I need to bake some potters clay goodies. The only thing I have is my weber Q something or other. Will I be able to bake the pottery items to such a degree that they will not disintegrate in water in the future? Think background wall being submerged. Thanks Ferdie
Actually this is not for my osmocote diy root tabs - for that I believe the best is OC+ and clay - not dried but frozen. I am wanting to do a quick and easy cave system for the convict tank (Think the current rock is contributing to BBA so want to replace the natural stuff with more clay- terracotta. The other 1/4 allows the hobby to only encroach so much and the oven is a NO NO.
A friend of mine baked his own clay balls that he used as a bottom layer underneath the pool filter sand. Worked really well. The easiest way to do a cave it to take a normal, unglazed clay pot and breading out a "door" using a pair of pliers.
Ferdie, most potters will fire your construct for you at little cost... not much good to you, but a potter mate has offered to fire anything I want. You should get anything you make as decor properly fired, there's no way an oven/weber will reach equivalent temps. They (potters that is) often have spaces they can tuck bits into... moral: make a potter friend soon! Btw, am also sceptical about baking ferts... but others have done it, and seem to be fine.
Or if you know of someone doing art as a subject in highschool,ask them to help as most schools have a kiln?
Jeepers Guys, This is a heavy thread. Henk, I would never put my own clay balls near any ovens, might be far too painful..... Ferdie, I would fire the clay cave for the convicts in your Weber anytime, as firstly most clay firing ovens are fired with gas in any case. Henk the home gas that is used is not toxic, I mean that is why we use it for cooking on Webers right? But Henk, even if the gas was a little toxic, I mean anything to get convicts to produce a little less offspring the better, I mean, Ferdie, what the hell do you want to do with the offspring? Populating your local river or something, the LFS is certainly not going to buy them. So, my clay balls will definitely not go into any ovens, and I would rather fire a cave for L46's that would be a worthwhile investment. Enjoy the festive season guys, I certainly am, and this sort of post makes my day. Kind regards, Dirk
LOL - excellent - any clue how long I would need to weber the clay toys? Since I do not do any pottery - would I first do the sculpture, let it dry completely (cover with a most cloth I presume?) and the fire it? Caves for L's hmmm might be an interesting thing to look at. Later Ferdie
Hi Ferdie, The new Webers have thermometers right (or was that model too expensive......?) and I would heat the pottery to the maximum temp for say 30 minutes and then switch it off, but not open it, I would allow it too cool off slowly. You can make the sculpture (Michelangello, watch it!) and then let it dry normally, no lappies, just let it dry completely, and then fire it. Look into the L46 caves, might be your gap to the next of your millions..... Kind regards, Dirk
Henk, The clay will be so hot that it will cause any carbon monoxide that may be there to evaporate (blow off as gas) so quickly that it will disappear immediately, no problem. Kind regards, Dirk
- ja the other 1/4 gave me the weber for B-day way back ... been doing more digging ... sjoe. But these guys do it at 1200C, some clays do seem to be baked at 300C but this needs to be tested with the clay that I currently have. I am taking some tips form that thread - plan what you want to scape before you start. These guys use big chunks of clay wall is 2 -3 cm thick - lower than that they say it is tricky. So for now it is planning. When I find a supplier for 20kg I'll see if they have low temp oven baking clay. For now I will plan and maybe put a small bit of clay into the weber once I have a model done. Later Ferdie
Hi Ferdie, I am beginning to think that you should take Tracy up on her offer of her potter friend. Draw a design and go and speak to the professionals. I know that the thickness of the clay is an issue and then how fast/slowly you cool down the whole lot will determine if it will crack etc. Then you won't have to get Henk worried about overheating your clay balls and the carbon monoxide either, I am beginning to think that this whole thing is far too stressful for Henk, die senuwees, seun..... Kind regards, Dirk
O.k - missed this one... your Weber wont even get your clay up to "bisque ware" temperature,but should leave you with a cracked piece due to uneven heating... Which means it will still be water soluble (silica compounds have not "melted/fused" yet) Also remember that your clay background,when fired to Stoneware temperatures (make sure it is grogged clay as well - ungrogged tends to not have the structural strength for something that size...) it will shrink in size by approximately 10% - so take that into account...
And remember to make sure there are no little air bubble in the clay - when it's baked in a pottery oven (1300*C) the air heat up (duh) and the air expands and will cause the thing to shatter. I know the cooling process then takes like 3 days too. First only 2 small vents are open (put my finger in there one - almost cried) and then after about a day the door is opened slightly. If it cools down too quickly it will burst. Normally in pottery, the wares are first "bisk" baked (think that's what you call it). Then it's painted then it's baked at the 1300*C for the final product. I don't think it will be a big deal for a small pottery class to bake something for a small fee. I know a nice (sometimes) tannie in our street with her own oven so I'm fortunate there.
