That's right...half. Half of my pots have small flaws. How disappointing! I suppose I've been lucky thus far. Beginners luck? Could be. I'm wondering if another fire might fix the rough lips...especially if I added just a touch of glaze but I'm not sure. The little sandy bumps are probably not something I can fix...and I think I know now what caused them. After glazing and once that glaze has set somewhat, I sand my piece a little to smooth out any drips...with an older piece of drywall sanding mesh. It's black...and I wonder now if it doesn't flake a little? Either way, I really detest when my pieces aren't smooth all over. So these will be for me...or I'll give them away to friends or family. I also had one bowl with some nasty blisters. Seems there are a few possible reasons why that happened. Frustrating not knowing for sure, but I guess we'll see if it happens again. As I've said before...it's all a learning curve!
So today I'm going to sieve my glaze, in case there are any nasty bits lurking at the bottom....and I'll mix another batch because I found it difficult to dip as there's not quite enough glaze even when I tip my pail. I also need to u/g the cups I made the other day. They're getting quite dry and it really should have been done yesterday! I suppose that I'll throw too...more bowls to replace these. Oh! and I made a plate the other day (I can't remember if I mentioned it in a previous post?) Not a big one...although I did try a full sized one as a my first attempt which failed. Just a small one and a saucer and quite honestly I didn't find it at all difficult but from what I've read, the real difficulty is in drying it properly so they don't warp or crack. I have them wrapped up well and I'm in no rush to dry them (read that slow drying is best).
I'm gone!
What's yr temp range, mid fire?
ReplyDeleteThe blisters could be due to insufficient bisque and some trapped gas or carbon in body migrating at the higher glaze temp ... I think. As for the sanding use a firm damp sponge to wipe off the rim. I wouldnt think of using it at the glazing stage for cleanup. I believe some wet n dry materials either flake or leave a barely visible oily residue on the surface which can wreck yr glazing. Give wet n dry a miss, keep it for post glaze firing, if you need to refine a foot ring or rim with a light touch. I find w & d good for polishing porcelain surfaces but I don't glaze over the sanded area.
Hello there Brenda!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the lovely comments that you've left on my blog recently, I really appreciate your kind words!
To answer your question from earlier - my work is all hand painted :)
The bowls above are lovely - and I echo your sentiments about unsmooth glaze, I have boxes of seconds waiting around for a studio sale...!
Katy.