[efaucheux]

I just bought some Amaco Potter's Choice glazes to try out.

Any suggestions on a firing schedule for cone 5 for a manual electric kiln?

thanks!

[Lucille Oka]

efaucheux, on 12 June 2012 - 06:52 PM, said:

I just bought some Amaco Potter's Choice glazes to try out.

Any suggestions on a firing schedule for cone 5 for a manual electric kiln?

thanks!

Are you planning to layer?

[efaucheux]

Lucille Oka, on 12 June 2012 - 09:13 PM, said:

efaucheux, on 12 June 2012 - 06:52 PM, said:

I just bought some Amaco Potter's Choice glazes to try out.

Any suggestions on a firing schedule for cone 5 for a manual electric kiln?

thanks!

Are planning to layer?

eventually, I have heavy stamps and texture and want a lot of contrast.
I just bought them and haven't run test tiles yet.
It's been a while since I fired oxidation, I cant find a firing schedule online anywhere

[Lucille Oka]

This is taken from Amaco’s website it was the only PC firing information I could find.

‘Layering with PC 59 Deep fire Brick as a Base’
‘These cups were glazed by applying two good coats of PC59 Deep Firebrick in a horizontal direction. Let each coat dry before applying the next. Then two good coats of the “layered” glaze were applied over the Deep Fire brick in a vertical direction.
Again let each coat dry before applying the next. These cups were fired to Cone 6 at medium speed with a 10 minute hold.’


Here is the link to the page-http://www.amaco.com.../#layering-pc59

Be mindful of the clay that Amaco uses to achieve the best results. Also read the labels many of the glazes have slightly different applications and coats.

[teardrop]

We are using Potter's Choice glazes on our pitchers/ashtrays/etc.

We bisque to ^05 or ^06.......then fire @ medium speed to ^6.(takes 8:15 hours in my kiln) We have yet to program in a hold or experiment with ramping down the cooling cycle. One of these days....

We have been using the Firebrick red as a base on quite a few peices but have started to experiment with using other colors as a base as well. Like any good noob, I may have bought too many colors at the onset but we are having fun just the same. LOL.

Layering is where it is at with these glazes IMO. And don't be shy when they say (as in the case with Blue Rutile) to apply 4 coats/apply it thickly. the rutile is one of those blues that will go brown with one coat and all the way througgh the blue spectrum and into a drippiy blue/white if applied 4 coats or more. (like "Floating Blue") We have yet to have anything pour off onto the shelf other than an occasional drip.

You may have noticed how thick they are. The gallons come ready for brushing and can be thinned to make almost 2 gallons for dipping. The dry glazes are made for dipping and you can obviously mix them to any consistency you choose. Tip: if youbuy a 5 gal bucket/25 pound pack....weigh out 2/3 of the powder before mixing it up or it will be too thick (IMO) and the bucket will be full to the brim. I learned this the hard way....LOL. Onmy second mix when I used only 16 of the 25 lbs i got a bucket about 2/3-3/4 full...perfect for dipping.

a couple shots of "the klunk"....(as my wife calls it now after reading along here). Less than a month away from our first show(s). Freaking out about whether or not I'll have enough product...or come home with it all..... LOL

still waffling on pricing as well. I know there's a balance....but just like my life...I'm always struggling to find it....

the main thing is that I am still having FUN and the clay is still working well as THERAPY for my troubled/saddened/completely altered mindset....

be safe, be well....and good luck glazing

teardrop

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[atanzey]

Teardrop - did you see Mea Rhee's (AKA GEP on this forum) price markers in her blog?

http://www.goodeleph...e-and-tiny.html

A great idea, in case you want to re-price easily in the middle of a show.

Alice

[giltex58]

I've been firing with Potter's Choice about a year mainly using Firebrick as the base for overlapping glaze. Like Teardrop now I have too many bottles on the shelf. I use a medium rise firing to cone 6 with a 10 minute hold. Have even used the MC6 slow cool schedule when I had a mix of glazes in the kiln. The secret, I have found, is to follow their directions carefully about application. Have to have enough glaze on the pot. One of the best combos I have is Floating Blue over Firebrick.

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[~janie]

I love the Potter's Choice glazes and I use a lot of them.

