05.04.2013
Categories: process, production
My salt & pepper shaker forms have been stamped and drying to a nice leatherhard. Now they just need holes… for the salt to go in, as well as to come out!!! And what better way than to do them with my power drill?! So much quicker & cleaner than drilling them by hand.
Put them together… aim… pull the trigger and make some holes!
As simple as that. As long as your clay is on the drier-side of leatherhard. If you clay is still a bit too moist, the drill will get gunked-up with clay and not give you clean holes.
Once I drilled them all, I added some colored slip accents to them all.
So now they’re all drying… getting ready for a quick bisque and then into my next soda kiln!
What is a soda kiln?
Where do you find those beautiful stamps you use on your pottery?
OFELIA –
A soda kiln is generally a high-fire, reduction gas kiln. When the kiln gets to its top temperatures, you inject a mixture of soda ash & soda bicarbonate into the fire box. The mixture instantly vaporizes and flies around the kiln with the flames. Wherever the flames hit the pot, they leave some residual build-up of the soda mixture. It gives a very natural, earthy and slightly random finished surface on the pieces inside the kiln. The majority of my work is fired in the soda kiln. If you click on “Kiln Firing” in the right side column of my blog, you’ll find a lot more information & photos about the kiln & firing process.
As for the stamps that I use on my pieces… I make my own stamps from a coil of clay. You just roll it out, cut patterns into the ends and then bisque fire them. And they’re good to go. If you click on “Stamps” in the right column of my blog, you’ll see demos & photos of how I make my stamps.
Thanks for checking in Ofelia. I hope I have answered a couple of your questions. If you have more, please feel free to ask! And have a great New Year!!!