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In This Issue * While the Smoke Clears – Mr. Mom, New Puppy, Hernia and Web Hosting * To Crackle or Not to Crackle * Hutchens Copper Matte * Favorite Gerstley Borate Substitute * Wax is not just for Ears. * Growing Your Comfort Zone * Glaze Recipe Measurements * Mystery Glaze Revealed? * Raku Links * October Workshops in Kansas, Arizona and Utah ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * While the Smoke Clears * So what has happened over the last few weeks? WAY TOO MUCH!!! First my wife had hernia surgery. I guess having two kids at 7+ pounds and only being 5'2" and 110 pounds is a little hard on the body. Anyway, the surgery went well and she is recovering great, the kicker is she is not supposed to lift anything heavier than 5 lbs for the next 8 weeks and was down in bed for the first two weeks. These were the Mr. Mom weeks! I got to take care of Connor and Trevor the two kids (now 1.5 and 3.5), Lollipop the new puppy (a half Australian Shepard and half Pomeranian - don't ask), Gina the bedridden wife, the house work, the yard work, the cooking, and even my job work. So guess what? The newsletter is late. This was not a real “fun” time - but I did loose 7 pounds running after everyone so I think I have discovered a new diet plan! She is now up and around pretty good, and her father is coming over each day to help with the kids while I’m at work. He loves the nickname I gave him of "Mr. Nanny-man." I’ve also been having huge issues with my web hosting service and finally bit the bullet and switched to another service that seems to be working great. Hopefully I didn’t miss too many emails, but if you expected something from me and haven’t heard yet – try again. As always, I look forward to your feedback, suggestions, questions, and article ideas at:
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~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ "I must thank you for all the great recipes. I was a bit stuck for new recipes. I'll be here for thirty years trying all these out." - Simon D. http://www.rakuglazes.com ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- * To Crackle or Not To Crackle
A reader had the following question: Pots I fired with a clear glaze did not get any black crackle on the surface of the pot that sat on the combustibles. The top of the pot, which was more exposed to the air, got good large crackle. We fire to 1750F-1800F and reduce in a galvanized garbage can with a layer of sawdust in the bottom and shredded newspaper on top of that and were firing on a hot and humid day. Can you give me some idea of why this might be happening? Too much newspaper? Not enough newspaper? Use sawdust only? Help! Well I do have some thoughts and suggestions. There are two factors to achieving “good” crackle. First the glaze has to craze – create all those spider web like cracks, and second, all those cracks need to be “colored” To achieve crazing, the glaze has to shrink slightly faster/more than the clay body. This can be due to the thickness of the glaze, the thickness of the clay body, the firing temperature or how quickly it is cooled, etc. In this example the bottom of the piece could have thicker walls than at the top of the piece and hence cool slower and craze less. You could try allowing the piece to cool in the air more before you place it in the reduction chamber. Listen for the pinging sound. To color the cracks, you need smoke to get in there and stain the clay. If the piece is sitting in a bed of sawdust, it may not be allowing smoke to get to this area of the piece. You might try placing sheets of newspaper in the bottom of your can and then a brick or two on top of the paper. Then when you place your piece in the reduction can on the bricks it will be easy for the smoke to reach the bottom of the piece. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ "Our class fired again last night, and the instructor followed your tips and voila. Boy do we have copper. Its great knowing we can do it, and I really appreciate your help. Thanks again!"-Shannon P. http://www.rakusecrets.com ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Hutchens Copper Matt
Do you have a recipe for Hutchinson’s Raku glaze? I saw this on a friend’s pot (Raku) the other day and was impressed. She didn’t seem keen to give me the recipe! I don’t know if she had the name right but the glaze was dark and quite gold and lustrous. Can you help? From my Raku Glazes eBook (http://www.rakuglazes.com) I found: Hutchens Copper MattGerstley Borate 80Nepheline Syenite 20Bone Ash 20Cobalt Carbonate 3Copper Carbonate 7 The notes state to apply thin. I would assume a heavy reduction to achieve copper/gold colors. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Raku: A Practical Approach by Steven Branfman The “nuts and bolts” how-to book of Raku Order 30% off at: http://www.garyrferguson.com/branfman ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Favorite Gerstley Borate Substitute I love the Raku Glazes ebook (http://www.rakuglazes.com). I've got a lifetime of discovery ahead of me! What is your favorite substitute for Gerstley Borate??