I went to a mini workshop put on by Amaco that was just about these glazes. I had not been having fun with them, and I had SO MANY! I have to use what I have, or I can't have any more. Rules from the Man.....

The #1 secret to applying the glaze is the brush. Use a #4 or #6 fan brush from Amaco. It has some natural bristles, don't know what, but they make all the difference in the world. They hold a lot of glaze.

#2, when applying, use a cris-cross pattern to apply, or at least, not a formal pattern. Allow each coat to dry before applying another coat! Otherwise, you will just smear the glaze around and will never get enough on the piece. The glaze must be thick, or you will not get the pretty results. It will just be brown mud. Ugly.

On the other hand, if you get it too thick on the bottom of the piece, it will run and make a mess on your shelves. I graduate the coats from the bottom, and set my pieces on cookies that I make just for this purpose. Apply kiln wash to the cookies.

You might check with Amaco or with your ceramic supply store to see if they have a packet about the Potter's Choice glazes. A description of each glaze is included, and a page (double sided) on each base coat with all the combinations that they know of. What goes well on Firebrick (2 coats base, 2 coats top), on Blue Midnight (1 thick coat base, 3 coats top) , on Blue Rutile (2 base. 2 top), and on Deep Olive Speckle (2 coats base, 2 coats top).

One of my favorites is Deep Olive Speckle (2 coats) with (2 coats) Umber Float on top. Gorgeous!
Also, Deep Firebrick under Seaweed. Spectacular!

As to the dry glaze, we did buy the Deep Firebrick and the Ancient Jasper, but we have not yet worked out the dipping thing yet. It seems that the dry glazes don't have any binders in them, and do not have the same chemical reaction as the ready to use glaze does. The top coat doesn't seem to stick to the base coat very well. (Also, if you dip, one dip is equal to 3 coats brushing.) We have had some serious crawling occur. I have talked to the best glaze experts I know and have been offered various advice, but the last one made some pretty good sense. He said the glaze was too thick, we need to thin it down, a lot. We are going to try that, then I don't know what we will do with it if that doesn't work. I thought about brushing on the base coat and dipping the top coats...might try that after I thin it.

Trying to think of anything else. This is a good start. So much to remember. Do remember to write down what you put on each piece, so you can repeat it if you like it. Best of luck! Enjoy!

[efaucheux]

I guess what my question is.... how do I fire medium speed to cone6

high long on low med and high?
manual kiln, no computer, just 3 knobs!

thanks

[teardrop]

Hi janie.

We mixed the dry glazes up and did all we know to do....the "cuticle" test.....adding water until we had a thin creamy consistency. I did a 2 coat dip for the firebrick on the exterior....and we have seen no truly ill effects/crawling/etc.

As far as brushing....I don't have the patience....LOL...... so I bought some 2 gal buckets and mixed the gallons up for dipping as well. Like I said above...1 gallon makes about 2 if yer gonna dip. After I thinned these glazes out I started getting much better control of the end result.

teardrop

[Lucille Oka]

 Skutt Programming cone fire mode.doc (103.5K)
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Efaucheux, this information is from the Skutt KilnMaster Manual-2009. It explains temperature rise for slow, medium, and fast cone fire programming with graphs. I hope this helps. There is more information in the Skutt KilnSitter Manual but it is Skutt kiln specific.

[Terry]

efaucheux, on 14 June 2012 - 06:43 AM, said:

I guess what my question is.... how do I fire medium speed to cone6

high long on low med and high?
manual kiln, no computer, just 3 knobs!

thanks

I have a very old kiln with same knobs - the knobs have numbers on them like a stove knob - 1 to 6.
the one knob heats up the elements at the top of the kiln and the next knob heats up the elements in the middle and the last knob the elements at the bottom (its easy to check if yours do the same - just put them on one at a time and without touching your elements - just keep you hand close enough to feel the heat)
I know, for instance, that my middle elements are the hottest so my middle knob I keep on number behind the other two

so for a bisque (and I use a cone sitter to let me know when i've reached temperature)
I start all 3 knobs off at number 3 for 3 hours
then once that 3 hours is up
I turn the top and bottom element knobs up to 4 for an hour
and then all three up one notch for 3 hours
if after the 7th hour it has not reached temp
I turn the middle knob up to match the top and bottom elements knobs
for the last hour
that should take you to temp quickly enough

