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Saturday 17 April 2010

april firing...



so here we have it the analytical look at this weeks pots and more things to test really..I wanted to firstly speed up my firing and that was accomplished. I put the pilots on a quarter flow and left the firing for 3 hours to really warm up the kiln and the rest is pretty quick for me.. I would say that it is this part that was crucial in getting to temp with good timing i pushed the dampers in an inch about 3.30pm and cone 6 was down about 5pm at which point i started to add the redgum chips a couple every half hour to see if upping the fuel would assist the firing, at 7.30 i put in the last pine chips and then opened up the dampers for 1 hour to oxidize the kiln..

From making these changes the firing was faster and only the rear half of the kiln had the stunning red colour.. So i think next firing i'll follow the same grid and open up the dampers for 15min on each hour and see if i can bring back some colour to the front of the kiln.. If you have any tips please comment as all this is still testing to get the best out of my kiln..

Enjoy the vid and chat soon...cheers all, happy week with your hands in clay..

11 comments:

  1. I love the deeper colors from the back! Nice load!

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  2. hey ang... that's a whole lotta pots, the firing was a great success. i was surprised to see all that splishy splashy white on your teapots. i really like it and i like some of the mugs sittin' in the background while you were talking about the lids on those lidded jars.

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  3. howdy MY me too, that tone is always my goal, so thanks..

    hiya jim, it's a good load and i'm rather happy with the results and i can see that this particular firing has some quirks.. one being as you pointed out the solid white it normally gets softer and more transparent than this but i do like the contrast. I may just refire a piece in the next load to see what happens.. :)

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  4. That's a lot of work girl!! It's always just one big science experiment isn't it?! Luckily your having great success! :o)

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  5. That is stunning, i like the splishy splashy white this way!
    and those teapots are the best!
    love watching your vids.

    grtz,
    Monique

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  6. Sh Sh Sh Shino, love it! yes on the splish splash, I like that description, very nice, you been working hard girl!

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  7. hey cindy it certainly is, i haven't fired up the gas since last yr i think it was august so always hard to remember the finer details of firing..

    hey monique, oh thanks i was beginning to doubt the white after a comment here it always takes time to see a kiln load for what it is...

    hiya tracey, oh good too! this morning it all looks different again...weird that..

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  8. Hi, Angela. Sorry I'm late getting to this. I've been away from the blogging for a couple of weeks, with other things taking my attention. I agree with you that you were probably a bit lower than you needed to be with the ash glazes. But you'll solve that one easily enough. I'm usually up around cone 10.5 and sometimes, if my attention wanders, I get up to 11. The Phil's ash runs a fair amount at those higher temps, but can be controlled by increasing kaolin (I use Grolleg) to the mix. I think I mentioned that when I sent the recipes. And it did look like some of the Shinos were under-reduced, which happens sometimes. Otherwise, looked like a good firing. Every firing is an education,isn't it?

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  9. Hi Hollis, thanks for the feedback, I changed a few things on this firing and will test again with the next load, also with the ash on some pieces. I do find it difficult to get to c10 usually at that time of night the gas tank is freezing up. I have 2 but the other was very low also. yes always accumulating new info at each firing..

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  10. They turned out super :D I am really really really liking the whitish with splash of blue in the middle @1:01sec in the clip. The rim is cool too.
    They all look more delicious then the eatable type glazed donut ..

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  11. hey miss jess, oh thats the chun c10 glaze dont get up there very often!! hehe the rim is red iron oxide and manganese wash over the glaze rim..yum yum..

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