Intro to Raku Firing : David Kenny

Class Description

David Kenny from Ukhamba.NZ will be facilitating a wonderful Introduction to Raku firing workshop. This is something we have never offered before so we are super excited. Prerequisites: Anyone interested in Raku firing. Please bring four to six small to medium size bisque fired pieces for the raku firing. See size limits below. Please note: depending on the number of students not all your pieces may make it into the kiln. We will try our best. Glazes will be provided. The clays should have some grog in it like these Raku clays available at CCG : search Raku Clays. You can hand-build, throw or combine techniques. The key is to keep your wall thickness consistent throughout the piece. Search David Kenny on YouTube Pottery with an Engineer, Remember that your work will undergo extreme thermal shock, so avoid building too thick or unevenly. Disclaimer: By submitting work for raku firing, you acknowledge and accept that there are certain risks and agree that EAC / Ukhamba.NZ shall not be liable for any loss or damage to your piece/s. From David Kenny, Pottery with an engineer: There are sometimes delays during the firing but I will fire all the loads so people should allow extra time in case it runs late. Pieces should be made from Raku Clay with some grog in it and ideally be between 6 and 10 mm thick. Thin pieces are hard to get in the sawdust quick/hot enough to generate smoke. Very thick pieces don't heat up quick enough so the glaze doesn't always mature. Think about how it will be picked up with tongs. Raku kiln has 2 shelves and they are 385x275mm. Maximum height is 180 mm. Bottom shelf has 3 props reducing space. The kiln can't be densely packed so allow about 10mm between pieces for air flow. Smaller pieces are more flexible to arrange but I can make a range of small and medium pieces work. While waiting for the 3rd load to cool in the sawdust we can do a quick lower temp load for people to do the horse hair or feather burning on. I've got 6 crackle glazes and a glossy copper. The white, yellow and turquoise show the crackle well. I figure if they have glaze experience we can get everything glazed in an hour. I want everything glazed first so it can dry. First load I can go slow but hot shelves can explode the pots so I like to give them time to dry. Then firing will take about 3.5 hrs assuming people to help setup and pack up. Current Members will receive 5% member discount. Please use your membership number as the PROMO code.