In This Issue
* While the Smoke Clears - Poll was a Success, Finally
* Open Air Raku?
* High Alkaline Frits
* I Raku the Body Electric
* The Perfect Setup
* Sun Fired Raku?
* Raku Links
* Workshops
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* Sun Fired Raku?

In a prior Just Raku issue I address the possible impact of Raku on the topic of Global Warming. http://www.garyrferguson.com/issues/jr43a.htm

Well one reader had some feedback on this topic and even an idea for firing using the sun. The idea would take some development, but it is an interesting idea none the less...

Firing pottery, especially stoneware, does indeed put a lot of carbon into the atmosphere. Sooner or later, in contemplating the "greenhouse effect", we will all have to come to terms with our habits, and modify our firing methods accordingly.

Electric kilns will still be viable of course, if the power derives from wind, solar, or hydroelectric sources. However, the sterility of neutral kiln atmospheres leaves a lot to be desired.

I propose that Raku will be an increasingly exciting alternative, and work should begin now thinking of ways to harness the sun's energy directly, to generate flameless heat for firing. A good way to do this might be to make a focusable stretched Mylar concave mirror (something like this was actually demonstrated on Myth Busters a while back) that could track the sun across the sky, and concentrate its reflected heat into a small open-sided, box-shaped kiln, made of zirconia brick. After a bisque pot is given a suitable pre-heat, it should only take moments inside such a kiln to melt the average Raku glaze. The kiln would also have to be gradually moved, to stay within range of the focused beam of sunlight. Clay bodies will need to be formulated to withstand the thermal shock, which will be quite a bit greater than what occurs in present-day Raku methods.