Hope this helps -
good luck
terry

[Mudslayer]

I absolutely LOVE these glazes. However, I fire them to cone 5, using Standard 112 as a rule, but have also used 266 in the past, which i am using now. I fire a fast schedule, about 4 hours, then wait about 14 hours before opening kiln. I am really skittish about opening kiln until it is about 85 degrees. I have used all of the PC glazes, and my favorites are Firedbrick, Seaweed, of course Blue Rutile, which there is a big difference fired at cone 5 and at cone 6. I love to layer these glazes, have never been disappointed in the outcome, but I did make one mistake with the Blue Rutile, I sponged it on a yarn bowl, forgetting that this glaze needs to be applied heavy, and I got a brown speckled glaze. It was ok, but nothing magical. Here are some pieces fired to cone 5. The first is Firebrick over Olive Speckle, the second is Seaweed over Firebrick, 3rd is Blue Midnight over Verte Lustre, 4th is Olive Green over Palladium,
5th is Indigo over Blue Midnite, last is Firebrick over Blue Rutile.

Good luck, you will have tons of fun experimenting with these glazes!

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[teardrop]

Beautiful work, mudslayer!

If I may ask....what differences are you seeing from ^5 to ^6 on the rutile...and others? We have been doing a medium fire to ^6...no hold...and like you..wait til the kiln is fully cooled (I have to slap my wife's hands to keep her out of the kiln..LOL) to take the peices out. I've been wanting to do some test tiles and try a ramp down on the cooling cycle but things have been going so well I figured..why mess with it now?

Here are a few more combos....

Frosted Melon over Vert Lustre- 3 coats of each...dipped....

Blue Rutile over Firebrick Red with a bit of Chun Plum

Blue Rutile over Vert Lustre- again..3 coats dipped of each.....vert from the bottom up...rutile from the top down

Vert lustre will also be brown if applied too thinly...FWIW...just like the Rutile

I'll have more pics on my new Facebook page soon and will link my page here when I get to that point.

thanks for sharing.

teadrop

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[OffCenter]

efaucheux, on 12 June 2012 - 10:52 PM, said:

I just bought some Amaco Potter's Choice glazes to try out.

Any suggestions on a firing schedule for cone 5 for a manual electric kiln?

thanks!

I think you're making this harder than it should be. Just put a cone 6 in the setter and fire on high.

Jim

[TMAXWELL]

I have been experimenting with these glazes. I single fire(no bisque fire), slowed cooling from 1900F down to 1500, dropping about 100 degrees an hour... basically John Hesselberth's recommended schedule for crystal matte glazes. Since you are firing manually, if you don't want to control the cooling, try to load the kiln pretty heavy to slow cooling.. most of these glazes are not crystal mattes, but some do rely on crystal growth for the colors.. Just try them with a quick cooling and compare to a slow.. i am firing on porcelian which fluxes the glazes a little.. i have tried them on other clay bodies and have gotten different results.. i can throw on wednesday, glaze on thursday, and fire on friday.. i dry everything out in a convential oven converted to a pot dryer before the glaze firing.

[Mudslayer]

