Upwey Potters Raku Firing
Last revised: 25th April 2006 .
The Upwey Potters are a group of ceramic artists who live & work in Upwey, Dorset, England, making and selling their work and running Workshops.
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Upwey Potters Raku Firing Last revised: 25th April 2006 . The Upwey Potters are a group of ceramic artists who live & work in Upwey, Dorset, England, making and selling their work and running Workshops. |
| Return to Upwey Potters Home Page This page shows images and a brief description of the Raku firing by the Upwey Potters. It will take a while to load all the images, but there is something to read while you wait! See separate page for details of how to book in for the Upwey Potters Raku Workshops . If you have Broadband there is a short clip of Video of the Upwey Potters Raku workshop during the Dorchester Festival 2004. There is no sound, this technology is still being piloted by the webmaster! Watch Video
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 A batch of Bill's Globes fresh from cleaning up. |
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A Raku Vase by Bill Crumbleholme. A white stoneware body, thrown and turned. Biscuit fired to 950 deg C. Copper Oxide rich glaze, affected by cooling in wood chippings when removed red hot from the Raku kiln. This promoted reduction of the glaze and formation of copper lustres and marked crackle.
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Another
of Bill's Raku Vases, with a zinc oxide white crackled glaze. The carbon
from the smoke has stained the flaws in the glaze, pin pricks and crazing
created by differential rates of expansion and contraction during firing
of the glaze and the clay body. |
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A copper carbonate glaze on white stoneware body, sprayed lightly with water as it was laid in the wood shavings (to promote the crackle effect). |
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A Raku glazed clock made by Carolyn - one of the students of Bill's Evening Class. |
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The Upwey Potter's Raku Kiln in action. This design was featured in Ceramic Review magazine No 161. It is lined with Carbo-wool, space age technology. Held within an iron frame lined with catering aluminium foil. The side gas burner is at a tangent to promote a swirling motion (counter clockwise in northern hemisphere!) |
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The flue hole can be partially closed during firing to adjust escape of heat. It can be sealed when the kiln is waiting a fresh loading. The thermocouple is poked through the side of the kiln to enable the temperature to be sensed. A visual inspection through the flue is used to check the glaze maturity. |
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A close up of the burner. |
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Bill Crumbleholme performing the amazing levitation to reveal the red hot pots sitting on their shelf.
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The pots are immediately transfered using a pair of long tongs. A wise man wears a filter mask, gloves and non-inflammable clothes! |
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The pots are turned upside down in an ammunition case, in a bed of wood shavings, which burst into flames removing the oxygen from the inside of the closed box as it cools. This is the Christening of a new case during the May 2003 Upwey Potters workshops. |
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The pots are left to cool for ten minutes, then moved onto a cooling rack for 5 more minutes and then plunged in water. Scrubbing with stainless steel wire wool removes the carbon residues. |
 A copper rich globe |
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A collection
of Bill's Raku ware |
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| See separate page for details of the Upwey Potters Raku Workshops. Please contact Bill Crumbleholme for more information |
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Go to Home Index Page (Bill Crumbleholme's) |
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