Sodium Silicate Crackle - Backyard Clay - Spraying Glazes

I wanted to experiment with using backyard clay slip as part of a crackle pot. I wasn't sure if I needed to add Sodium Silicate to the clay slip, or if an undercoating alone was adequate. I show trying both ways in this video, along with spraying glazes and how I got the clay from my soil.
I hope you enjoy.

[@judywayland5507]

Amazing. That turned out beautifully!

[@doubleblessings-royalcrowr1669]

Amazing, i wish i was your garbage man in case you ever throw out any of your experiments! Really very interesting what you are doing!!

[@DunoonVanRijn-dx1hr]

This is truly a beautiful pot❤

[@kellydiver]

Beautiful pot! I think you made a good choice in handling that situation. In my experience, it’s virtually impossible to recenter just the top of a pot and have the piece turn out looking proportionate. It will always look a little “off” to the eye when you do that. In this case, it would have been made more difficult just because the rest of the pot was already stiffened from the sodium silicate and the torch. Embrace the wabi-sabi in this piece - it’s a really nice pot. 😊

[@JustinsMakery]

Thanks!

[@klp4655]

Awesome piece

[@crcr2896]

Informative demo.

[@marykidd5666]

I'm buying sodium silicate now! Thanks Justin

[@greenriverwoodco.6032]

Awesome pot

[@mark314158]

When expanding the pot friction will cause it to twist in one direction. Running the wheel clockwise will cause it to twist in the opposite direction giving vertical cracks - in theory. In practice the pot becomes unstable and things end badly. Perhaps watch Hsin-Chuen Lin for a masterclass on this technique - using porcelain!

[@taniatownsend8309]

You need to apply the sodium silicate in different revolutions on different parts of the pot. It too has a memory.😊. Lovely demo.

[@cyndikrupa1480]

I threw sort of a cone shaped piece that is say about 4" or so wide and is narrower and rounded at the end. After bisque firing it I can wet it and gently fit it to the top and it help to even it out a bit. Hit it with some heat if the clays too wet or let it stand for a bit and then see if you can continue to throw it.

[@DunoonVanRijn-dx1hr]

I am amazed about the jumping on the bandwagon mentality, Sodium Sicilate.

[@wanderingpots]

Try holding the rim while you expand the pot for centering purposes also, move the rib to different positions is between 6 and 3 o clock to get difference in swirls.. I think for alternate direction you maybe could try by centering the clay down in alternate directions top and bottom, I think it might not of worked because the clay was centered in one direction. An interesting video as always, thank you.

[@bedecool]

I’m not a potter,just love watching. Have you tried applying another layer of sodium silicate after you achieved your first layer of cracks and then going in the opposite direction ?

[@bjornlindberg9779]

The problem with the wobbly rim did happen much earlier in the process, it is hard to fix when you have already expanded the body. There are two things you can do to improve the situation, first throw your cylinders differently. Open wider than the final width and always keep it coning inwards when pulling up, you need to maintain volcano shape basically. If you try to pull / lift a perfectly straight cylinder you are going to make it, ever so slightly wobbly, and this wobbliness will only get worse over time. The other benefit of the volcano shape is that you get more clay up, I am gonna take a guess that your vase is a bit bottom heavy and that you cannot trim all that away without ruining your crackle pattern. Second, when expanding the shape; it helps if you make a little impromptu rim by bending out the last half inch on the top. It works on the same idea as a corrugated metal roof in that it gets stability from bending in one direction by being bent in the other. I like to rest a finger on the rim and let me left arm lean on the inside of the rim a bit. This helps maintaining it straight but you also get feedback when you go to hard pushing out. Another thing that also helps is to do the first expansion pull really slow and only move very little material. When you heat the pot the clay stiffens up and you need to crack the clay open again. If you go to hard here it is rather easy to make a dent that cannot be undone. I start by establishing a slight grove in the very bottom, then I lift that grove up and out. After that, when the clay is cracked open, you can be more aggressive with the expansion. I was trying to think of KZbin material that could be interesting but the only thing I can come to think of is this workshop: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eJ-cq5-JgL2intE much like Joe I dry out my pots on the inside before expanding them, it really helps a lot, especially if you want to get the top back in to make nice rim.

