Firing Complete

This picture shows a series of clay rings I pulled from the kiln yesterday after I began salting. I do this so that I can judge the amount of salt/soda that is being deposited on the pots in the kiln. I pulled the first ring after the initial salting. It is glazed well, but I wanted more so I added more sodium. The second and third rings are more heavily coated. I stopped putting any salt/soda in after the third ring was pulled. I concluded that I had added enough. I can also judge this by looking into the kiln and seeing how shiney the pots are and by the build up of sodium on the shelves. The forth ring was pulled just before I shut the kiln off. The glaze has smoothed out a bit and layed down.

The rings are pulled out of a peep hole in the door with a long metal rod. They do not indicate the final color of the clay or slips, only salt build up.

I will unload tomorrow, so check back soon. I a hoping for a good load of pots!

I discovered last week that Joe Bennion has his Potter's Journal back up and running. He lost his blog a while back due to some server problem. When Sarah and I visited Joe a few years ago he was very helpful and encouraging in many ways. He shared with me the idea for his Newsletter and told me to take any of his ideas and try them out. I did just that, and my newsletter was a success from the start. I hope to publish the next one in the Spring of '08.

Today I'll be cleaning up the studio.