I'm processing another 12 pots for the convention in May. This will be the last I make for a little while. 6 are glazed and sitting in the kiln waiting for a day when I'll be here all day and another 6 are bisqued and on the shelf waiting their turn.
This picture is a tray of supports (props) ready to slip under the pots for their final glaze firing.
When I'm making a pot I cut these supports to suit the feet depth and place them under the pot floor as the pot dries. A sheet of newspaper is a good separator between the pot and the props. To dry, the pots sit on a stack of newspapers sitting on a sheet of plaster board, to wick the moisture away from the depth of clay at the base - pot floor plus props.
As part of my focus on eliminating variation; when the pot has dried I scratch numbers on the props so that when it comes time to use them in the glaze firing each one will be in its right place. I use about 9 or 10 props per pot.They usually just sit in the pot or on the shelf for the bisque firing as the pots never move in that firing.
I'm sure non of this is superstition, just the product of repetition and continuous improvement.
My routine then for placing pots for the glaze firing is this:
Place the bisque pot on the shelf where it will be fired.
Run a pencil line on the shelf around the outside of the pot.
Remove the pot and place the props within the pencil line.
Glaze and place the pot in position on the shelf, guided by the pencil line.
Once I've glazed a pot the only place I want to put it down again is in the kiln. This minimizes any chance of the slightest bump of a pot, damaging the glaze surface before firing. If this happens repairing that little blemish, so that it can't be detected after firing, is not easy.
Fixated perhaps but maybe just focused.
This picture is a tray of supports (props) ready to slip under the pots for their final glaze firing.
When I'm making a pot I cut these supports to suit the feet depth and place them under the pot floor as the pot dries. A sheet of newspaper is a good separator between the pot and the props. To dry, the pots sit on a stack of newspapers sitting on a sheet of plaster board, to wick the moisture away from the depth of clay at the base - pot floor plus props.
As part of my focus on eliminating variation; when the pot has dried I scratch numbers on the props so that when it comes time to use them in the glaze firing each one will be in its right place. I use about 9 or 10 props per pot.They usually just sit in the pot or on the shelf for the bisque firing as the pots never move in that firing.
I'm sure non of this is superstition, just the product of repetition and continuous improvement.
My routine then for placing pots for the glaze firing is this:
Place the bisque pot on the shelf where it will be fired.
Run a pencil line on the shelf around the outside of the pot.
Remove the pot and place the props within the pencil line.
Glaze and place the pot in position on the shelf, guided by the pencil line.
Once I've glazed a pot the only place I want to put it down again is in the kiln. This minimizes any chance of the slightest bump of a pot, damaging the glaze surface before firing. If this happens repairing that little blemish, so that it can't be detected after firing, is not easy.
Fixated perhaps but maybe just focused.
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