First, (long
post) let me preface my post by saying I am a Newbie here, but not a newbie at
throwing. I have been thru the trials and tribs of using a small manual
kiln, using kiln sitter, staying home to make sure the kiln does shut off at the
desired cone 5 or 6 witness cone, and going into panic mode when the kiln
pyrometer is saying that it is at cone 7 or 8 and the kiln is still firing away
happily, wondering which one is right, the witness cone or the pyrometer. I
have trusted the witness cone and I have trusted the kiln, and as we all know in
a manual kiln that shut off will not happen until cone sitter has
bent enough to shut kiln off. That being said, especially regarding
PC glazes making it harder than it has to be and putting in a witness cone and
set to high, to me, at least, is extremely difficult to do when you are using
glazes you are unsure of, on pottery you have thrown that you want to look
beautiful. Testing tiles aside, which I admit I have never ever done, my
plan of action is to find out from others all I can about a glaze I am wanting
to use before I just load kiln, set sitter, and pray for the best. I have
been using PC glazes ever since they came out,and now use at least one of them
in each of my firings. These glazes are stunning when applied correctly, and not
all are applied the same way. Some are applied thinly, and irregularly,
(Shino) and some are applied heavily, the floating glazes, 4 coats, (Blue
Rutile. Sat Gold, Palladium) in order for them to come out great. Some are
a combo matte and shiny (Oil SPot), some are, to me, just plain hit or miss
(chun plum), which never comes out the same for me, ever. A few like
Tenmoku and Textured Turquoise and Seaweed are just a joy to work with because
they really don't care how they are applied, they just come out great, for me,
anyway. I guess my point is simply that each kiln is different and each
glaze is different, and getting info is a great way to gain knowledge, and the
best info is from potters who have used the glazes, NOT the company that puts
them out. While most of my mid fire glazes are Amaco and Coyote, my information
on how to apply these glazes does not come from the manufacturer, it comes from
potters who are willing to share their successes and their failures using those
glazes. Then I know what can happen, what works for some, what not to do, and so
on. I am an extremely impatient person, so I have no earthly idea why throwing
pottery, waiting for it to dry, glazing, waiting for kiln to cool, (you get the
waiting part) has such a huge hold on me. But it does, and for me, patience
pays off as much as I hate to say it. I hope I haven't come across as a big know
it all, I am most definitely not, but I do know what works for me and what
doesn't. I would so love to just "load and go", but I just can't.


As for the difference in how these glazes for me come out between a 5
and 6 firing, the number one difference is the darkness of the glaze. Not
the depth of the color, nor the saturation of the color. It is the actual
color difference. The cone 5 pieces come out vibrant and brilliant, but at
cone 6 they take on a darker deeper hue. I have friends who do fire to 6,
and they like the darker colors from the higher temps and the extended time
firing. I don't do a hold, esp on PC glazes, even when layering because I
have found that even at a 10 minute hold the colors tend to coalesce and there
is not as much variation in the final results. I like the cone 5 results
where you can see the differnt colors, textures, the patterns the kiln gods have
created. Cone 6, for me, comes out with a lot less of the variations, but
some like that. I guess it is personal preference.

I really
hope I have not stepped on toes, or worn out my welcome, after only a handful of
posts, but I love what I do, and the feeling it gives me when it all comes
together and I open the kiln, and look down into a sea of brilliant, beautiful
colors just waiting to be brought out of the kiln into the light where they can
be shared with others. Knowing that I have done my homework and asked
questions to those that know way more than I do to help me become a better
potter is a great feeling.

I can't wait to try some of the layering
techniques mentioned above. I am going to be bold and try out a few on
Standard 266 pieces that are drying now. I don't however believe I will
ever be able to do single firing, i have had my share of exploding greenware
that had been drying for 10 days, so I think I will stick to twice fired.
Besides, it gives me more time to talk to the pieces as I glaze them, and wait
for them to talk to me when I open the kiln!

[Lucille Oka]

I went to the Amaco website to see the new layering combinations with PC-20 Rutile as the base and I saw that there are three new Amaco Potter's Choice Glazes. They have great names and colors Arctic Blue, Art Deco Green and Smokey Merlot.

[Mudslayer]

oohh, new colors??? Am off to the Amaco site...I hope my supplier has them, isn't it frustrating to want a color, need the color to complete a project only to find that supplier is out?

Maybe one of these new ones, or all, will wind up on the 266.

I did find out something I did not know tho this week. Standard not only has clay, thay have their own glazes.....it is powder form, you have to mix and sieve, but it supposedly works better than other brands on their clay. I don't do the mixing with dry glazes, (i used to, but it was really too much time and aggravation getting it just right), and I never quite got the hang of the dip method, (have you ever watched the videos of potters dipping their piece in the glaze and holding it with their fingers??? How does the glaze magically go where your fingers are?? I tried the tongs too, that was amusing to husband watching me try to find a good place to grab hold of a piece only to find that when I set the piece down, the area where the tongs were just happened to be glaze free) So I will stick to brush method...

Off to Amaco website!

[teardrop]

When dipping, the places where yer fingers or the tongs go are retouched with the same brush/glaze you use to brush the glazes on....

I'd be here for a few years if I tried to brush all of these pitchers (40+) My next attempt at change will be spraying glazes.

good luck

teardrop