Kiln Firing Chart

Kiln Firing Chart

I have been asked a few questions relating to kiln temperatures and the difference between firing stoneware and earthenware.  The people at Pottery Making Illustrated have created one of the best diagrams that I have found.  Click the title above if you are interested.

Parts Of A Pot

Parts Of A Pot

During our class critiques last week I realized that there are a few things that I take for granted but that my students may not know.  One such thing is the names for the basic parts of a pot.  Follow this link for a clear, concise illustration and explanation.  Click on the title above.

Fired Paddle Pots

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Here are some of the finished pots that I fired in the sawdust kiln.  Because we used earthenware instead of stoneware, the pots are not as black as they usually are.  I do like the marks from the process and the warm look of the clay.

Sawdust Firings

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This past weekend I finally got around to firing the paddle pots that we made in Intro this year.  What you see in this picture is the brick kiln with pots lined up on it waiting to be fired and the trash can kiln right after I lit it.  A sawdust kiln is not a high tech device.  Basically you just stack the pots in layers of sawdust and chicken wire and light a fire on top.  After coals develop, you close the lid and the kiln smolders anywhere from 10 – 18 hours.  There are other considerations, but that is basically it.  It is a lot of fun and anyone can do it.  Not the best picture but I like the flames.

Pyrometric Cones

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 The first illustration shows a cone pad and the arrangement of pyrometric cones.  The second illustration is from an old ad for Orton cones and shows each cone wearing a different hat.

Success

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This is a follow up to my “Epic Fail” post of a few days ago.  I glazed fired another piece that I made using the thick slip technique with the mid range B-mix, but this time only to cone 5.  You can see the pyrometric cones from this firing indicating that cone 5 was reached.  One of the pots that slumped at cone 6 sits behind the guard cone from the cone 5 firing.

Who is making this pot?

An anonymous student throws a pot.

An anonymous student throws a pot.

 

I love to give my students credit for their work, but as a public school teacher I am concerned about student  confidentiality and their right to control their own images.  Instead of asking students for permission to use their images in this blog and my school website, I have opted not to use their faces.  On my website (see link in menu bar above) I only use first names and last initials.  I am going to look at more blogs to see how other teachers handle this issue.  If anyone has a great solution please let me know.

“When I go plac…

“When I go places and talk about my craft…I emphasize one point over and over again: You don’t have to be great to do a thing, you just have to not get tired of trying to be good at it.”

– Stephen King

“Epic Fail”

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I made four nice pots using potter Steven Hill’s thick slip technique to show to my Advanced Ceramics class.  We have been working with thick slip in class and I wanted to create examples of different ways of glazing the pots in order to enhance the look of the thick slip.  When I opened the glaze kiln I saw that all my pots had slumped in the kiln!  We usually fire B-mix to cone 5, but this time I had fired to cone 6.  It should not have made that much of a difference, but it seems that the firing range of the B-mix 5 is not great.  I know that other potters fire it to cone 6, so now I am looking at other possible reasons for this failure.  I guess I should not have smashed those kiln gods a few days ago…..

Rocks

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These are the rocks that my classes use to make paddle pots (see previous post).  They were covered with clay because we had used them for a few years without washing them off.  They don’t seem to stick to the damp clay pots as much if you don’t clean them. When I did clean them under running water their original colors were revealed.  Some of them are quite beautiful.  Seeing their true colors again brought back a flood of memories of the times I spent collecting them.