[OffCenter]

bigDave, on 07 December 2012 - 10:33 PM, said:

MariaPolky, on 06 December 2012 - 05:51 PM, said:

The only way to get the hard long thing is if you take it to cone 10.
-MariaPolky

Amazing like magic

I making a t shirt with your quote above, hope you dont mind

Put me down for one, Big Dave.

Jim

[MariaPolky]

OffCenter, on 07 December 2012 - 10:41 AM, said:

Damn! Isn't it weird that so many of us who have been potting for centuries didn't know about this! I think of all the weird things I have put in firings from moth balls (not their actual balls, but the chemical pesticide) to deer livers and I never tried a penny! Can't wait to put one in my next firing. Wish I could afford to put a nickel and a dime in, too.

Jim

Since nickels and dimes are mostly copper, they become molten and burn through their clay test trays, so keep the laundry money!
Pennies are really the only coins I've found that have amazing results, without burning through anything.
(also WHAT happened with deer livers??)

[MariaPolky]

mregecko, on 07 December 2012 - 06:59 PM, said:

For what it's worth, good to note that Zinc's boiling point is only ~1650F, and Zinc vapors are mega bad for you... So only do this if your kiln is well ventilated.

Thanks, that's good to know

[MariaPolky]

bigDave, on 07 December 2012 - 10:33 PM, said:

MariaPolky, on 06 December 2012 - 05:51 PM, said:

The only way to get the hard long thing is if you take it to cone 10.
-MariaPolky

Amazing like magic

I making a t shirt with your quote above, hope you dont mind

haha, that's great

[OffCenter]

MariaPolky, on 09 December 2012 - 02:59 PM, said:

OffCenter, on 07 December 2012 - 10:41 AM, said:

Damn! Isn't it weird that so many of us who have been potting for centuries didn't know about this! I think of all the weird things I have put in firings from moth balls (not their actual balls, but the chemical pesticide) to deer livers and I never tried a penny! Can't wait to put one in my next firing. Wish I could afford to put a nickel and a dime in, too.

Jim

Since nickels and dimes are mostly copper, they become molten and burn through their clay test trays, so keep the laundry money!
Pennies are really the only coins I've found that have amazing results, without burning through anything.
(also WHAT happened with deer livers??)

That was 40 years ago so I don't remember but it must not have been anything impressive or I would still remember it.

Jim

[perkolator]

wow, that's crazy! we've accidentally and purposefully fired coins in the kiln before, but never had any results like this. gonna have to do some experimenting!

[Judd]

It's the zinc ash as it burned off in the kiln. I know because of past experience/experiment: I fired some galvanized wire mesh with window glass on top and got the exact plumes you did. I only hit 1750 F, but it was still hot enough for the zinc to burn out. I got pictures of it... somewhere. Way cooler than the experiment.

[Pres]

mregecko, on 07 December 2012 - 06:59 PM, said:

For what it's worth, good to note that Zinc's boiling point is only ~1650F, and Zinc vapors are mega bad for you... So only do this if your kiln is well ventilated.

I'm wondering if it does have something with the boiling of the zinc, and the small amount of copper. It looks much like the 4th of July smelly snakes that grow out of a small tablet. The oxidation causes gasses to rise, and form a snake like form. I think this may be happening here.

[yedrow]

I was wondering that the zinc might be fluxing something when I first saw it, but I to quickly assumed the structures coming out of the trays were testing probes or something put in after the firing. Now, my guess would be that you are growing crystals. I would guess that the narrow tops are from the lower energy level of the early vapor condensation and accretion on I guess a crystal imperfection, then when the material became more energetic the diameter expanded to allow the molecules to order themselves accordingly. The structure has to be light enough to be lifted by the surface tension of the source material. But, that is a very uneducated guess. Beyond that, wow, how cool!

Joel.

[Thrown_In_Stone]

How odd.

Dont think I'll be in any hurry to test it out though.

[Paddy Moloney]

I've worked in 3rd level art school, ceramics,for about 30 years and have seen some strange shite; this one, however goes straight up there to the top of the 'Beats me' board. Very strange, interesting, baffling even! Now to try it with some Irish coins (we still have a few to spare) and see what happens.....maybe I'll get a shamrock?