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I’m embarking on a new round of material tests. This time, I’m seeing what molybdenum, volcanic sand, carborundum, titanium siliconite, peridot, lapis lazuli and finally, some red garnet, will do. All of which have different textures and consistencies and change how the stoneware clay throws and trims. This is the subject of my YouTube video this weekend, (a link to which you can find in the Linktree in my profile’s biography), and it’s worth noting, that this is part one of a series I’ll be producing over the next couple of weeks or month—meaning the results will come, just not quite yet. I always have a rough idea about what some of these additions will do, and in truth, it’s never quite as exciting as what you might be picturing in your mind. Often, glass and minerals melt, metals bloom and flow, and more commonly than not, things turn brown or black and are underwhelming. Yet, sometimes there’s some real gems, there are oddities that create beautiful bursts of colour, like the bronze I’ve used a lot in the past. I know that testing these on small test tiles would be “better” technique. They take up less space in the kiln and are faster to produce, yet then I wouldn’t have what’s a growing collection of somewhat unusual bowls. These are pots encrusted in glass beads or rivulets of metal, some have collapsed and others are simply fascinating to look at, not that they’ll ever be used practically for food. As always, if you have any material suggestions, I’m all ears and a huge thanks to Alan and Thomas, who sent me some of what’s seen in this weekend’s video. Thanks for watching! #experiment #pottery #asmr #oddlysatisfying #craft

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Another before and after, this time from my latest reduction firing. To answer some questions from last time that popped up, the colourful spiky things you see that turn molten and white are called pyrometric cones, I’ve got a bucket stuffed with them, which I’ve collected over the years. They’re tools, measuring devices that are single use and quantify heatwork, which is heat over time. By seeing how bent over they are I can make a judgement on whether the firing has come to a conclusion or not. I aim for all three to be bent over and I don’t use a guard cone, (this is poor advice perhaps). A guard cone is essentially a cone that would show only melt and bend IF you over fired the kiln, meaning the temperature rose too much. With this kiln and how reliable it is, I could probably fire it with a single cone, as I keep an eye on it the entire time and I practically watch the cones through spy-holes in the door as they flop. Whereas if you’re firing with an electric kiln and you aren’t there when it’s firing, a guard cone can be useful as it’ll tell you if something went wrong and the kiln did in fact over-fire. Otherwise, yes, pots shrink. From when freshly thrown to finally glaze fired, this specific body constricts about 12.5%, porcelains can be even more dramatic, shrinking up to 16%, that’s understated though, as volumetrically that’s a 40% reduction. This means the work you make initially has to be slightly oversized. It’s one of those things you get used to gradually, although it’s always a shock with the larger pots I make as the shrinkage is more severe, with my larger urns and storage jars always feel far tinier as compared to the forms I threw at the start. FINALLY, yes! On the lowest layer there are some pots that have already been fired. These normally have a defect of some kind and by firing them again, I’m attempting to resolve those. It could be a touch of crawling, (this is when glaze separates from itself), so I patch up and fire them again. Or, they might have under-fired initially, and a second go through the kiln is normally enough to fix that. #pottery #beforeandafter #ceramics #craft #satisfying

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The process of reduction firing pots, (this is the glaze firing), shrinks them. In total, from when freshly thrown to finally coated in glaze and fired for a second time to around 1290ºC, they reduce in size volumetrically by about 12%. This doesn’t sound like loads but practically, it’s huge. It means you need to make pots larger than need be if you’re aiming for a certain size, otherwise, and if not considered, you can end up with pots that are all far smaller than you imagined. The kiln is fuelled by nature gas that shoots into the chamber via a burner port in each corner. The flames swirl around towards the top but then yanked back down towards the flues at the bottom back of the enclosed space, here, they are then pulled up the chimney, where the heat disperses and the gas can exhaust. It’s by controlling the exhaust that alters the atmosphere inside the kiln. For instance, if the dampers that cover the flues are left entirely open, it means the burning fuel, the gas, can burn quickly and pass through the chamber rapidly and with enough oxygen. Whereas for a reduction firing, after a certain point, 860ºC for me, I slide the dampers that cover the flues to be about halfway closed. This causes the burning gas to suddenly build up within the chamber as it can’t escape fast enough. Suddenly, there’s not enough oxygen for the gas to burn efficiently and as a result, it strips away oxygen from the clay and glazes of the pots themselves, and it’s this that creates the colours and effects that these sorts of kilns offer. An electric kiln can’t do this, (well, some specialised versions can but they’re rare in the Western part of the world). Anyhow, this before and after demonstrates the shrinkage pretty well, I think, the stark change in colour too. Any other questions? Fire away! #reductionfiring #glaze #clay #beforeandafter #pottery

