Steve, my student teacher, was cutting pieces of wood when I arrived. I helped him cut up two wooden palettes with his table saw. Nails are placed in clusters of three in an area the size of the tub we are using. The pots will be set on top of the nails to lift them up off of the ground.
Sawdust is added next. This is what will combust and make the pots black. Steve said he has used shredded paper but the sawdust works the best. It is a little slower burning which is better.
Steve has experimented and fired many pit firings. He has found that the pots are less likely to crack or explode if they are heated before the pit firing. This makes sense as the kilns at school are taken up very slowly. Remember these pots have been fired at school to cone 018 to remove all moisture. So into the kitchen oven they went in many batches, heating up to 500 degrees. We carried them out to the pit fire area, placed them on the nails along with a few just laying on the saw dust.
The tub was put on them to cover and retain the heat.
Wood was placed slightly overlapping around the tub.
A wire band is placed around the wood/tub to hold the wood in place and pine cones are placed on the top of the tub to burn. Lighter fluid is used to start the fire.
And there it went, up in flames. Yes, Steve had a burn permit and a fire extinguisher close by. I asked to make sure.
The fire burns the wood and burns itself out. This took about an hour and a half. Steve said the time varies depending on what type of wood he is using.
The tubs cannot be taken off until the tub is almost cool to the touch. The excitement was killing me. Finally, we took them off and voila, beautiful black pots. And we didn't lose any which was great. The students spent two weeks burnishing the pots which is a long time to have a pot crack or blow up on you.
We had four tubs going almost simultaneously. After I left, when Steve uncovered two tubs, they did not have a complete black look. He said they were an orange and black combination which was beautiful but since the students are expecting black pots, he fired them again. The tubs were not sitting flat on the ground so a little more oxygen came into these tubs which resulted in them not being totally black.
The students will wipe their pots down and have a beautiful pot. For those students who burnished properly, the contrast between the dull areas of either a slip application or the sgraffito/scratched technique, will be quite beautiful. When I return to school next week after Spring Break, I will take close ups of many of the pots to post.
Here is the result of one of the tubs:
Such a logical process. You can probably get the sawdust at the home or lumber store free. Can you use the tubs again? The two tone pieces sounded really unique. It would have been a pleasing contrast to the totally black pots. I am anxious to see close ups of the final pots.
ReplyDeleteYes, the tubs can be reused. The handles became so hot they dropped off but that won't matter. I agree about the two toned pots. I would like to try the process and purposely leave it up a little to try to get the look again. Apparently, many times it is a surprise which is part of the excitement since you never know what is going to happen. That is a great suggestion on sawdust. Steve has a wood shop but he suggested that I contact a cabinet maker.
ReplyDeleteYou could sell the pots to raise money for your art supplies, BUT I think the kids would rather bring them home to share.
ReplyDeleteHow interesting. I know nothing about this type of finishing. The two toned pots sound pretty. It's interesting how the extra oxygen made the difference. I would have liked to have seen some of those also. I'm looking forward to the final photos. This takes a lot of time outside the classroom for the teacher or teachers!
ReplyDeletePam: Sharon made a good point about the teachers involved in this process spending a lot of time outside the classroom. However, from the tone of your writing, it sounds as if you enjoy it. Those who truly enjoy their jobs are fortunate.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see more pictures of the pots. You have a great student teacher. He is learning so much from you as well as you from him:o)
ReplyDeleteIt looks like a lot of work to set up the pit fire, but the end result is well worth it. The pots turned out really nice.
ReplyDeleteThis has been such an interesting process and you have spent a large amount of time keeping us informed and educating us at the same time. I know your students will be equally excited about cleaning up their pots and seeing their final product. I look forward to next weeks pics!
ReplyDeleteIt was a good bit of work but fun. I am excited to see how the students react tomorrow to their pots. Hopefully they will all like them. Twila, you had a good point about a pottery sale. We actually are saving some pots along for us to have a sale. I don't think we have enough for this year but probably next year. I could pit fire some and they would sell as they are "different".
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