Now I'm Really Nervous

[The Dragon]

Nope didn't think of that - or I missed it when I read the manual.

All done and dusted now, waiting for the pot to cool right down, only problem is it looks like the carbon expanded under heat as I have a fine layer of black dust in the kiln and the stainless steel pot has gone black. Don't know what to make of that, oh well I'll know in the morning what the damage is.

[The Dragon]

Well sort of!

One of the roses lost the bail and part of the leaf as I was taking it out. The edges of the break are definately powdery so I know it's not been fired long enough.

The two pictures below are not very clear but I can see a distinct difference between what appears to be fired and what doesn't. The good stuff is a dusty matt beige colour and feels quite cool to the touch. The leaves however are a dull mottled redish colour, much like the original clay, with a dryer feel.





I will quick fire both pieces again and see what happens. While they are cooking I'm going to make some more as I want to try Hadar Jacobson's method and see if there is any improvement.

Now it's definately time for bed

[snow_imp]

I hope that after all that excitement you slept really well

[MuranoSilver]

Hi Annie
If some are broken then you might want to firre them all again...
(just to be safe). The pot going black anf the "flakies" happens every time
I just hoover the kiln out
Nic x

[Solunar Silver Studio]

4.13am!!!! There's dedication for you!! Almost like being in labour!! ...although I don't recall putting it back in for a bit longer was an option for that activity!!

I hope you are not too upset by the broken one - the other one looks great And think how much you have learned from your 16+ hour vigil! You will be churning out little stunners with no effort in a few weeks time!

[The Dragon]

Surprisingly I'm really happy right now.

This is a new material that people are still getting to grips with so there isn't a crib sheet to perfection. Yes one of the pieces broke but I don't mind that because I learnt so much from what happened. I will re-fire the pieces, this time I'll ramp it straight up full speed then hold it. Not sure if I'll go for 30, 45 or 60 minutes yet though.

As for the vigil - well that's me I'm afraid. When I start concentrating on something I love doing I'm oblivious. Good job I'm not at work this week.

[The Dragon]

Ooops

Mixed results I'm afraid. This is a picture of what I'm left with after re-firing and tumbling



Looking at the broken pieces there are still a few problems with the binder buring off so to fix that I'm going to sand and reduce each layer of petals to cut down on the thickness. It also look as if the layers have not bonded properly so Im going to try keying the dry surface more and thickening up the slip a bit, especially around the bail. All in all I'm quite please with the first attempt. BTW can anyone recommend a polishing compond for copper.


..... Try, try again.

[Emerald]

Hi Annie well the one that dident break looks amazing and as for polish you can use the same as for your silver xx

[snow_imp]

Oh no, what a shame that one came apart this time. But the one that is complete looks great.