out of the kiln

Emptied the glaze load last night, and for the most part I was happy. All of the pitchers and utensil holders that I had on order were all successful. No glaze drips, crawling, pinholes, spalling, cracks. I had some issues with a new glaze I am testing out. It is a commercial stoneware glaze that Ceramics Canada brings in. It comes in a 5lb bag and all you have to do is add water and stir, sounds easy. Well, for the most part yes, but as with any commercial glaze, you never know what you are going to get, as their test tiles in the store usually don’t look anything like what it does on an actual piece. I have  discovered that this cinnabar needs to be on really thick to get a nice rich red, instead of a thin ketchup look. Ketchup is nice in your burger, but not on your teapot. So, I will have to fire that one again to get it to look a little less like ketchup. I pulled a total rookie move too. Apparently I should not be allowed to glaze when tired or rushed. I had a tall canister in there that looked like it fired pretty well, but the lid was stuck. I usually just have to give it a tap and Bob’s your uncle. This time, no such luck. I peered in the space betwixt the lid and the rim, and I could see the faint glimmer of a bit of glaze in there. How the heck did that happen, I always clean that area really well after glazing to avoid just this problem. So, knowing it was a lost cause, I stuck a slot head screwdriver in there and popped the lid off (and part of the rim). What did I see? I had totally forgotten to wipe this lid clean. I must have put it on the jar and said “I’ll get to that in a moment” and then promptly forgot and loaded it that way. What a moron. Oh well, such is life. I didn’t really like the glaze that much anyway.

Here are some pics of some of what came out of the kiln.

Just some pitchers all lined up

Tea pot using Kanthal wire as my knob (not sure I like it, but I have never done that before, so what they hey) I might try using a thinner gague high temp wire next time.

Here's the ketchup teapot. Looks ok from this angle, but the glaze on the lid is a little thin, and you can see that same thin looking glaze on the top side of the spout.

Hand built butter dish

Cider jug with stopper. Although, I am sure you could put other potent potables in there too.