When everything is loaded and firing, these textured discs sit underneath glazed vessels inside an electric kiln. They catch drips and stop pots from welding themselves to the shelves, which the maker finds especially handy when running odd experiments or trying a new glaze for the first time. That is exactly the sort of job where a sacrificial layer earns its keep.
The way they come together is satisfyingly simple. A slab of high-fire stoneware is rolled to 5 mm over wooden guide sticks on a fabric-covered board that gets a light misting of water first. A patterned rolling pin, run along 5 mm metal rods as rails, presses in the embossed waffle grid. Round cutters punch out discs in assorted sizes, a metal dough scraper compresses both faces to keep warping down, and the discs then dry flat on plaster boards stacked under weights. After a bisque firing, several coats of the Plattengobe C-1 kiln wash are brushed onto each side.
Two details stand out to me. First, the waffle texture is not just decorative. The maker says it makes a stuck piece easier to remove, and also that stoneware often sticks to shelves even with kiln wash, chipping pot bottoms. In my view the texture earns its place right there. Second, the maker chose high-fire clay so that anyone can safely use the cookies for any firing, and the discs stay in service until they are too messed up. Not everything gets a cookie, though, since that would waste a lot of clay.
One thing remains open. Whether ordinary clay would work for cookies at cone 6 is only an assumption so far, and the maker also wants to test an alumina and wax mix on pot bottoms while being unsure whether alumina residue lingers after firing.
Project by Nymla. Watch it on their YouTube channel: