Raku - The process
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Most ceramic artists I know love to raku. it's fairly quick, somewhat dangerous, and the results are inconsistent. We love a mystery. First the pieces are glazed with a simple glaze.
The glazes usually have just a few ingredients. Glaze
Recipes And the pieces are then placed in the raku kiln. I have found that
the glaze should dry on the piece at least a few hours before starting the heat them up in
the kiln. Otherwise, the moisture in the glaze causes the pieces to crack. |
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My kiln was made by a ceramic artist friend, who used to take it to the beach and fire it there. The fuel is propane, so I use the 5 gallon tanks that people use for their "gas" barbecue grills. I can fire about 5 raku firings out of one propane container. To get to 1800 degrees, I use a special burner. it's a high volume, high temp burner from ward burners. www.wardburner.com |
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| n order to know when you've reached 1823 degrees,
the easiest approach is to use a pyrometric cone. They simply bend when they've hit
temperature. However, the most accurate way to measure the temperature is to use a
pyrometer, which a meter that reads temperature via a probe inserted into the kiln
chamber. I called ward burner to order a pyrometer, but the guys at Ward are
purists, and they told me I didn't need a pyrometer for raku. I bought it from
another online ceramic supply house. www.bigceramicstore.com |
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When the kiln is at cone 06, and the glaze looks like it has smoothed out, it's time to move the pots to the reduction chamber aka garbage can. I line small garbage cans with newspaper, hay, and pine needles first. I watch the kiln, and when the pots are ready, I move them outof the kiln with long tongs, and put each one in a garbage can. a flame flares up, and then I cover the can. this causes the fire to consume all the remaining oxygen, and then take what oxygen it cam from the glazes on the pots. So, for example, the Copper Oxide becomes just Copper. it leave pots with a beautiful metallic shine. |
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