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JUST RAKU
The Newsletter for Raku Artists and Raku Art Lovers
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September/October 2005
Issue #35
Published by
Gary R. Ferguson – Raku Artist
http://www.garyrferguson.com
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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 Arizona and Utah

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* 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: editor@garyrferguson.com

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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
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* 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.

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"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
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* 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 Matt
Gerstley Borate 80
Nepheline Syenite 20
Bone Ash 20
Cobalt Carbonate 3
Copper Carbonate 7

The notes state to apply thin. I would assume a heavy
reduction to achieve copper/gold colors.

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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
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* 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.

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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
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* 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/resi
sting_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.

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"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
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* 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

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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
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* 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

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Raku: Investigations Into Fire by David Jones
Order 30% off at: http://tinyurl.com/8m5x
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* 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_mys
tery_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

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"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
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* 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

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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
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* 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 : anne@nakedraku.com

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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

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taking on-line surveys, click on the link below. Go to
http://www.surveysavvy.com/?id=1424287 and click on 'Join'.
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JUST RAKU (C) Copyright 2002-2005 Gary R. Ferguson