To be honest I have not done a lot of Gerstley Borate substitutions yet, but I have had decent results with Laguna Borate and Frit 3134. It will partially depend on the amount of Gerstley Borate that is in the glaze on how well a simple substitute will work. ~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- Books, Music, Videos and that’s just the start. Amazon sells more than books! Help support this newsletter by using this link: http://www.garyrferguson.com/amazon ~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- * Wax is not just for Ears Ok, I realize this is a gross title, but it is getting close to Halloween. A reader writes: “I seem to remember reading a “Just Raku” article awhile back that mentioned something about not glazing a piece and waxing it afterwards for a beautiful shiny black. Did I dream this up? If not, what kinds of wax do you use? Seems like I remember Minwax? Thanks for any help you can give me on this.” I could not find a past article on this exact topic, but there are several uses for wax in the Raku process. Using wax as a resist for a design element: http://www.garyrferguson.com/justrakuarticles/articles/resisting_temptation_glaze.htm You can also use wax to coat the inside of a piece to make it watertight - although a water sealer might work better. Finally you can use wax to cover a horsehair Raku piece which can give it a shiny, burnished look. This technique sounds similar to what you are after. The black bare clay or a Raku piece could be coated with wax to give the shiny appearance you mention. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ "It's all your fault! I was up all night reading "Raku Secrets". I have been Rakuing for about ten years, and still so much to learn. Your Raku Secrets gave me a lot of new insight. Thanks so much". - Elaine S.http://www.rakusecrets.com ~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- * Growing Your Comfort Zone Hello Gary, I really like your ebooks and also the newsletter. I have a lot of questions about glazes, recipes, etc and I thought it would save a lot of time if I could access back issues of your newsletter. My questions are probably common ones that you may have already answered. Your glaze book nspired me to try mixing my own glazes, something I never thought I would do on my own. Thanks, look forward to hearing from you. Joe L. Thanks Joe: I’m glad you are in uncharted territory. There is a common belief that the only time we “grow” is when we experience something outside our comfort zone, which to me is always exciting. For you and everyone else, the back issues can be found at: http://www.justraku.com I’m also in the process creating stand-alone pages for many of the articles from the back issues. These can be found at: http://www.garyrferguson.com/justrakuarticles/ Oh, yeah. The “growth” ebooks are here: http://www.rakusecrets.com http://www.rakuglazes.com ~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- Raku 2nd Edition – Tim Andrews This new edition has been completely re-written and updated with over 200 all new, full-color photos of beautiful Raku pottery http://tinyurl.com/bt7fk ~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- * Glaze Recipe Measurements On your web site you have listings for glazes. Are they all measured by cup or partial cup measurements? I see some with the cup reference and some without.
The answer to this can be found in the following two back issues of Just Raku: http://www.garyrferguson.com/justraku22.htm http://www.garyrferguson.com/justraku23.htm ~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- Raku: Investigations Into Fire by David Jones Order 30% off at: http://tinyurl.com/8m5x ~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- * Mystery Glaze Revealed? Last issue I posted a Mystery Glaze that a reader was trying to recreate (see: http://www.garyrferguson.com/justrakuarticles/misc/zion_mystery_glaze.htm I received the following replies: I have a recipe that is called blue velvet that gives this coloration. Or it might be tomato red. From the picture it looks like it has a little more shine to it than the blue velvet and tomato red has some gold in it but it is close. Love your newsletter and I bought your on-line book. Theresa L. Tx The surface almost looks too smooth to be Hawaiian Blue. It might be on of those 80%+ Copper Oxide glazes. I have some recipes, but don’t think they would be an exact match. If it is a copper ox glaze, chances are good it will be black and velvety looking in the bucket. Denise C. Looks like copper sand Ray So that’s what we have so far: Blue Velvet Tomato Red 80% Copper Oxide Copper Sand And I’m sure you know these are all in http://www.rakuglazes.com Hopefully that helps ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ "It's all your fault! I was up all night reading "Raku Secrets". I have been Rakuing for about ten years, and still so much to learn. Your Raku Secrets gave me a lot of new insight. Thanks so much". - Elaine S.http://www.rakusecrets.com ~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- * Click Away * My eBay Listings http://tinyurl.com/tn08 Just Raku Blog http://justraku.blogspot.com Just Raku Logowear http://www.cafepress.com/justraku Got Raku? http://www.cafepress.com/gotraku Just Raku Archive http://www.JustRaku.com Just Raku Article Archive http://www.garyrferguson.com/justrakuarticles ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Here is an easy (and free) way to support this newsletter. Open a new eBay account by clicking on the link below and select “register” at the top of the screen. Then look for a deal and bid. Your support is greatly appreciated! http://www.qksrv.net/click-411938-2202639 ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Workshops, Ads, etc. * N@ked Raku Workshop, From Slip to Fire with Anne Carrel in Oracle Arizona
October 22 and 23rd. Two-day workshop costs $85 per person or $75 for registrations before 10/01/05. Limited to 12 people. If you would like to see images of N@ked Raku go to: www.nakedraku.com. For additional information contact:
Anne Carrel
1470 W. American Ave
P.O. Box 823
Oracle , AZ 85623
Studio: (520) 896-9558
cell: (520) 603-8174
Or email :
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-- Raku workshop that covers: Hand building, Raku glazing, Firing and Reducing flashing glazes and the super secret of crackle glazes. You will leave with instructions on how to build you own Raku kiln, glaze recipes and your finished hand-built piece. Notes on proper firing for all 7 glazes we use. Workshops include all your meals and lodging. Cost is $750 for 5 days and $550 for three days. Three day workshops do not include hand building project, just intense glazing and firing. The only dates not available at this time are: Dec 10th. thru Jan. 3rd. Feb. 5th.-10th., March 1st. thru the 10th. and April 10th.- 20th. (we have workshops and a vacation planned on these dates).If you are flying in we are 2 1/2 hour from Las Vegas and will pick you up. We are in southern Utah overlooking Zion National Park. For more info http://www.rakufountains.com/ebayindex.html ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ If you are interested in making a little extra money for taking on-line surveys, click on the link below. Go to http://www.surveysavvy.com/?id=1424287 and click on 'Join'. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ This newsletter is send to opt-in members only. If this issue was forwarded to you and you would like your own copy each month send an email to
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with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line. If you wish to no longer receive this newsletter send an email to
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with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line. Disclaimer: Just Raku, the owner(s) and representative(s) of this website and newsletter will not be held liable for any direct or indirect losses or damages originating from the use of any information listed on our website or in our newsletters. By using this site and newsletter you agree to indemnify and hold all owners and representative parties of Just Raku harmless from any claim or demand originating out of your use of the Just Raku website and/or newsletters. Use of our website and newsletters is an indication of your complete understanding and acceptance of these Terms of Service. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ JUST RAKU (C) Copyright 2002-2005 Gary R. Ferguson
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