[@JustinsMakery]

Wow! Thank you for the comment. I appreciate your thoughts.

[@brianh.9688]

@@JustinsMakery Hi Justin. First, what a nice pot! Second, I remember reading something about using a plastic flange to help keep the top of a pot in shape as you expand the form. I've never tried it, but it may be worth a look: community.ceramicartsdaily.org/topic/17964-how-to-throw-this-form-in-one-piece/?tab=comments#comment-145766

[@bentonjackson8698]

I've done this with slips and underglazes, and I've always put the sodium silicate on last.

[@patspotpage]

I'm an amatur but I would wet my hand and go on the inside from under the rim and see if I can work the top back to center more. Alternatively, could you throw the neck a bit before you expande the pot? Very cool demo, thanks for sharing.

[@jonyalen5011]

Parabéns, bela criação!

[@cyndikrupa1480]

I'm wondering if it would make a difference if you applied the sodium silicate first going in a horizontal direction and dry about 30 seconds or so and then did it up and down and then tried to throw it?

[@philharper9782]

Not a pro here but I think that the weight of the top rim on top of the thinner sides you got by pushing the middle out made it wonky. Maybe if the top was lifted while you expanded the middle you would have kept your center. Love the texture and color you got!

[@noreenebailey-treece7634]

I honestly would just leave the room at this point. It's a bit of center. It's hard to through standing because your not able to anchor your elbows. But the rim really does work on the pot.

[@deepashtray5605]

I had suspected it would have more to do with the fixed counter clockwise orientation of the clay structure; thrown clockwise the crackle would flow clockwise. I'm trying to figure that out for such things as mug handles and tea spouts, to get them to align properly after the drying and firing process. That's a sweet looking pot. A local artist uses sodium silicate to mimic tree bark, does the most amazing forest themed pots with vividly realistic lichen, moss, leaves.... Did you try putting the sodium silicate on the surface of the brown clay rather than mixed in it? Seems mixing it in would work more as a deflocculant up to the point where it starts to change the chemistry of the glaze recipe; sodium silicate by itself is used as a surface hardener for firebrick and refractory fiber, which you are probably well aware of :P As an aside, I've learned that sodium silicate can be ordered from Home Depot by the gallon for significantly less than from most pottery and art supply stores.

[@JustinsMakery]

Thanks! I didn't try it on top of the slip. Thanks for the tip on Home Depot too. I didn't know that.

[@deepashtray5605]

@@JustinsMakery Yup, Blick Art Supplies wants $16.45 for 16oz, Home Depot $30 a gallon.

[@rischfabien6565]

Do you have to use a blow torch to make it work or could you also use a heatgun?

[@JustinsMakery]

A heat gun would work great too. I just don't have one. Technically, just leaving the sodium silica sit out in the open air will do it. I've left it spinning on the wheel in front of a fan. Takes longer and the SS can run. Even a hair dryer has worked for me, although it takes a bit longer than the torch.

[@rischfabien6565]

@@JustinsMakery thank you!

[@ashleyyancey8806]

Watching you throw that rim gives me anxiety. I would have just left it alone man. If not then I would have cut it off and coiled on a new one.

[@clifforddalton3067]

I guess that when you are pushing out from the inside, that the clay used to make the pot is wanting to unwide? What you was saying that when throwing the rim, and about wet clay running down the outside! d, use was resist on the outside before you start attempting to throw the rim ;) On various pots I use this method, and it always works for me Justins. The wax will burn off in the kiln. Yes before attempting the rim, from around 3" down on the outside I would try to manoeuvre that part into the middle [or as much as possible]. You won't be able to centre it completely, but it could be a lot better after doing this, to throw the rim. When it's finished Don't be concerned about the whole pot being off centre, only if someone puts it, will they ever know it's off centre: LOL Justins I just found kzbin.info/www/bejne/kKnMln2se6yjZ8k thrower, you might want to watch it ok! he gets beautiful crackles, but what's more! he manages to keep the rim centred all through. AMAZING.

[@rogerhagger7967]

.hej Justine, just as a therapy, watch some japanese potters doing things without "explaining" so much !!!!