: clayshapes - Viewing Profile

If you want to do this because you like the colors of the Mayco glazes and they are rated for cone 06-04 -- you should know that many of the Mayco low fire glazes work very well at mid range - to cone 6. I use their cone 06-04 glazes on cone 6 stoneware and porcelain all the time. If you are using "foundation" glazes by Mayco, look on the side of the bottle -- they usually say whether or not the glaze can go to cone 6, and with what differences. The info is also available online.

If you are asking for another reason, ignore this!

Thanks Chris! Nice of you to say. I enjoy making them.

Thanks Min -- I'll continue to use my cone 6 clay and fire a bit lower and see how that goes.

Thanks - I've already made a hump mold from the squash, which is my preferred way of making these bowls. (I've made hundreds of them!) ...my real question is: what is the best kind of clay for a bisque mold -- low fire or cone 6. I am using cone 6 porcelain to make the mold at the moment, and plan to bisque it to 04. My original question was -- is it for some reason better to make the mold out of low fire earthenware?
I use the actual squashes as molds, so am quite familiar with the best way to use them as hump molds -- I don't use cornstarch - I cover them with very fine tshirt fabric to keep the clay from sticking to the squash. I've experimented with a lot of different methods and find this to be best for my process.
However, I thought the advantage of using a bisque mold was that the clay would come off cleanly - like a plaster mold. I guess I'll experiment with my first mold = after it's fired to see what works best.

Still looking for info about what kind of clay is best though -- and fired to what cone.
Thanks

Well, the mold is actually bigger than the squash - and size isn't that crucial. This isn't a museum quality project...I just want to try making a bisque mold.
Any tips?