#coppercarbonate — Public Fediverse posts

Some pottery glazes act very differently depending on whether they're fired in the presence of oxygen or without it -- oxidation vs reduction is the technical terminology. One way to fire in reduction is to fuel the kiln with actual burning stuff like natural gas or wood. Another way is to put the still-hot fired piece in a closed container with combustible stuff. The piece ignites the stuff, the stuff quickly eats all available oxygen and creates a reduction atmosphere. This is the principle behind the Western version of raku.

Well, I don't have access to either method, but someone recently sent me an insta showing glazed fired pottery being hit with a butane torch and turning crazy colors. I realized the torch must be making a highly local reduction atmosphere so I tried it out with some copper carbonate based aqua blue glaze on porcelain and holy cow, it worked! The piece of clay broke from heat shock, but I think I can avoid that by using a bigger torch (I only have a little dabbing torch right now) and introducing the clay to the heat very slowly. We'll see!

Meanwhile, check this out! The first image is the oxidation fired piece. Next an action pic with torch and flame after the piece split from heat shock. Finally, the magical result. The photo doesn't really do justice to the complex metallic colors but you get the idea.

#Ceramics #Pottery #Raku #Oxidation #Reduction #CopperCarbonate #Torch

Some pottery glazes act very differently depending on whether they're fired in the presence of oxygen or without it -- oxidation vs reduction is the technical terminology. One way to fire in reduction is to fuel the kiln with actual burning stuff like natural gas or wood. Another way is to put the still-hot fired piece in a closed container with combustible stuff. The piece ignites the stuff, the stuff quickly eats all available oxygen and creates a reduction atmosphere. This is the principle behind the Western version of raku.

Well, I don't have access to either method, but someone recently sent me an insta showing glazed fired pottery being hit with a butane torch and turning crazy colors. I realized the torch must be making a highly local reduction atmosphere so I tried it out with some copper carbonate based aqua blue glaze on porcelain and holy cow, it worked! The piece of clay broke from heat shock, but I think I can avoid that by using a bigger torch (I only have a little dabbing torch right now) and introducing the clay to the heat very slowly. We'll see!

Meanwhile, check this out! The first image is the oxidation fired piece. Next an action pic with torch and flame after the piece split from heat shock. Finally, the magical result. The photo doesn't really do justice to the complex metallic colors but you get the idea.

#Ceramics #Pottery #Raku #Oxidation #Reduction #CopperCarbonate #Torch

Some pottery glazes act very differently depending on whether they're fired in the presence of oxygen or without it -- oxidation vs reduction is the technical terminology. One way to fire in reduction is to fuel the kiln with actual burning stuff like natural gas or wood. Another way is to put the still-hot fired piece in a closed container with combustible stuff. The piece ignites the stuff, the stuff quickly eats all available oxygen and creates a reduction atmosphere. This is the principle behind the Western version of raku.

Well, I don't have access to either method, but someone recently sent me an insta showing glazed fired pottery being hit with a butane torch and turning crazy colors. I realized the torch must be making a highly local reduction atmosphere so I tried it out with some copper carbonate based aqua blue glaze on porcelain and holy cow, it worked! The piece of clay broke from heat shock, but I think I can avoid that by using a bigger torch (I only have a little dabbing torch right now) and introducing the clay to the heat very slowly. We'll see!

Meanwhile, check this out! The first image is the oxidation fired piece. Next an action pic with torch and flame after the piece split from heat shock. Finally, the magical result. The photo doesn't really do justice to the complex metallic colors but you get the idea.

#Ceramics #Pottery #Raku #Oxidation #Reduction #CopperCarbonate #Torch

Some pottery glazes act very differently depending on whether they're fired in the presence of oxygen or without it -- oxidation vs reduction is the technical terminology. One way to fire in reduction is to fuel the kiln with actual burning stuff like natural gas or wood. Another way is to put the still-hot fired piece in a closed container with combustible stuff. The piece ignites the stuff, the stuff quickly eats all available oxygen and creates a reduction atmosphere. This is the principle behind the Western version of raku.

Well, I don't have access to either method, but someone recently sent me an insta showing glazed fired pottery being hit with a butane torch and turning crazy colors. I realized the torch must be making a highly local reduction atmosphere so I tried it out with some copper carbonate based aqua blue glaze on porcelain and holy cow, it worked! The piece of clay broke from heat shock, but I think I can avoid that by using a bigger torch (I only have a little dabbing torch right now) and introducing the clay to the heat very slowly. We'll see!

Meanwhile, check this out! The first image is the oxidation fired piece. Next an action pic with torch and flame after the piece split from heat shock. Finally, the magical result. The photo doesn't really do justice to the complex metallic colors but you get the idea.

#Ceramics #Pottery #Raku #Oxidation #Reduction #CopperCarbonate #Torch

Some pottery glazes act very differently depending on whether they're fired in the presence of oxygen or without it -- oxidation vs reduction is the technical terminology. One way to fire in reduction is to fuel the kiln with actual burning stuff like natural gas or wood. Another way is to put the still-hot fired piece in a closed container with combustible stuff. The piece ignites the stuff, the stuff quickly eats all available oxygen and creates a reduction atmosphere. This is the principle behind the Western version of raku.

Well, I don't have access to either method, but someone recently sent me an insta showing glazed fired pottery being hit with a butane torch and turning crazy colors. I realized the torch must be making a highly local reduction atmosphere so I tried it out with some copper carbonate based aqua blue glaze on porcelain and holy cow, it worked! The piece of clay broke from heat shock, but I think I can avoid that by using a bigger torch (I only have a little dabbing torch right now) and introducing the clay to the heat very slowly. We'll see!

Meanwhile, check this out! The first image is the oxidation fired piece. Next an action pic with torch and flame after the piece split from heat shock. Finally, the magical result. The photo doesn't really do justice to the complex metallic colors but you get the idea.

#Ceramics #Pottery #Raku #Oxidation #Reduction #CopperCarbonate #Torch