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offcntrI'm currently down at Club Mud, firing the glaze kiln. Emily has a class in the main studio, so I'm in the back room where I usually glaze, which, unexpectedly, has really good wifi reception. So I figure it's time to play catch-up here.
I basically spent the entire week glazing. I have a big wholesale order--nearly $1000 of pots--and multiple commissions, including two platters and an eight-place table setting. The original plan was to glaze Sunday to Sunday, load Monday, but I got ambitious or efficient or something, finished glazing Friday afternoon. So I'm on my usual schedule, more-or-less, which will give me an extra day between unloading the kiln and teaching a workshop on Friday. Good job, past me; future me thanks you.
Present me, however, is in for a long day. Kiln was cooler than usual from pre-heat when I got in around 6 am, didn't get body reduction until 7 (it's normally ready to go when I arrive). It also seemed to be firing slower than usual in general. Finally realized that the previous user had replaced a broken brick that closes the gap between the top of the damper and the chimney. The new brick was an inch wider, and since we've marked the damper settings to read against the edge of the brick, I was effectively firing with a much more open chimney. Fortunately, I figured it out only a couple of hours in and adjusted to compensate, but I'm still feeling a little foolish. Force of habit is a dangerous thing.
Here's some pictures from the past week. Pasta bowls bound for Childhood's End Gallery in Olympia:
Pie plates, ditto:
And a red-winged blackbird platter commissioned by the director of the Craft Center where I'll be teaching on Friday.
I basically spent the entire week glazing. I have a big wholesale order--nearly $1000 of pots--and multiple commissions, including two platters and an eight-place table setting. The original plan was to glaze Sunday to Sunday, load Monday, but I got ambitious or efficient or something, finished glazing Friday afternoon. So I'm on my usual schedule, more-or-less, which will give me an extra day between unloading the kiln and teaching a workshop on Friday. Good job, past me; future me thanks you.
Present me, however, is in for a long day. Kiln was cooler than usual from pre-heat when I got in around 6 am, didn't get body reduction until 7 (it's normally ready to go when I arrive). It also seemed to be firing slower than usual in general. Finally realized that the previous user had replaced a broken brick that closes the gap between the top of the damper and the chimney. The new brick was an inch wider, and since we've marked the damper settings to read against the edge of the brick, I was effectively firing with a much more open chimney. Fortunately, I figured it out only a couple of hours in and adjusted to compensate, but I'm still feeling a little foolish. Force of habit is a dangerous thing.
Here's some pictures from the past week. Pasta bowls bound for Childhood's End Gallery in Olympia:
Pie plates, ditto:
And a red-winged blackbird platter commissioned by the director of the Craft Center where I'll be teaching on Friday.
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