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ELECTRIC KILN
A GUIDE TO CLAYS, GLAZES, AND ELECTRIC KILNS
CERAMICS
RICHARD ZAKIN and FREDERICK BARTOLOVIC
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ELECTRIC KILN CERAMICS
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CONTENTS
Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii.
Acknowledgements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
Introduction
What Is an Electric Kiln? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
A Brief History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Current Technologies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Chapter 1: Clay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Unique Properties of Clay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Drying and Shrinkage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Firing and Shrinkage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
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1.5: Developing Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Altering Surfaces and Developing Texture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Stamping | Carving | Sprigging | Sprig Molded Imagery | Inlaid Sprig Molded Forms |
Combining Sprigged, Stamped and Engraved Imagery | Combining Manipulated
Surfaces with a Slip or Glaze | Finishing a Piece Using the Intaglio Method
Image Creation Strategies Using Commercial Underglazes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Underglaze Chalks and Pencils
Applying Slips, Engobes and Commercial Underglazes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Develop a Painterly Surface | Slip Trailing | Sgraffito | Mishima
Testing Image Creation Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
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2.6: Glaze Materials Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Safety When Preparing and Applying Glazes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Materials Safety. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Insuring Finished Fired Work is Safe to Use | Material Toxicity |
Substitutes for Toxic Materials | Encapsulated Stains
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Replacing a Thermocouple or Pyrometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Switches and Relays. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Kiln Roof ........................................................ 206
Kiln Floor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Kiln Wall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Wiring ........................................................ 207
When the Kiln Must be Discarded. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
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Sunshine Cobb, Narrow Traskets, 14 inches long, mid-range red clay, slab base and coil built, cone 3, 2014. Photo by artist
Forming Methods
Throwing bodies should be plastic, strong, and
resistant to collapse under the stress of throwing.
They should not contain highly coarse materials or
the thrower’s hands will suffer. Handbuilding bodies Joseph Pintz, Red-handled Gardening Tools, 30 inches wide,
may be slightly less plastic but should be quite strong. hand-built earthenware with terra sigillata, glaze, cone 04, 2013.
Pintz states, “While in graduate school at the University of Nebraska-
They may contain coarse particles, which discourage Lincoln, I began working with clay from a local brick manufacturer
warping and shrinkage and increase strength. (Endicott Clay Products, Endicott, NE). Their ‘potting clay’ had
great working characteristics—plasticity, density, and a rich terra
Firing Temperature cotta color. It also had the benefit of not being over-processed so it
retained it coarse texture. With a few minor alterations, the basic clay
The body and glaze must be compatible in firing that was sent down the conveyor belt to make bricks became the
temperature. Most ceramists start by choosing to backbone of my earthenware claybody.” Photo by Jeffrey M. Bruce
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Clay
the glazes will not fit the body; in this situation the
brittle glazes will not be supported by the body and may chip and most likely craze as well.
Some suppliers label clay bodies as appropriate for a very wide range of firing temperatures (e.g. for
cones 3–7). Clay bodies just do not work this way—they mature at a specific temperature and are best used
at that temperature.
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1 2 3
Measuring the specific amount of each Measured ingredients get placed in Once all ingredients have been added
ingredient. another bowl. they are dry mixed by hand.
4 5 6
Dry mixture is placed on a non-porous An atoll structure is formed with the dry Water is poured into the central moat
surface. materials. depression.
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Clay
7 8 9
Mix water into the dry materials by Wedge the clay to thoroughly mix the A completed test batch of a red
hand. dry materials and water. stoneware body.
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ELECTRIC KILN CERAMICS
A Soldner clay mixer ready for use. About 25–30% of your overall recipe Add water to the clay mixer.
weight should equal the weight of water
you will need. Measure the water out first.
Measure out the dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to a larger Mix all the dry ingredients thoroughly.
container designated for dry mix.
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Clay
Add dry ingredients to the water in the mixer. The mixer Once all dry mix has been added let the mixer run for 15–30
should be running as you add material. Add material one minutes. If clay is too wet you will need to add more dry mix. If
scoop at a time. Make sure you follow safety precautions too dry you will need to add water to the clay mixer. Add water
around the mixer. very slowly if needed.
5. It is better to slowly add your dry mix to the water as opposed to adding all the dry mix at once. Slowly
introducing the dry materials allows you to control the consistency. Depending on what you are intend-
ing to build with the clay you may want a wetter or dryer mixture.
6. Once you have used all your dry material and achieved the correct consistency allow the mixer to run for
an additional 15–30 minutes. This will insure all the materials are thoroughly mixed.
7. Unload the mixer. Place the clay body in an airtight container. If possible let the clay rest for a week or
so before using it. This allows the clay to age becoming more plastic and workable.
8. Clean the clay mixer. This may be one of more time consuming parts of the mixing experience, but it is
important to thoroughly clean the mixer so if you mix a different kind of clay next time the new body
will not be contaminated in any way.
9. After using the clay take notations so you can adjust proportions of water to clay if needed next time.
Notes on mixing large batches: Clay mixers can be dangerous if not used properly. Follow the manufacturer’s
directions and never bypass safety switches or place yourself in close proximity to the mixer when it is running. If
clay is too dry when mixing add water very slowly into the mix. Clay particles are so fine that they tend to absorb
additional moisture in the first 24 hours after being mixed. For this reason I usually suggest mixing slightly on
the wetter side knowing that the clay will stiffen up a bit after mixing.
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Clay
Absorption Test
One of the things you need to know about
a clay body is the rate it absorbs moisture
at your firing temperature. Most fired clay
bodies absorb some moisture but the rate of
absorption can vary a good deal. Following
are two procedures for testing absorption. The
first is an informal method that only takes a Kevin Lyles, Still Waters Run Deep, 18 inches tall, hardware cloth
dipped in paper clay, cast bronze, cast glass, embroidery thread,
minute or two; the second is far more accurate aluminum, cone 05, 2009. Experimental processes such these
but takes more time. require extensive testing with your materials. Photo by artist
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Example
Weight of the tile after immersion: 9.8 grams
Weight of the tile when drawn from kiln: 9.4 grams
0.4 ÷ 9.4 (original weight) = .042
After moving the decimal point two places to the right, the result is 4.2, meaning the absorption rate of
the tile is 4.2%.
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Clay
Measuring a 10 centimeter line on the Mark the 10 centimeter line at 90° at Fire your test tile and re-measure the line.
test tile allows for an easy conversion each end. In this case the tile shrank about 14%.
to percentages.
Shrinkage Test
Clay bodies shrink in both drying and firing. As is the case with absorption, appropriate shrinkage rates
vary a great deal. No ceramist likes a high rate of shrinkage but if you are working with a fine-grained clay
body with a low absorption rate, such as a fine-grained white body, you may have to accept a high rate of
shrinkage as inevitable.
1. Make a test tile 14 × 4 × 0.7 centimeters of a clay body with water content that’s typical of your clay body.
2. Draw a line along the length of the tile and mark off 10 centimeters.
3. Let the tile dry and fire it to the desired temperature.
4. Measure the new length of the line.
5. Subtract the length of the new line from 10 centimeters (the original length of the line).
6. Divide this figure by 0.1 to find the percentage of shrinkage.
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Richard Notkin, Heart Teapot—Petrol Hostage, stoneware clay, approximately 12 inches long, 2013. Photo by Tom Ferris
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FOURTH EDITION