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In This Issue * While the Smoke Clears – 29 lb Turkey and Young Eyes
* Sunshine on my Horsehair makes me happy?
* Glaze Quest
* Naked Raku Books
* Air Compressor Crackle
* Wax on, Wax off
* Dark Hawaiian Blue
* Raku Links
* Workshops ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * While the Smoke Clears * I want to start off by thanking everyone for the kind words in regards to my wife’s surgery. She is recovering fine, slower than she would like, but without any complications. I hope you survived the Thanksgiving Holiday (at least the US readers). We had a total of 14 relatives at our house again this year and made a serious dent in the 29 lb turkey I prepared. I’m really looking forward to Christmas this year as our oldest son (3.5 years) is starting to understand the concept of gifts, giving, and Santa (the threat of coal in his stocking for Christmas will get him to behave for at least a few minutes!) It’s really exciting to experience the holidays through “young” eyes again. Well I hope your holiday season is great and you enjoy this issue. 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 ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- * Sunshine on my Horsehair makes me happy? (-- my apologies to John Denver) A reader writes: “Do you know if Horse Hair pottery will fade in the sun. I have several pieces at a gallery in town and they have them set in the window that gets the afternoon sun. The last time I was in the gallery and saw the pieces I thought they are bleaching out. They are not as marked as before. If so, will waxing them help and what kind of wax does one use?” Basically, strong direct sun on anything for a long period of time is not good. Unlike our skin that gets darker in the sun (at least before we peel) most other objects will eventually fade. Now how long this takes is based on many, many variables: the object itself, the colorant involved, the strength of the sun, the duration of exposure, humidity, etc. So basically I would not recommend placing horsehair (or normal Raku for that matter) pieces in direct sunlight for long periods of time. They will definitely be affected. As for coating or protecting them a wax, this may help (just as is does on car paint), but I don’t think dramatically. In fact, depending on the wax used, the sun exposure may cause a yellowing effect. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ "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 ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Glaze Quest Hi Gary
Thanks for the ebook (http://www.rakuglazes.com) it looks great. Have you heard of a glaze called JR metallic or matt blue? I think it is a luster.
Thanks
Teresa H. I have not run across a glaze by this name yet. That’s not to say the glaze is included in the ebook under another name. Any Just Raku readers have a recipe for a JR Metallic Raku glaze that they would care to share? Let me know at
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~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 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 ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Naked Raku Books Hi Gary. I have just joined your newsletter and think its great to have something just for Raku. I live in Australia and have been potting for 25 years. I have dabbled in Raku on and off over the years but just recently I have got a passion for naked Raku. I would be really grateful if you could advise me on what books to buy that covers naked Raku. Yours Sue S. Sue: One book is “Raku: A Practical Approach” by Stephen Branfman (http://www.garyrferguson.com/branfman). The revised edition apparently has an expanded section on N@ked Raku (and other Raku alternatives). I have not seen this edition yet, but if it is anything like the prior version it will be very good. ~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- 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 ~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- * Air Compressor Crackle Hey Gary,I noticed in the last newsletter that someone was having trouble with getting an even crackle on his or her pieces. I have a little trick that I use on my white crackle pieces and it works great! When I fire crackle pieces I have my air compressor ready to go with my airbrush attached. When the crackle pots come out of the kiln I set them on soft bricks on top of a banding wheel and then spray them with the air from the compressor. The crackling really takes off! You can even control the crackle with a little practice. Once the pots are sprayed with air I put them into the reduction cans. This technique also works with naked Raku too but you have to take care not to blow the sacrificial slip/glaze completely off the pot! Hope this helps with all you crackpots! Peace,Allyson M. Thanks a bunch for the tip Allyson. You have provided a great contribution as always. I would assume if you don’t have an air compressor you could you always just pump up an empty garden sprayer and blow air that way. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ "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 ~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- * Wax On, Wax Off Ruth A. writes: “I have made my own paste wax from Bee's wax and mineral oil. Use a double boiler or a can in a pot of water works well. Melt the wax and add slightly more mineral oil than wax and stir. Pour into wide mouth container. I used a plastic tub. I use the wax on smoked pieces. Burnish with a cloth. I made a smoke fired bird and after year the smoke had come off since it was outside. So I tried making another and waxing it. That works!” Thanks Ruth. I would assume this works best with Horsehair N@ked Raku pieces. ~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- 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 ~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- * Dark Hawaiian BlueHi Gary: I do Raku jewelry that and used the Hawaiian blue glaze recipe, which I used on my bisque fired beads. I tried one, two, and three coats and tried several firings between 1600F and 1850F degrees. One and two coats came out a very dull blue and three coats a dull black. I even tried dipping the beads in lacquer and still dull. Any suggestions as to why they came out dull?Donna R. Well Donna, Hawaiian Blue is sometimes a challenging glaze (who am I kidding – it is always challenging), especially on small pieces, but I will try to provide some ideas. Normally Hawaiian Blue is a matte glaze, so it should be dull in texture. If you want more of a semi-gloss effect, then it has to be fired hotter and/or longer. The 1850F you mention was probably hot enough, but you didn’t mention how long you soaked it at that temperature. It might need more time. As far as the color goes, blue, black (lacking copper), etc. This is usually a result of not enough reduction. Heavy reduction of small pieces is very difficult to achieve because they cool off so fast. You want to move the beads from the kiln to the reduction chamber as fast as possible and use the smallest reduction chamber you can, such as a small can in a sand pit (not a 30 gallon garbage can). This will reduce the volume of oxygen that needs to be burned to create an reduction atmosphere. Hope this 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 * Some very nice examples of N@ked Raku by Jan Lee http://www.mudfire.com/jan-lee.htm
Copper Matte & N@ked Raku by Dan Leonette http://www.leonette.com/english/om_leonette.htm 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 ~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- Raku: Investigations Into Fire by David Jones Order 30% off at: http://tinyurl.com/8m5x
~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- * Workshops, Ads, etc. * 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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