Fresh From the Kiln, Some Pinging

cracker or appetizer trays

I've been on a marathon of loading, firing, unloading, glazing, loading, then unloading.

soap dishes

I'm hearing lots of pinging but so far everything seems fine with this new clay Elizabeth's Stoneware. The green glaze usually breaks to gold which it did but where thick in the corners there is a peach tone which is nice.

butter dishes

When I first opened the kiln at 127 F I heard pinging so I closed it back up again. I went back an hour later and pots were barely warm to the touch. After unloading there was still some slight pinging, not as loud. I modified my templates for the soap, butter and cracker trays to be rounded on the corners which I like much better than previous ones which came to points on the corners. While glazing the yellow butter dish I found a sharp piece in the texture. So I wiped off the glaze and sanded the sharp spot but then I didn't recall which glaze I'd used so I used another one. I like the different color texture with the yellow.

sponge holders

I'll have to be careful with this clay and cool it slowly and unload pots at room temperature. I always set my fresh pottery on wood boards because the wood is warmer than metal shelves. This helps minimize thermal shock till the fresh pots acclimate to their new environment.

shell bowls

The back bowl is slightly warped but still lies flat and is usable, so probably for us. This blue glaze usually breaks with more brown on the previous clay I used. Probably needs a lot of texture. I may try the other clay I have and see if I can coax more brown highlights out of it.

Some of the refrigerator magnets are warped (top two rows). For the butterflies I added the black stain after the glaze, something I've never done before. I didn't take my time because I was rushed to get them into the kiln. I hope to improve next time. All in all a very good load, even though it wasn't actually a full  load. Next I am going to figure out how to get the big pots into the kiln. Wish me luck with those. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.