ShortFuse Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 So with my frustration of the lack of productivity in my life I was supremely bummed with every medium I dealt with yesterday and I thought to myself...when was the last time I was happy even if it didnt turn out the way I wanted it? Back when I was involved with clay THAT WAS WHEN!! So im kinda jazzed up for it all. I recently moved and have a lot of property at my disposal so Im gonna start doing ceramics again by means of Pit Firing. Pit Firing is a no glaze fire where the elements in the fire "paint" your work. It really can create some beautiful stuff. Heres some examples of other work.... (not mine) Ill be posting some pics soon of how all this goes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcan Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 im not into ceramic but those are great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortFuse Posted December 2, 2009 Author Share Posted December 2, 2009 yeah. I mean it awesome what certain elements contribute. Hardwood sawdust Black, dark gray Hardwood coals Black, smoky gray, blue-grays Cow pies from grass fed cows Gun metal black, jet black, golden yellows Cow pies from grain fed cows Dark greens, grays, blacks, browns Driftwood Blue-grays, aqua shades, gray-blacks Seaweed roots Browns, rust, honey Kelp leaves Yellow, orange, peach Kelp pods Orange, brown Saline grown leaves, twigs, grass Golden yellows, greens Table salt Orange, yellows Sea salt Salmon, orange, yellow, gold, peach Copper carbonate Green, black, maroon, reds Cobalt carbonate Blues Ferric chloride Iron reds, yellows, oranges Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artlover Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 thats awesome, how do u mix the elements in to get those effects. i dont know anything about ceramics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortFuse Posted December 2, 2009 Author Share Posted December 2, 2009 its all in what burns in the fire. The fumes etc. I cant wait. I just dug my pit today in the cold rain considering it be a lot easier to dig through wet GA clay than dry, still was hard as hell though. Got some nice natural clay to test fire after I got like 3 feet down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacks Edwards Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 dope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrThree Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 Do you bisque fire first or just one firing? So jealous I have never pit fired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortFuse Posted December 5, 2009 Author Share Posted December 5, 2009 Well Im attempting to do an all in one fire. The "experts" advise against it considering how fragile dry clay is and that the danger of breaking it is considerably high (pitfiring is pretty rough). After that being said I still dont have the extra 3 grand to just pull out of my ass and buy a decent kiln. I want to eventually but Im going to see other alternatives at the moment, I did a test fire today to see how hot I could get it and I will say I got that shit torching. Clay is bisqued usually around cone 010-06 which basically means 1500 f to 2000 f. Normal fires consist of heats around the high hundreds into the thousand and up. So as long as you can keep it going and the heat contained then there is no reason why you shouldnt be able to bisque in it. Although Pit Fire techniques is kinda an all in one thing. The clay has to glow in order for it to transform into ceramic. I had a infrared temp thing on me but it only went to 1000 F. The out ring of my pit measured in the high 900s so the middle of that thing had to be intense. Also as long as you can manage to bury your clay piece in extremely hot coals you should be able to transform it. So i did a test fire today. I mean not like it was a hassel...i got to burn shit for a couple of hours :) I didnt use a piece of terracotta that I had laying around but I did throw a patty of natural GA clay I got digging the hole. I wanted what results it would show me since if it works then I know I have 8 acres of free natural clay deposit :) heres some pics. the hole is close to 5 feet deep. oh and yeah GA clay isnt easy shit to dig through...I dug that bitch in the freezing rain cause a wet ground is easier but....it still sucked big time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcan Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 is that yours? i remember in highschool they had a kiln (spelling may be off) that would go crazy hot i wasnt in ceramics i just ditched a lot and made shit. it was fun but i never really got into it and actually cared about all the different shit you can do but looking at that lit of things like sawdust and what not now it sounds a lot more intersting to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrThree Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 This looks so awesome. So You load the ware in the bottom and put all the fuel (wood?) on top and let it all burn down. Is that about right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortFuse Posted December 6, 2009 Author Share Posted December 6, 2009 yessur. Im still awaiting some clay test subjects to dry fully before I progress.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samdrake123 Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 i dont usually like ceramics, or i guess i just dont pay attention to the area of art very often, but those are awesome. especially the last one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bojangles Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 What Sam and Vulcan said. Post more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samdrake123 Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 if you make something like those you posted ShortFuse, I would be interested in getting one somehow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortFuse Posted December 7, 2009 Author Share Posted December 7, 2009 Word. Yeah well its been a minute since Ive done ceramics. I made a stupid lil coil thing for a test piece. Im testing terracotta clay (which is all I have at the moment) just to see if I can get the thing hot enough to transform my clay to ceramic. The pics of the pots are more than likely made with a white clay. Either way its trial and error for me since I just moved, dont have a job yet, and Im working with what I got. But Ill keep you all posted. :edit: Tomorrow the pit should be cool enough to dig up that pot and see if it worked. