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If you can't stand the heat
Oct. 17th, 2019 10:16 pmLast day of making pots for this firing. I threw eight more pie plates, four dinner plates, trimmed thirty soup bowls and put handles on twenty-two tall mugs.
Very warm in the studio--I'd fired the bisque kiln overnight. It's not too bad while the vent is running, because hot air is being drawn outside. After the kiln (and vent) shut down, it starts to dump heat inside, which is both a blessing and a curse. If I'm trying to dry finished pots out entirely, the extra heat is a godsend. If I'm only trying to dry them a little... not so much.
Soup bowls weren't ready to trim yesterday afternoon, or even evening. Around 10 pm, they were perfect, and I was way too tired to deal with them, so I wrapped 'em tightly for this morning. The tall mugs were dry on the rim, super-wet everywhere else, so I flipped them over and put them on the bottom-most shelf, hoping they'd dry just enough but not overly.
Called it pretty well--they were ready for handles first thing. Unfortunately, I wasn't ready. I pulled a batch of handles and set them on a high shelf to firm up, wrapped the mugs and started trimming bowls. Which, no surprise, were past prime. I ruined three of them, two from cracked rims, one that I managed to trim too thin down near the foot.
Didn't get to the mugs until after lunch, at which point, the handles were all too dry. Broke the first one trying to attach, and wound up throwing them all in the recycle bucket and pulling another set. Biked down to the bank (Clay Fest check had arrived!) and threw the pies and plates, by which time the new set of handles were ready to go. (It was really warm in there.) Got it all finished before supper.
Tomorrow I unload the bisque, and, weather permitting, inventory the van. Glazing to start on Saturday.
Very warm in the studio--I'd fired the bisque kiln overnight. It's not too bad while the vent is running, because hot air is being drawn outside. After the kiln (and vent) shut down, it starts to dump heat inside, which is both a blessing and a curse. If I'm trying to dry finished pots out entirely, the extra heat is a godsend. If I'm only trying to dry them a little... not so much.
Soup bowls weren't ready to trim yesterday afternoon, or even evening. Around 10 pm, they were perfect, and I was way too tired to deal with them, so I wrapped 'em tightly for this morning. The tall mugs were dry on the rim, super-wet everywhere else, so I flipped them over and put them on the bottom-most shelf, hoping they'd dry just enough but not overly.
Called it pretty well--they were ready for handles first thing. Unfortunately, I wasn't ready. I pulled a batch of handles and set them on a high shelf to firm up, wrapped the mugs and started trimming bowls. Which, no surprise, were past prime. I ruined three of them, two from cracked rims, one that I managed to trim too thin down near the foot.
Didn't get to the mugs until after lunch, at which point, the handles were all too dry. Broke the first one trying to attach, and wound up throwing them all in the recycle bucket and pulling another set. Biked down to the bank (Clay Fest check had arrived!) and threw the pies and plates, by which time the new set of handles were ready to go. (It was really warm in there.) Got it all finished before supper.
Tomorrow I unload the bisque, and, weather permitting, inventory the van. Glazing to start on Saturday.
