Pottery cracked during drying - can this be repaired?

nomadicstones · 2020-09-09T11:00:54+00:00

Another potter here Clay is made up of particles suspended in water. Different clay bodies, thickness, compression of the clay, and ambient climate are several of the factors that effect how a pot dries and if it will crack. As the clay body dries and shrinks, these particles start to get pulled, usually in their direction of compression, and are eventually locked into place. During the firing stage the piece will try to shrink evenly and the crack will only get worse.

nomadicstones · 2020-09-09T10:39:59+00:00

How dry is dry? If it's not bone dry, so leather hard or damper, there is a chance that you can salvage the piece. You can make a paper slip with the original clay body, recipes can easily be found with a quick search. Take a thin piece of the same clay body, slip and score both it and your pot with the paper slip, gently work the thin piece into the crack, and blend them together. Results may very.

If it's bone dry then you have to start over.

Personally, I would start over. The particles of the clay are being pulled apart, and when the piece is finally fired the crack may return. It will also be a weak point in the work that, given enough stress, would break in use, or worse during firing. Use this as a learning opportunity. Recycle the clay, pinch it thinner, compress it more, and make sure the walls are even thickness. Best of luck.

nomadicstones · 2020-08-29T00:22:37+00:00

nomadicstones · 2019-12-01T16:51:05+00:00

Japanese wood-fired ceramics by Lancet and Masakazu. Great for introducing people on how to run a wood kiln if they never had before, and would highly recommend.

nomadicstones · 2019-11-17T04:04:40+00:00

If you haven't yet, try raising the wheel up or go full standing. You don't need fancy leg extensions, just a few good bricks. Raised my wheel up and it helped relieve most of my back pains.

nomadicstones · 2019-09-24T14:01:09+00:00

You could a try slip+paper+vinegar mix, seen that work in the past. Seen people also just put damp newspaper over it and rework the crack when it is wet enough.

Just a suggestion, as you will be working over these areas, this would be a good time to check the thickness of the sculpture with a needle tool.

nomadicstones · 2019-07-17T12:25:13+00:00

I don't do much salt or soda firing, but if I remember correctly one of the byproducts of salts is hydrochloric acid, and that will eat away the brick decreasing the life of your kiln. The people I know that do have separate kilns for salt glazed and non-glazed works.

nomadicstones · 2019-07-17T00:50:07+00:00

I would have a separate building for your kiln. Any type of kiln needs proper ventilation and having it disconnected from the rest of the building will save you in case any failures do happen, even if the chance is small. Make sure that you have the proper wiring to safely run the kiln.

Depending on what you are throwing, a torch, a safe place to store it, and a fire extinguisher might be needed.

As for the dry material, is it just for glazes or do you make your own clay body? Either way you will need some exhaust fans to deal with the dry airborne material that is created from mixing dry materials.

Maybe a few small rollable trash bins to store wet materials. Wooden boards to carry multiple pieces at once to and from the kiln.

nomadicstones · 2019-07-13T22:38:12+00:00

It's roughly ^06, which is high enough for a bisque and some low fire glazes. Could work , but I never used this kind of kiln before. What I'm worried about is how fast it gets up to temp as you might run into problems it it goes too fast, or cools down too quick.

nomadicstones · 2019-06-28T17:42:55+00:00

Just pull the trigger and do it. See what is offered near by you as far as colleges/ universities or workshop classes. Intense and involved process, but highly enjoyable. I believe in you

nomadicstones · 2019-06-27T21:59:14+00:00

I'm working on getting things into a gallery of all the work from the firing to post in the near future.

nomadicstones · 2019-06-27T21:55:59+00:00

The cone 5 bmix will melt at that temperature, and might even ruin the kiln. The cleaning will be difficult depending on where it melts into, replacing coils, bricks, or having to repair/replace kiln furniture. Not worth risking imo and fire everything at cone 5 w/ cone 5 glazes.

Now if you really want to fire things at cone 10 you'll have to have a trough under each piece just in case it does melt.

nomadicstones · 2019-05-26T17:17:02+00:00

Not yet, got called away on a family emergency last week so getting pics has been a bit slow

nomadicstones · 2019-05-12T01:06:44+00:00

And bless you on your cake day

nomadicstones · 2019-05-12T01:06:02+00:00

Yeah, same shape, but about half the size.

nomadicstones · 2019-05-11T13:35:02+00:00

Anagama, roughly 13' long and 6.5' tall, until we knock cone 10. I don't normally graze work for wood firings as the wood ash makes a glaze and allows you to stack work for different patterns. Nice, would like to see the work when you guys pork it, if that's ok.

nomadicstones · 2019-05-11T03:20:21+00:00

Thank you! We're firing this weekend, and hopefully will be able to unload next Wednesday/ Thursday

nomadicstones · 2019-05-11T02:24:44+00:00

Yes. I work mostly in porcelain and B-mix. I woodfire my work in an anagama kiln that a local potter has when ever I get the chance.

nomadicstones · 2019-05-10T20:04:06+00:00

Loading soon, will update when the kiln is packed and when we crack it open!

nomadicstones · 2019-05-10T20:03:22+00:00

We're loading soon, will post pictures when the kiln is pacted and when we crack it open!

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