[Bethbird]

My Grade 10 Art pupils have painted tea pots with underglaze and we will use transparent glaze to finish them off. They have drainage holes as they will be used as planters in a sculpture garden. How do I prevent the glaze from running out of the holes during firing?

[bciskepottery]

You have a couple options. You can wax the holes so they do not take glaze when applied; if the glazes are not runny, the wax should prevent the holes from filling/clogging during firing. Another way is to use a small brush -- I use brushes made for cleaning dental bridge work (http://www.drugstore...ushes/qxp306698) to clean out the holes before firing. You may also want to put cookies under the pots while firing to prevent them from fusing to the kiln shelf in the event glaze does run.

Also consider not glazing the insides; I recall someone telling me that plant roots prefer/do better with an unglazed interior than a glazed one. Or just glaze the top third of the inside.

[Pres]

Bethbird, on 19 October 2012 - 05:52 AM, said:

My Grade 10 Art pupils have painted tea pots with underglaze and we will use transparent glaze to finish them off. They have drainage holes as they will be used as planters in a sculpture garden. How do I prevent the glaze from running out of the holes during firing?

Since these are going to be used in a sculpture garden, and may get wet quite a bit, I believe that the glaze is important to the survivability of the sculpture. I would recommend the small cone shaped brushes that come in the large pottery tool selections. Other option is a q-tip to clean our the holes. As this is a group project, not a production type thing, the few extra minutes should not be much of a problem. I would probably make certain the bottoms are clear obviously. You did not mention the firing range, or whether you would be using stilts?

[neilestrick]

The glaze won't run out the holes any more than it will run off the pot if glazed properly.