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcan Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 i would also purchase one short. word cant wait for pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortFuse Posted December 8, 2009 Author Share Posted December 8, 2009 well I cant say itll be any time soon. But I will keep you all informed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaceman Spiff Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 Can you do raku with a pit like that? I don't know much about ceramics, but my Grandma is a potter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortFuse Posted December 8, 2009 Author Share Posted December 8, 2009 Raku and Pitfiring are I think similar styles. Raku is where you glaze with different raku glazes and use a kiln to heat them up then take them out once glowing hot and toss them into a small hole with sawdust and other elements and cover it up so that smoke affects the glaze. Pitfring is a non glaze technique that the certain elements added in the fire literally paint the pot. The pots are burnished (smoothed before drying for a glossy texture) before pitfiring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niftice09 Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 For you ceramic heads Was it a statie or a local Westchester cop? I know Yonkers PD does some anti-racing ops every once in a while. This doesnt sound like typical NYSP behavior - they usually just wait for their victim and pounce, in and out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samdrake123 Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 How goes the ceramics ShortFuse? Any luck? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrThree Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 what do you make? Pottery or wheel thrown? or hand built work? pics of stuff to be fired? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortFuse Posted December 16, 2009 Author Share Posted December 16, 2009 Well Im stuck without a job at the moment. I go tomorrow to check back and see if theyre gonna hire me. Everything went well on the first interview so I dont see why not. Im stuck until I get a cash flow...didnt expect it to take this long. For Mr Three. I havent done wheel since 2005 but Im custom building a wheel with my first paycheck so I can get back into throwing. I have a small amount of terra cotta that Im rehydrating to build something in the mean time doing slab work. I was so jazzed about all this and now Im just trying to have patience until I can start putting out work. I have an old only bisque fired teapot I did back in 05 (its actually a big letter B that looks to be deflating like a tire) that I think Im going to throw in the pit and see what happens. Sucks that I never burnished it and you get the best affects with colors from the pit when theyre burnished before bisque fired. Sorry to be a disappointment :-/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortFuse Posted December 16, 2009 Author Share Posted December 16, 2009 How goes the ceramics ShortFuse? Any luck? Also to add. The pit gets hot enough but the temperature is too inconsistent to fire right or at least its too tough to risk putting anything in it without it already being bisque fired. The natural clay hardened good enough I just have to purify it some more and the other Terracotta test piece turned into ceramic but broke more than likely because of the roughness of the process. Found a site that shows how to make a kiln for like 100 bucks and will do what I need before I pit fire. So Im back to waiting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortFuse Posted May 3, 2010 Author Share Posted May 3, 2010 Well its been a few months and Ive been trying to establish myself better in this different state of mine. A lot has been on hold but with a good tax return and having a job that is...well its better than my first one here. Anyways I was pricing Ceramic fiber blankets etc to build a custom kiln to finally get things going with the money I have, which is only 900. Not bad but it wont buy a brand new kiln...thats 3000 haha. So in the middle of researching and pricing I decided to check Craigslist once again. In recently searches I found no kilns for sale in GA. I was shocked because there were tons in FL. So pessimistically I searched once again..... Saw this last night "For sale is a Paragon ceramic Kiln stack 3 high it has aprox 200 molds with it. In great shape and a great deal for someone whom wants to fire their own ceramics Comes with the original paperwork and all the shelves" I emailed the guy and received a response early this morning. Called him and went to go check it out today. It was good he was only 25 mins away. Pulled down his road (dirt road) to see crappy house after crappy house after really crappy house. Im a glass half full guy but I was feeling mighty crappy and losing my anticipation for anything good..... Turns out.....in his little shack he had all of this (the pics are from my shop). He picked it up from some old lady that got sent to a nursing home....he needed the storage space so for $400 bucks and 3 car loads I got it home :-D Im grinning ear to ear. The kiln is in great condition and all those molds. Never was a big fan doing slip casts but I could just pass up the chance. I got Vase molds, animal molds, house molds, plate molds...etc etc. A ton of glazes which should still be in good shape, if not they should be able to be re-hydrated. Im just one happy dude right now...So hopefully soon youll see some stuff from me in the Art thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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