There will be no bisque or glaze firing today. Possibly only one kiln load on Wednesday. The volume of damage to our shelves requires us grind and rewash then fire all of our kiln shelves. This can be exclusively linked to poor glazing practices. Upon inspecting the glaze shelf I’ve rejected a number of works. The most obvious problem is layering wet glaze over wet glaze, which causes cracking, or too much glaze, I.E. more than three coats. Youtube and Potters Choice may say otherwise, but that also comes from awareness and expertise. I myself will use more that three coats sometimes for an effect, but I am very mindful of the consequences in my application. Some just have glaze on the bottom. Thin work WILL warp if placed on furniture. Fast running glazes are being placed too low on the work and running off into the shelf. Unknown glazes are not going through our test process. Low fire glazes are being placed with our well established cone 5 medium fire glaze. We do have a shelf for tests and a shelf for low fire. Our volume of work to process is increasing. The rate of return will be dictated by the courtesy of your fellow members.
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To reflect a need of more clarity and specificity, we have once more updated our Wiki, in the area “How to Glaze” specifically the “Step by Step” part.
I’d encourage all members to read with attention, it is less than a 1min read, and will prevent pieces from being rejected by the kiln operators:
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