Monday, July 14, 2008

Friday raku

Friday night Greg, Joe and I got together for an impromtu raku firing. It was fun and a good firing. I only had two pieces to fire and I glazed them an hour before going into the kiln. We were using Joe's dual head regulator so we could run two propane tanks simultaneously. The tanks don't freeze up like a single tank does, and we can get the kiln to much higher temperatures. I think Greg said we got it to ~2100 degrees. It was a nice accomplishment, but my silver glaze didn't care for the higher temperature and mostly burned out leaving a finish that looks like clear crackle. It still looks interesting, just not silver.

Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, so these were taken with my cell phone.

Kiln with pots recently removed.

Greg "burping" can.

Can closed. Lot's of reduction happening.

Some friends dropped by during the firing.

Thanks Greg and Joe for a good firing and good times.


While waiting for the kiln I thought about the fact that I never got around to making any decorative stamps. I sat down with a beer and some good music and made about thirty of them. Once I got started, it just flowed pretty easily.


If you haven't done it, give it some time and give it a try.

2 comments:

Becky said...

Your stamps are fantastic and I really liked the raku pieces. Am really happy to hear that we can fire higher now. Might be able to get a successful result with that Apple Crackle glaze now.

jbf said...

Thanks, I have a lot more ideas for both. Stay tuned.

After talking with Greg, I think the higher temperature capability will give us several more options. I'm anxious to try all sorts of new techniques.