The results from the bow tie repair experiment are in and here are the pictures!
From the outside of the pot this was what it looked like at bisque and the following shot is from the inside with the bow tie clamp in place.
As I was glazing the pot I thoroughly wet the area of the crack and then put glaze in the clamp cavity and on the tie before putting it in place. Then after a little more water along the crack followed with dilute glaze to encourage some to flow into the crack face. At the very rim of the pot this seemed to work quite well with the glaze acting as a good bonding agent.
And from the inside you can see that at the position of the clamp it is quite sound.
But equally obvious is the way the crack propagated and opened up where it wasn't clamped.
For a pot that would otherwise have been junked it's been a useful experiment. The clamp was about 2/3rds of the wall thickness and was good enough to do the job on its own at the rim. If this happened again I be tempted to try to save a pot by placing these clamps spaced about 30mm apart for the full length of the crack, and instead of trying to disguise the flaw from the outside of the pot actually set the clamps for the full wall thickness. And then the clamps could be made of stained clay so they finish up a different colour. Hmmmmmm.... I'd better stop now before I go and deliberately crack a pot!
From the outside of the pot this was what it looked like at bisque and the following shot is from the inside with the bow tie clamp in place.
As I was glazing the pot I thoroughly wet the area of the crack and then put glaze in the clamp cavity and on the tie before putting it in place. Then after a little more water along the crack followed with dilute glaze to encourage some to flow into the crack face. At the very rim of the pot this seemed to work quite well with the glaze acting as a good bonding agent.
And from the inside you can see that at the position of the clamp it is quite sound.
But equally obvious is the way the crack propagated and opened up where it wasn't clamped.
For a pot that would otherwise have been junked it's been a useful experiment. The clamp was about 2/3rds of the wall thickness and was good enough to do the job on its own at the rim. If this happened again I be tempted to try to save a pot by placing these clamps spaced about 30mm apart for the full length of the crack, and instead of trying to disguise the flaw from the outside of the pot actually set the clamps for the full wall thickness. And then the clamps could be made of stained clay so they finish up a different colour. Hmmmmmm.... I'd better stop now before I go and deliberately crack a pot!
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