Fear and terror
Nov. 8th, 2014 05:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
offcntrStarted cooling the glaze kiln Friday morning, opening the damper and burner ports, pulling out peephole plugs and stripping ceramic fiber off the sides of the door.
At that point, all I can see of the firing is what's in the peepholes, in this case, a bleached white, oxidized pitcher at the top, a couple of casserole knobs at the bottom too dark to make out. Oh, and for some reason, the kiln has gained a full cone in carryover heat after I shut it down, and cone 11 is nearly dropped top and bottom.
This is a potential double disaster--pots the wrong color, iron and rutile gone away. Worse, over-fired glazes running down the sides, taking my paintings with them. I go home in a black depression, phoning in the rest of the cooling to Tea, who's using the kiln room to glaze for his next firing.
Denise and I come back to unload after supper to discover a small swath of oxidation along the left door jam, swiping over the top just to the peephole. Everything else is perfect. And cone 11 notwithstanding, very little blurring and no running whatsoever.
Here's a sample…
At that point, all I can see of the firing is what's in the peepholes, in this case, a bleached white, oxidized pitcher at the top, a couple of casserole knobs at the bottom too dark to make out. Oh, and for some reason, the kiln has gained a full cone in carryover heat after I shut it down, and cone 11 is nearly dropped top and bottom.
This is a potential double disaster--pots the wrong color, iron and rutile gone away. Worse, over-fired glazes running down the sides, taking my paintings with them. I go home in a black depression, phoning in the rest of the cooling to Tea, who's using the kiln room to glaze for his next firing.
Denise and I come back to unload after supper to discover a small swath of oxidation along the left door jam, swiping over the top just to the peephole. Everything else is perfect. And cone 11 notwithstanding, very little blurring and no running whatsoever.
Here's a sample…