November  2006    Issue #44
Published by
Gary R. Ferguson – Raku Artist
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In This Issue
* While the Smoke Clears 
* Smokeless Alcohol Raku
* Pac-Man Fever
* Shelf Eating Glaze Again
* Inherited Clay
* Flame On
* Raku Links
* Workshops 
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"I must thank you for all the great recipes. I was a bit 
stuck for new recipes. I'll be here for thirty years 
trying all these out." - Simon D. http://www.rakuglazes.com 
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* Smokeless Alcohol Raku

No this does not involve the ATF (Alcohol Tobacco and 
Firearms), but deals with a question from a reader:

"I visited the Vacaville, CA Art Gallery, and the owner had 
a Raku piece that had blue with white crackle. He said he 
used an alcohol reduction method that caused the blue to 
fill the space where it would have been black. He described 
something about putting several inches of water in the 
bottom of his reduction chamber with a bisque platter on 
top. He then put about 1/4 cup of alcohol on the platter. 
I'm making small "sea forms" and would love to use this 
method. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

This sounds likes a "smokeless" Raku technique using 
denatured alcohol. There is a technique in which you take 
a large tub and place a few inches of water in the bottom. 
Then you place enough bricks in the middle of the water to 
create a little island. Then place a small bisque dish on 
the stack of bricks. Place a small amount of denatured 
alcohol in the bisque dish. You then remove your Raku piece 
from the kiln and set it on the dish. The alcohol will 
ignite immediately. Then place a metal can (like a garbage 
can) over the piece and down into the water (so the rim of 
the can is under water). The metal can will try to "float" 
so have a heavy rock or brick available to place on top (of 
the bottom) of the can. This creates an air lock and the 
burning alcohol will consume the oxygen and create a 
reduction atmosphere (without smoke). This ideally works 
with small pieces, but if your containers are large enough 
you can do this with large pieces too. 

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"Our class fired again last night, and the instructor 
followed your tips and voila. Boy do we have copper. Its 
great knowing we can do it, and I really appreciate your 
help. Thanks again!"-Shannon P. http://www.rakusecrets.com 
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(c) Copyright 2006, Gary R. Ferguson