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It’s interesting how your approach to making a particular shape can change over time. Take a simple cylinder for instance, arguably, these are one of the most important shapes to be able to throw evenly and efficiently, with the clay distributed consistently throughout the walls. If it’s say, as wide as a mug, that can be an easy thing to do, yet as soon as that form is constricted and it becomes more narrow, the difficulty really begins to ramp up.   It’s not only in the throwing itself, but the drying of the form and then how its trimmed is crucial too. It’s in the drying though when everything can go awry, even if your freshly thrown cylinders are beautifully made and uniform, if they’re dried out inconsistently thereafter and they begin to pull, swaying to one side, then all that hard work is for nothing, if, what you were after is a straight cylindrical vessel.   Narrowly made pots twist and unwind more dramatically, think of a teapot’s spout that unfurls slightly as it fires. Thus, if a cylinder is hit by an unwanted draft overnight, what you see at the beginning of this video can occur and it’s a bit of nightmare when it does…   Over the years this has led to a slight change in how I make these forms. During my years at college, and during my apprenticeships, I probably would have attempted to throw them as tall and thin as possible from the get go, yet nowadays, I throw them purposefully thicker and often with a sturdy rim too. The idea is I want to create a strong shape that can survive drying out without leaning in any particular direction even if left in not absolutely perfect conditions.   I’ll be trimming them anyway and so, a few extra millimetres in the walls that can be rapidly carved away at the leather hard stage, doesn’t really make much of a difference at all. I’d rather throw them more quickly and roughly, if it means I’m able to trim pots that are straighter.   #pottery #wheelthrownpottery #ceramics #clay #handmade  

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This is a revelation!   I get it, it’s just a kiln cookie, but what a difference these have made to the bowls I produce, especially the taller, wider and heavier vessels that were a gamble to fire in the past, as I knew that to some degree the foot could very well warp. If you make pottery and you’ve encountered distorted feet, you’ll know how irritating it is as it’s like a slap in the face for all the hard work you’ve invested previously.   I have Linda Bloomfield, (@lindathepotter), to thank for the suggestion. I made a post a while back complaining about the issue and a handful of you folks offered up some advice. I’ve tried the more common solution of setting these pots atop a layer of coarse alumina hydrate, the idea being that the vessel can move on these as if they act like minuscule ball bearings, but truth be told, that’s never worked wonderfully, especially at the temperature I fire to.   Linda’s answer was to make these discs. They’re simple things yet the idea is that they’re fired alongside the bowls, both are the same biscuit fired clay, and therefore they should shrink together. Previously, when the bowl fires, it shrinks and moves over a surface that remains completely stationary, and that’s where the issue arises. These bowls have a lot of weight in the upper-half that presses down upon a very narrow foot, and so as the clay fires and unwinds there’s a lot of movement in the form and it having to do this whilst being held in place, essentially.   Whereas if fired on these discs, they’ll shrink together at the same rate, and the flat surface of the kiln cookie won’t be distorted by firing on a stationary surface in the same way the foot-ring of the bowl is.   The good news is, whilst they may only single use for the bowls, after being reduction fired once I can use them as discs to raise pots up on, or to fire glaze and clay tests upon.   So, a huge thank you Linda, your idea worked wonderfully!   #pottery #satisfying #craft #ceramics #clay    

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