Post 6 - Japanese Box & new stoneware pots

Here’s the second glazed pot from Post 5 put into service with a Japanese Box.

The size of the Australian ceramics market clearly keeps a lid on the number and range of readymade commercial glaze offerings, particularly for higher fired clays. The stoneware choice for pots is pretty non-negotiable so I need to do more about making my own glazes. Watch this space.

I never really liked the mould pattern I used for my first mould – the one with the sharp corners. So last year I took to it and filled in those corners and reprofiled so both the corners and rim flange were nicely curved. That was harder than it sounds. When you pour fresh plaster on old the old sucks the moisture out of the plaster very quickly and then the new plaster sets rock hard – very hard to shape in a tight position.

 

This is a completely bone dry example of a pot from the reprofiled mould - much prettier. As you see also I’m climbing the learning curve and getting better dimensional stability. I usually give them a little light sanding before the bisque firing to remove little imperfections and soften sharp edges. It’s sometimes easier to do it this way than when the clay is moist. After bisque firing there is another chance with the sand paper, when it works a bit like hardwood.

These pots will finish off at about 370x280x85.

 

 

This is another of the same vintage from mould 2. Again this is starting to look like a marketable product, much more flat, straight and square. Similar size as the one above.

These pots have now been bisque fired and will now wait unitl I test some home mixed glazes and make a selection for use on the pots.