Friday, February 22, 2008

Latest Tests

I've never been so thorough in my testing as I have been over the past month or so. I think it will pay off in the long run. Remember in my last earthenware firing I ruined a bunch of pots because I went straight from a small test batch to a large batch and didn't figure in thickness of application etc.
Well, I didn't want to make that mistake again, so after I mixed up two 5 gallon buckets of glaze earlier in the week I went ahead and dipped several tiles and fired them. The results....great. To make sure I am consistent with my glaze thickness I weighed 500 ml of each glaze and made a note. That way I can check it in the future to see if it needs more water. Of course how I dip the pots will factor in too.
I have switched clays too. These tests show the glazes on the new body. I am happy with the whole package. My 200+ lbs of earthenware came out of the rack yesterday. So I am ready to go.
Today I am firing a bisque load of earthenware. I'll get them glazed and hopefully fired by early next week. Cross your fingers.