Hello, The Studio I work at has purchased an Olympic Torchbearer kiln. We'll be firing to ^10. I haven't had that luxury for 13 years. I've been working in ^04-^6 electric using mostly commercial glazes. Can anyone recommend the latest and best book on ^10 reduction glaze formulas and firing?
Thank You -nan-
Oriental Glazes by Michael Bailey, published by A & C Black in the UK (ISBN:0-7136-6214-X), University of Pennsylvania Press in the USA (ISBN:0-8122-1890-6)
Comprehensive and thorough, but very readable; he doesn't write dry books. I think it's the best of the high fire books (he also wrote *Glazes cone
6* which many reviewers gave equal status to *Mastering Cone 6 Glazes* by Roy & Hesselberth).Steve Bath UK
In article , Elderberry Blossom writes
I'd back Steve on that one and add "Glazes and Glazing Techniques" by Greg Daly to the list, again readable and above all, FUN.... Hugs Eddie
Thanks Steve, I've got the book on hold at the Public Library. -nan-
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Thanks Eddie! I got it on hold at the library.
-nan-
Thanks Steve, I already read Mastering Cone 6 Glazes. A great book.
-nan-
Nan before you fire your Olympic you may want to read the clayart archives on the Olympics. They are extremely hard to fire evenly from top to bottom. I know I have one.
There are some good recommendations, but I have not tried them yet. Hope too, early this spring after it warms up some and I can make a load for it.
Thanks Randy, I've heard that about the Torchbearer. I looked into buying on for myself a few years ago. I decided to stick with electric in my home studio. (I bought an L&L). The studio I'm going to work for had already made the decision (not my choice) to buy the Torchbearer and I've been hired to teach high fire, mix the glazes and fire the kiln. One big advantage I think the torchbearer will have is the small size, I won't have to wait so long to get a full load together and see results. Hopefully I'll get the studio going full-swing and we'll outgrow the torchbearer and need a bigger kiln.
-nan-
I had a 7 cu ft version some years ago, and found that the baffle plate that Olympic recommend you put under the lid vent is an absolutely essential piece if you're going to get reasonably good firings. I also found packing the lower half of the kiln more densely than the upper half helped to reduce the difference between the two halves.
A friend of mine had a 10 cu ft version which was easier to fire than the 7 cube!
Steve
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