Using Wood Ash Spray In Ceramic Firing

The japanese have always held wood fired ceramics in high esteem wood kilns can not only produce temperatures of 1400 c 2 500 f wood fires also produce fly ash and volatile salts.

Using wood ash spray in ceramic firing.

The next step is to weigh equal amounts of ash and redart clay. This complex interaction of ash salts minerals in the clay and the flame itself are what give wood fired pots their unique characteristics. The ash from the wood was coating the bricks adhering and melting as a thin layer of glaze. In a salt firing the salt vaporizes and the sodium chloride splits into sodium and chlorine gas.

The work in wood kilns reveals the story of the firing with pieces showing ash deposits and the path of the flame through the kiln. Traditionally ash glazes were fired between cones 9 and 10. The minerals from the wood are restored to nature where they can be reused again. At this temperature the ash will easily melt and the result to the non purist is almost indistinguishable from pottery fired in a wood firing kiln.

It requires a very hot dirty firing to look good but also it holds up well in multi day super hot wood kilns. Does it have detrimental effects on your elements or bricks in an electric kiln. I only mix up what i ll use in one firing 1000 grams of each since the ash glaze does not store well. Salt vaporizes at a fairly low temperature and can work its way into all sorts of nooks and crannies.

While wood kiln firing isn t easy the results are incomparable. You can build a simple raku kiln and fire your work with wood to get stunning results. The salt easily glosses up a piece and helps the wood ash flux out. But not all wood kilns are built.

The process that i m talking about is wood firing with salt thrown in. Wood ash is caustic so work in a well ventilated area with a respirator and wear safety goggles and chemical resistant gloves. Lately i have read short descriptions of people using soda ash wash on their bisque fired pieces prior to glaze firing and have several questions. Now with so many fuel options available to the potter wood fired kilns are more of a choice than a necessity.

After mixing with water run the glaze. Shino ash wash from sylvia dales 70 potash feldspar g 200 30 wood ash bentonite 2. Jennifer poellot harnetty editor. Used as very thin wash dipped brushed or sprayed over shino this mix promotes carbon trapping and can give the look of wood firing.

I remember visiting a well known pottery in japan renowned for its wood fired pots and seeing a woman swathed in indigo cloth spraying wood ash in a fairly thick coating onto the pots. Wood ash contains all the trace minerals from inside a trees wood which are the building blocks needed for plant health. So check out nesrin s post today. Using up wood ash in your yard and garden is a natural solution.

Is it only used on bare bisque fired clay or can it be used over a glaze coat under a glaze coat or over underglazes.