Clay stack!
Beneath the tarp, new clay boxes; above, reclaimed clay. The green film is "moving wrap" - large cling wrap left over from moving - it helps keep the moisture within. Day before yesterday, late afternoon, set out latest reclaim batch on the plaster slabs; the next morning I moved the clay to the table and set the green wrap over before heading out, for it would have been too dry by midday. Contrast the cool and damp days of Winter, where reclaim set out on the plaster slabs can take a week to dry!
0 Comments
Another "thank you" mug, for the mech at a local bike shop who bled the brakes on my new bike. The spring is from an impression from an eleven-tooth bike sprocket. The key fob/charm is a "proof of concept" bit. It's been on the shelf for quite a while now. I'll be needing new brake pads soon, so... ...finally stopped by the bike shop. The mech seemed to like the mug! White stoneware reclaim will likely be ready to bag by tomorrow; it's hot and dry today!
Last week's bisque load.
There's glazing to do! The buff clay gets bumpy when pushed much beyond a soft cone 6. The IMCO Red Velvet Classic and DC 3-5 clays take going a bit hot just fine. All the lids - except the wide mouth mug to the right, with the white lid - are 80mm (wet). Standard sizes can be really helpful! Several factors can influence the final dimension, e.g. how damp the clay was when the ware was thrown, how thick it is, how curved the walls are, in which direction the final adjustment/tweak was made, the clay batch... Hence, extra lids are handy - match them up to what they fit. With practice, the final size is getting more consistent. 80mm dries and fires down to just over 70mm or so; up to a "large" hand can reach in for cleaning, a Melita filter holder is well supported, one's nose is within whilst sipping, but field of vision is only partially obstructed. iow, it's a good size! For those with larger hands, for soup, for a very large mug (well over a pint), a larger opening makes sense. Red Velvet* reclaim set out to dry earlier this month.
It was ready to bag early the next day, wow, that was fast! ...we've had some warm dry weather lately. Above is evidence of teapot exploration/practice/refinement... *IMCO clay Red Velvet Classic, a cone 5/6 clay, which I really like! Medium mug (Variegated Blue) and bowl (Cuesta Red), red clay, tokens of thanks for dental hygienists.
|
Tom MurphyArchives
October 2024
Categories |