Miscellaneous

Pin holes in glazes

They seem to appear on large pieces and at the worst time.  I have tried to reglaze with a clear glaze and refiring but with limited to no success.   My best solution is to use a lead free China paint and rub it into the pinholes with a sponge.  The pot is then fired at cone 013.  The pinholes fill in and the china paint produces a pleasing dotted pattern.   

Fire brick for wood or gas fired kiln

I have not built a wood fired kiln but am collecting information as a potential future project. Electric kilns are easy to operate and do not need to be baby sat for 3 or 4 days feeding fire wood. Tough to justify a wood kiln for a hobby potter. 

Recipe: grog - 40 + fire clay - 40 + ball clay - 20 from LH Project in Joseph Oregon. Perlite is commonly added to lighten the weight of brick. 

Raw brick size 12 inches long and 6 inches wide using a 1x6 to make mold. Expect 15% shrink in drying and bisque firing. A couple of youtube videos show the bisque firing can also be done as a wood firing. 

Best small wood fired kiln design is found at https://drstienecker.com/woodkiln/wood-fired-ceramic-kiln-materials/ 

Large gas kilns are for sale on Facebook market. Priced to sell but logistics of moving slows purchase. 

Shipping Pottery

Shipping is the best way I know to break pottery. Works better than a hammer. UPS breaks about 50% of the pieces shipped. USPS is a little better with 20% loss if shipped 2 day priority mail, but falls to 60% loss using regular priority mail. Wyoming is the worst state because 90% of packages shipped to or from have a broken piece.

Thoughts and Ideas

1. Wendt Pottery as several wonderful youtube videos for his shipping ideas. He uses floating dividers holding pots away from the walls and lots of foam. 

2. I use 6x6x6, 9x9x9 and 12x12x12 ULINE inch boxes for shipping and spacers patterned after Wendt Pottery youtube video. I was using 10x12x10 boxes but found them to be a little small and may not provide enough space for padding. Priority boxes fail to provide protection. 

3. Tape holding the box together is gummed paper tape with Fragile printed on it. Purchased from Amazon.

Bags for sales.

Traditionally, Japanese pots come in a hand made wood box that protect the piece during transport and used for storage. Many potters use small cardboard boxes as an alternative to the wood boxes. Paper bags with shredded paper padding offer an alternative to the cardboard box. 

Thoughts and Hacks

1. I am trying a HARDWARE PAPER BAG - 6 1/8 X 4 1/6 X 12 7/16" from Uline.com. The cost with taxes and shipping was $64 for 500 bags. The bags are made from heavy weight kraft paper and easily reused or recycled. The 6 1/8 X 4 1/6 X 12 7/16 are perfect for mugs, tea bowls, vases, small bowls and piggy banks. Larger pieces need a larger bag maybe HARDWARE PAPER BAG 8 1/4 x 5 5/16 x 16 1/8" or GROCERY BAG 12 x 7 x 17". Not sure I need 500 of the larger bags. 

2. Small cell bubble wrap from Walmart can be used for padding. 

3. Paper wrap used by Amazon as fill makes good padding when crinkled. 

4. Quilt batting or scrap cloth makes good padding but storage of material can become an issue. My source for batting scraps is a local quilting group.

Foam cutter

Slicing foam with saw and knife produces a mess.  Wendt Pottery show using a hot wire would cut through the foam quickly.  His design was not fully explained and complex so I turned to youtube for making a simple cutter.  My design is https://youtu.be/3GWzHb4Hd8Y. 

A word of warning about melting foam.  A gas is produced and is toxic so use in a ventilated area.  

Parts have been ordered.  

1. Magic&shell 2PCS PWM Dimming Controller For LED Lights Ribbon Strip 12-24 V 8A, Electrical Dimmer Switches Adjustable Brightness Light Switch Dimmer Controller For Led Strip Light

2. Nichrome 80 - 100' - 28 Gauge Resistance Wire

Assembled and tested cutter (see photos below). A 12 volt 7 amp/hr lead acid battery was used for a power source but could also used a 12 volt 6 amp transformer.  Tested using a Styrofoam packing block with overall measure 8" H x 12" W  X 30" L.  Decided to wear welding gloves for safety.  Plugged in to battery and turned on.  Heated up near instant.  Cut easily through 8 inch thick foam.  

Thought and Hacks

1. Use in a ventilated area to reduce smell of melting foam

2. Caution Hot Wire.

3. Wear welding gloves for safety.

4. Slower the cut the better.

5. If wire bows cut slower.  

6. If wire generates lots of smoke turn down the controller.

7. Use a pencil line or masking tape to mark the cut line.