cracking

Cracked Pots

Hey. It's been a very busy week and I feel like I've been high strung and emotional for the better part of it.  I am feeling overwhelmed with all the pots in the studio again, now finished pots instead of pots in process.  I need to get it all cleaned up, priced and moved into the showroom.  It's certainly a good problem to have a lot of inventory but I am ready for some of these pots to go to new homes.

All the Valentine's Day Heart mugs sold.  That was very nice.  It was cool to see that folks liked them so much.  I also sold one of the Love Bird dishes but there are still a few in the Etsy Shop.

I mentioned that I was having some problems with cracking in bowls so I thought I'd put up a few images.  Any ideas on this would be welcome.  I'll tell you that this is Loafer's Glory clay.  No grog or anything.  I throw these bowls very soft and a bit thick in the bottom so I can have a nice footring.  My thoughts are that there is an uncompressed area here that is opening up in the firing.  A 'soft area' from the making.  I don't know for sure.  I don't really like this clay.  But I like the way it fires out and interacts with my slips and soda glaze.

I highlighted the crack with Sharpie.

Here's the cross section after I hammered it.  I had to hold the pieces together.  Maybe the floor is a bit too thick.  I may just need to trim these pots thinner.  I've also tried compressing the wall around the foot after trimming.  (which I hate doing just on principle).

Above is a different bowl with crack higher up in the wall.  Grrrrr. So damn frustrating.

Ok. Well I'll end there for now as I need to get myself off to work.  Happy Friday.  See ya again soon.