Wali Hawes 1952 - 2014
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I'm often asked for help - and I'm happy to give it. These are some of the questions I have been asked about various things.

More on Spanish Lustre Firing

Purvi asks:

Dear Wali Thanks for replying .. one thing i realised that the shelve changes that you had made actually was not bad ..the temp would go up smoothly and I think there was less consumption of gas.

I had changed the shelves as per earlier for my last firing and the temp would not go up higher faster. Yes,its true that the kiln had variation in temp for the lustre firing due to the change in the shelve gap. Im sure i will have a better firing next time !!!

Wali Answers:

Dear Purvi,

Let me see if I can answer the points you raised.

I went through the things and I think below are the problems:

  1. The application was not right need a thicker layer - I assume you bisque at 900 or something like that. Glaze should be thicker as body is less absorbent. Can you remember the consistency of the glazes we used in the workshop in Alibag?
  2. The reduction was not enough  - Quite possible. Only a good, strong reduction (in Spanish they actually call it a "carbonizacion"  The other thing is if you are not sure then reduce for longer - 45mins for example.
  3. The clip for the air in the burner should have been closed during reduction - Yes! No air should get in at all!
  4. The gap between the shelves should not be there - The shelf change was to improve circulation of the heat within. Should not affect the lustre though there will be a variation in colour within the kiln. If you feel that the change has affected kiln performance go back to the old system. I made the change to improve effeciency. I could be wrong!
  5. Should go to 1020 deg and then switch off gas - Yes. Let the kiln cool after that without burners.

Hope this is of some help. Get back to me if you have any other points or don`t feel happy about the comments. 

Wali
 

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