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The Newsletter for Raku Artists and Raku Art Lovers In This Issue ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Hello again. Well I almost made it. I almost got the June issue out during June. I'll try to be better for the July issue, but it will be tough as I have several projects on my plate right now. I'm pretty excited. If you have a copy of the new Axner Pottery
catalog, take a look in the books section and you'll see my Raku Glazes
and Raku Secrets books are now available. If you don't have it handy you
can see them on line at: http://www.pottery-books.com/axner/books/p617.php As always, I look forward to your feedback, suggestions, questions, and article ideas at: editor@garyrferguson.com ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Icy Raku Sweet Spot * I have noticed several requests for help that all stem from applying glazes too heavy, underfiring, or overfiring. I thought I would share a visual tip. First, I fire in a 55 gallon barrel lined with fiber, one peep hole,
two shelves, and I use a single Raku burner from Ward Burners, a fairly
basic setup. I fire multiple pieces with different glazes, all of which
mature at different What you need to do is really observe how the glazes behave as they are
heating, knowing the stages each glaze goes through on the clay body helps
identify the perfect Some glazes bubble up, pop, pit, etc., and then seem to flow together. Others will begin to change colors and go from matt to shiny. Others will begin to run. What you are looking for can best be described as "seeing the sun reflecting in melted water on the surface of a frozen pond." When you see just that sheen (the "Raku sweet spot") the glaze is mature and ready to be plucked from the fire and put into reduction. For those of you in the "hot" areas that never see iced ponds take a cake pan and freeze a block of ice. Take it from the freezer and set it in the sun. Come back in about 1/2 hour and position yourself so that the sun reflects on the water - that's what you are looking for. Try it before you start firing next time. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Stop Cracking Slabs * My challenge at this time is I'm loosing about a third of my bowls. I
make large, irregular slab bowls and lots Libby K. I do have a few thoughts and suggestions that may help. First, make sure you are wedging you clay really well before you start
your slab work. You might want to even try wedging in some Kyanite.
Kyanite is the "miracle" component to make almost any clay Raku
worthy. You may also want to Raku fire a little slower, especially if the bowls
are large so the temperature difference from top to bottom or from one
side to the other is not very great. You may also want to fire them standing on edge. This can reduce the
stress and also make them easier to remove from the kiln with tongs later. Finally I would leave them in the reduction chamber for 30+ minutes and
then if you finish cooling with water make sure the whole piece is
quenched at the same time, again so one part of the piece is not cooling
faster than another. Hope this helps. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ JUST RAKU (C) Copyright 2002-2005 Gary R. Ferguson |
