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JUST RAKU
The Newsletter for Raku Artists and Raku Art Lovers
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April 2006
Issue #38
Published by
Gary R. Ferguson – Raku Artist
http://www.garyrferguson.com
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In This Issue
* While the Smoke Clears
* Crawling Glaze Cure
* It is all in the Bisque
* Raku Links
* Workshops
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* While the Smoke Clears *

I know. I know. You have probably wondered where the
newsletters have been. Well I have to admit, I've missed
getting the last couple out. This is the first one since
January, so you don't need to go looking in your SP@M box
for February and March. They didn't happen.

I won't bore you with the life and times of me, but lets
just say being busy would be an understatement and
something had to give for a while and unfortunately the
last couple month's of this newsletter was the casualty.

You may notice this newsletter is not as long as ones in
the past. I plan on this shorter format going forward with
the hopes this will allow me to publish them more
regularly. Fingers crossed.

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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* Crawling Glaze Cure

Loretta M. writes:

I have your Raku glaze book http://www.rakuglazes.com) and
have tried some of the glazes. I know that everyone fires
differently etc. but the last couple of years I have been
having trouble with my glazes crawling - sort of! This has
been happening with tried and true glazes that I have used
for years. These are mostly the gloss glazes like Del
Favero Luster and Reynolds Wrap and a few others. These
are glazes that were very successful in the past. They
also have a large amount of Gerstley Borate in them. Could
this be the problem? Someone suggested that these glazes
may be low in clay and I should maybe add some ball
clay. Any thoughts on this? I'd greatly appreciate your
help on this. Love the newsletter!

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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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There are several things that can cause a glaze to crawl.
One of the most common is dirty/dusty bisque ware. If your
bisque pieces have been sitting around for a while,
especially in a dusty location, like say a pottery studio,
they have probably picked up a layer of grime. If this
grime is not removed before the glaze is applied, you can
get a crawling result. The easiest way to fix this is just
use a damp sponge and clean off the bisque pieces and let
them dry before you glaze them.

Another cause of crawling is a poor clay to glaze fit. In
this case the glaze would be shrinking far more than the
clay body. So one question is have you changed clay
bodies? If so, this could be the culprit.

Using glazes that have been mixed with water for a long
period of time can cause another fit problem, especially
with glazes that are high in Gerstley Borate. You might
try mixing a fresh batch of the problem glaze and see if
you get the same result.

Finally another cause can be from the firing process
itself. The crawling could be caused from severe bubbling
of the glaze before it matures resulting in areas of the
pieces missing glaze. Severe bubbling can be the caused by
a very fast firing or firing in a strong reduction
environment.

Finally another thought it to just enjoy the result. Some
artists actually cause the crawling effect on purpose with
their glaze to create a very unique look.

Hopefully this helps.

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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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* It is all in the Bisque

John J. had a really bad day...

I have both of your Raku books (http://www.rakusecrets.com
and http://www.rakuglazes.com) and have found them very
useful. I have a teaching studio and we have done a few
Raku firings with fairly good success. Especially when
considering beginner potters' pots!

This past Saturday we Raku fired again with horrible
results - lost 80% of the pieces. Pots were cracked when
removed from the kiln and most fell apart after reduction.
I used the same clay from the same batch as before which
was Standard's 239.

The only variable I can see is that I bisque fired at a
"fast bisque" to ^05 rather than a slow bisque to ^05
(using a controller) as I always do.

The other issue is that we had very little copper coloring.
We used your Red Bronze as well as Roberts Copper and Red
Luster. We had lots & lots of green but virtually NO copper
or reds; and minimal metallic flashing of any color. Raku
firing was done to 1800F in an Olympic Raku kiln.

Did I fire too high and/or too fast in the bisque firing?
Did I fire too high and/or too fast in the glaze firing?
Did I not reduce long enough to a cool enough temperature?

Obviously my students were very disappointed as it was for
them. Not to mention I lost 9 out of 10 pieces. My only
successful piece was a lidded form 12" high x 10" wide with
clear inside and horsehair with ferric chloride outside. It
was a very nice piece but 1 out of 10 is not cool!

Any advice?

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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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I hate days like that! And I really hate it when that
happens with new Raku potters. It can be very
discouraging.

Well I do have some thoughts. I'm glad you mentioned the
difference in the bisque process because I had a "great"
Raku experience once with a bad bisque firing. The bisque
firing got cancelled a little early and did not reach my
normal bisque temperature of cone 06. I'm not sure what it
really did reach but it was safe to say it was well under
cone 06. Well when I went to fire those pieces, they
either exploded in the kiln or cracked during the reduction
process. I attribute this to a couple of things. The piece
would probably absorb more glaze/water than normal, which
could affect the firing. Also there may be more
"gas/water" that needed to be released during the bisque
process that was occurring during the Raku firing which
again can cause cracking/breaking problems depending on
your Raku firing speed. So your bisque firing may
definitely be the culprit.

Breakage could also be cause by Raku firing too fast as
well, but I'm not sure what your normal firing process is.

As far as the lack of Copper or Red colors goes, this is
normally due to not enough reduction, either in the kiln or
post-firing. Normally for reds you need heavy reduction in
the kiln and for coppers you need heavy post-firing
reduction.

Hang in there. Better days are coming!

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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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* Ultimate Collection Updated

In case you missed it, Raku Glazes: The Ultimate Collection
(2nd Edition) was released earlier this year. There are now
over 360 glazes including some N@ked Raku slips. The
feedback has been great on this latest edition:

"This is a great 2nd edition lots of good additions and the
Naked Raku section was just what I wanted to see."–JR P.

"Thank you so much for the 2nd edition. I can't wait to try
some out!"–Joyce M.

"So many more recipes to go through and try out. I'm so
happy"-Deborah B.

"Thank-you. Already printed and added to my files"-Carol R.

"Thanks for the update! I love this book!" – Lori L.

If you would like to order a copy of Raku Glazes: The
Ultimate Collection, please visit http://www.rakuglazes.com
You won't be disappointed.

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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 *

Wikipedia Raku Entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raku
Lynn Dee http://www.lynndeestudios.com/
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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Raku: Investigations Into Fire by David Jones
Order 30% off at: http://tinyurl.com/8m5x
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* 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: 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

N@ked Raku Workshops with Wally Asselberghs
2-day N@ked Raku workshops to be led by Wally Asselberghs
on June 17+18 and June 24+25, 2006, in Sterrebeek
(Brussels), Belgium . First weekend in English with French
and/or Dutch explanations, second weekend in French
(depending on participant enrollment) with English and/or
Dutch explanations. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, limited to 8
participants, up to 10 bisque-fired pieces (max. 15 cm wide
and 35 cm high) can be prepared and fired/smoked per
participant. This is a great opportunity to meet Wally and
learn his slip & glaze techniques. For more info,
electronic flyer, registration info and form, technical
sheet, etc., contact richardrobinson1@gmail.com or by phone
+ 32 479 223 047.

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taking on-line surveys, click on the link below. Go to
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JUST RAKU (C) Copyright 2002-2006 Gary R. Ferguson