[Clayart] crash cooling and funny story

[Vince Pitelka]

"A rather silly way to deal with pots."

Really Mel?  "It work to a degree?"  It works great if the results you want
can be achieved by crash-cooling.  It has its place in certain
circumstances, as does slow-cooling.  It does no good at all to make such
statements.  It misleads people.
- Vince

Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft
Tennessee Tech University
vpitelka at dtccom.net  
sites.tntech.edu/wpitelka/


-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:clayart-bounces at lists.clayartworld.com] On Behalf Of
mel jacobson
Sent: Friday, May 11, 2018 10:07 AM
To: clay <" clayart"@lists.clayartworld.com>
Subject: [Clayart] crash cooling and funny story

kurt, nils and our group looked into crash cooling years back.
it works to a degree, but is, in our opinion, a rather silly way to deal
with pots.  down firing is the answer to the entire story.
(ask me for my book if you do not have it...pdf file, free of charge)

as we have talked about all winter, i am speed firing and speed cooling my
new clay and glaze.
but, it is natural cooling...whatever the kiln will tolerate.
and that three hour down firing is very gentle and fits with the schedule.
i do not open the kiln at all during cooling.  watch the pyrometer go down
slowly.
but, the kiln can easily cool to 500 in about four hours.
i do not lift the lid til it is at 150F. 

the pots have no ill effect.  they ring true, have no dunting, shivers or
other awful problems.  there has not been a crack in the two hundred or more
pots i have fired with my electric kiln.

as happens in industry, the warm up to cone is gradual but with controlled
speed.  the pots are in the cone area for about ten minutes or less.
the cooling again is gradual and controlled.  no shocks, ever.
climb to the top, and let it cool the same way.  perfect bell curve.

if you open a kiln in that thousand degree range, the pots will be ruined.
we had a dork at the farm open our big stoneware kiln at 1200 and snatch his
pots and went home.
the entire kiln of pots was ruined..like 80 pieces.
some could be saved, but most had baby cracks.

if you are working for speed, you had better chart what you are doing and
keep to a strict schedule.

my study is not about rushing to get things done.
we all can wait. never ruin pots.
my tests are about what the clay and glaze will tolerate.
it is about testing limits.  that has always been the study of mine, kurts
and nils.  how far can you push, then back off.
find the prefect system for  timing, fuel saving and  great pots that sing.
i have reached that point in my new firing schedule.

funny story,.  i stopped at a garage sale yesterday, had a five dollar bill
that i keep in my glove box....was looking for new stuffed toys for my
golden...she loves new toys. 1$  each got 5.
but, as i parked ,a lady with a big black bentley  car pulled next to me.
(like 125 thousand dollar car) ?? who knows.
i helped her out of the car, you know on a little hill and grass. she was
like 70...lovely looking, great clothes.  she was old enough to appreciate a
gentleman.
we walked over to the tables and she was snatching a few things.
i said to her.
`it is really nice to be shopping at a garage sale with a lady that parks
her bentley  and looks for bargains.` ` said the old line.
`how do you think i can afford a bentley...?  ```  she wanted to buy my gold
teddy bear, offered me two bucks...but, i could not sell saffron's gold
bear,  there are limits to making money.
mel

--
Mel's Website:  www.melpots.com
CLAYART PAGE:
http://www.melpots.com/CLAYART.HTML

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