48 Hours

That's how long before I can start unloading the kiln. The firing itself was uneventful, if that can can be said about such an exciting process - although I didn't realize until too late that I didn't have any salt, so it was straight soda this time.

What can I do with my 48 hours? How about, make 48 bowls!! I am still reaping the bounty of the 100 mugs in 100 hours project, and as I said, I got a lot of really good mugs out of that. (Also some stinkers: but that's unavoidable.)

In other news, here's how the stack looked before I bricked up:

"But wait, what's going on with those teapots? It looks like...yes, I think..."

You're right: they are completely covered in wax. When I glazed for the last firing, I used wax over the flashing slip in some places, because removing errant drips from the slipped surface is tough to do without leaving a scar. And "Errant Drips" is pretty much my secret name. (That should be my Twitter handle!) So I waxed areas that I thought would likely be receiving said drips. Just wax, nothing in it. And look what I discovered upon unloading:

Look close, especially on the right-hand side of the photo. See that rectangular mark? That is the edge of the waxed area. To be clear, the inside of the rectangle is where there was no wax. The area that had been waxed is juicier and more lush with soda glaze, and took a richer color. It feels nicer, too. I don't have a good explanation for this. Here's the flashing slip recipe:

41.9 EPK
41.9 OM 4
5.7 Borax
10.5 Zircopax

The wax, of course, burns away long before anything active happens with any of those ingredients...or so I thought.  The results say different. Maybe the wax leaves just enough carbon to change the outcome?

Much as I hate not knowing why, (and I will find out) it doesn't really matter why. I coated most of the flashing-slipped pieces in this load with wax, and will find out Sunday whether or not this was some kind of fluke. Of course, I forgot the salt, so if I get a different result, that could account for it. Will keep you posted!


Okay, off to make bowls.