major cracks). I'll grab some pictures next week as I'm glazing them hopefully.

You want to make the holes when the clay is leather hard. At the stage the hole will maintain its shape.

 

[Pitoon]

Question for the bonsai potters in the audience:

How do you achieve glazing on the outside of the pot whilst leaving the inside unglazed?
-For my first glazing experience, I dunked my entire pots in glaze and then it was taking forever to remove the glaze from inside the pot with a sponge...maybe it's easier to just paint on the glaze on the outside with a brush??

Use a fan brush and touch up with a damp rag or sponge.

Yes this would work. It would take a minute or two to paint on the wax, then you need to let it solidify for a few minutes. Probably still faster than my original method. And you could easily line up 5 pots: wax, wax, wax, wax, wax and by the end the first one is probably ready to glaze.

Be attentive using the wax. If you drop a drop on the pot....no glaze on the spot or if you get wax on your fingers you'll have finger marks all over the pot where the glaze won't adhere. You'll have to re-bisque the pot to get it off. You can also use a pencil to mark the line to where you want to stop when using a brush.

do you then just fire it and the wax melts away? Or do you have to remove the wax before you fire it?

The wax burns off in the kiln, same as using liquid latex.

 

[Carol 83]

Wax resist?

* I'm not a potter, I just play one on TV.

Did you sleep in a Holiday Inn Express last night?

 

[Kanorin]

Finally was able to pick up my glazed pieces.
This one didn’t turn out as expected, would not do this combo again…just kinda shiny brown

Or this one, but it’s slightly better

 

[Kanorin]

The red on the bottom I like, but the top half didn’t come out as I envisioned

 

[Kanorin]

This combo I really like. A yellow on top of a white. Both this mame pot and my largest one look pretty decent!

 

[Kanorin]

Some things I learned.

• Some glaze combinations combine in unexpected ways. Next time will use some test pieces
• Need to leave the inside of the pots unglazed next time. The glaze often clogged up my wire holes.
• Much of the assembly…especially larger pieces, should be done on clay pieces that are leather hard.
• On larger rectangles, I should probably slightly bow out the sides to account for the shrinkage that will occur during firings.
• Making nice feet is not my forte. I’ll have to work on this skill.

 

[Kanorin]

Taking one more 6 week class this Jan and Feb, but missed out on 2 classes due to COVID.

In any case, I’m back at it. Hate it when this happens! Cracked while drying…maybe dried too fast? Probably would have also helped to have some kind of central foot (even if not the most glamorous thing).

 

[JeffS73]

How quick did you dry it? I give my pots a couple of weeks, only up to about 8in in size.

 

[Kanorin]

How quick did you dry it? I give my pots a couple of weeks, only up to about 8in in size.

It was just drying at ambient air overnight (but it is about 30% humidity, so maybe that dried it quite rapidly.

 

[Colorado]

It was just drying at ambient air overnight (but it is about 30% humidity, so maybe that dried it quite rapidly.

Try putting a plastic bag over it for a few days before leaving it to dry in the open air. This has helped me a lot.