SAGGER:
Fuel burning kilns produce a lot of
flying ash and debris. Saggars are boxes made of refactory materials.
They were created to protect the ware from these inevitable distroyers.
Saggars are stacked in the kiln like boxes on a truck.
SALT GLAZE:
Salt is introduced into the kiln
chamber at specific tempertures. It vaporizes; creating a glaze type
covering on the pottery within. Salt glaze has a drippy, mottled surface;
much like the texture of an orange peel.
SAND:
Chemically known as silica. It is
predominately made of the mineral flint. [ SiO2 ]
SAWHORSES:
Work tables can be made from found materials.
Interior doors and wooden sawhorses can be stored easily and make useful
tables; practically free.
Check out the “HOW TO” tutorials.
For more information:
SCALES:
Inexpensive vegetable or shipping scales
from yard or tag sales are very useful in the studio and / or next to the
potter's wheel.
For more information:
SCORING TOOL:
Scoring is an essential proceedure for
attaching pieces of clay together for ceramics and pottery. Both surfaces
to be joined are “scratched” and wettened with slurry. it
is often necessary to use temporary external supports to hold the
pieces together until the piece sets. You can make your own scoring tool !
Check out the “how to ” tutorial below:
For more information:
SGRAFFITO:
Sgraffito is a decorating technique.
The leatherhard or softer surface of a piece is covered with a
contrasting color of underglaze or slip or glaze. A design is cut
through the covering; revealing the color of the clay body. For
example: A black covering is brushed over the entire surface of
a pot made from a white clay body. The cut line becomes a white
line on a black field. Check out the “HOW TO” tutorial below:
SHARD:
A piece of a broken pot. The most
desireable shards have some kind of detail from the pot; a rim, texture,
pattern or foot, etc.
SHELVES:
Clay studio shelves are rather unique.
They need to accomidate pottery of varying heights and widths. Shelf units
should not have fixed heights. The trick is to build a frame without shelves.
The frame should have slots for wareboards to slide into. Check out the
“HOW TO” tutorial below:
For more information:
SLAB:
A flattened, planeilinier piece of clay.
Slabs are used, much the same way a pieces of card board would be used to
construct a form. Slab construction is a hand building technique.
It is fairly difficult, because clay is not as stable as building with
paper. Clay shrinks and cannot hold its own weight when soft.
SLAB TABLE:
Slab rollers are very expensive. The
tables that can be purchased with them are also very expensive. Manufactured
tables are too small and not the right height for me. Check out the
“HOW TO” tutorial below:
For more information:
SLIP:
1. Liquid clay used for decoration.
Also called “engobe.” 2.Liquid clay used for casting in
plaster molds. 3. Liquid clay used to join pieces, much like glue.
Also called “slurry” Slip can be made from colored
clays or oxides of minerals
SLIP DECORATION:
Slip can be applied in a wide
variety of ways. It can be squeezed through an ear bulb or syringe
to form a thick 3-D trail. Slip can be brushed over an entire
surface to change its color. It can be brushed on in such a way
as to create a dry brush texture. Slip can be sprayed through
an atomizer or an air brush. It can be cut through to reveal
the color of the cloay body. Typically, slip does not have
silica in it. It has, therefore, a dull unshiney surface.
It usually requires a clear glaze over coat to, make it reflective.
SLIP TRAILING:
1. See above slip discriptions.
2. Slip trailing is a decorative technique that employs a syringe
or an ear wash bulb to apply a 3-D trail or dimentional line to the ware.
The difficulty arises when the problem of even drying occurs. The slip
trail must contract or shrink at the same rate as the ceramic piece or
it will litteraly fall off. The best way to start is by using the clay
body itself as the base. Of course, it will contract at nearly the
same rate. The problem is finding color additive that will not
significantly alter the slip's rate of shrinkage. Good luk.
[ oops, it shrunk. ]
SLIPWARE:
Refers to pieces cast with slip;
usually unfired, greenware.
SLURRY:
Slurry is used as glue when
joining clay pieces. It is also used as a lubricant for clay
on the wheel instead of straight water. Check out the “HOW TO”
tutorial below:
For more information:
SOAKING:
As the kiln heats and reaches the
desired temperature, it is allow to plateau and mantain the same
temperature for a period of time. This is done to give glaze
adequate time to melt and flow to an even coat.
SODIUM SILICATE:
Used to deflocculate or suspend
clay particles in water for casting. Hey ! wanna make it ?
Sodium silicate is 1 part soda to 3.3 parts silica. Careful,
don't add too much. It may
form to a geletinous state. This state is called
“thixotropy.” Good luck!
SPONGES:
Natural sponges, grown by nature, are best
for clay work. If and when they decompose, it burns off in firing along with
other organics found in clay. Synthetic sponges are lifeless and lack character.
This may be opinion, based on experience. Learn more; check out the tutorial below:
For more information:
SPRIG:
A sprig is usually a press
molded piece, like a medalian or flure de lie, adhered to
larger ceramic ware as a decorative embellishment.
When both are leatherhard. The surfaces to be adhered are
stratched or roughened and adhered [ “glued” ] with slurry.
SPUR MARKS:
The three disrupted marks
found on the bottom of most modern ceramics, especially
glazed, low fire earthenware. These marks come from the
the ceramic furniture each piece is placed on
during firing; called a stilt. Stilts are triangular.
At the apex of each angle there is a point to rest the
bottom of the ware on. Stilts are made of very stable
refactory material. Cheap, utitarian stilts are made
entirely of refactory material. The better, sharper
pointed ones have kanthal metal points. Capilary action draws
a small pucker of molten glaze during firing, at the point
of contact. When the stilt is broken off; it leaves a
razor sharp spur. This spur will severely slice a finger tip or palm.
Much like a deep paper cut. Wear gloves when unloading the kiln.
STACKED:
The word used when refering
to a kiln that has been loaded and is ready to fire.
Stacking a kiln is an arduos task. Every cubic inch must
be consummed. A well stacked kiln fires better than a loose one.
STAIN:
Underglazes and overglaze
enamals get their color from specially formulated and commercially produced
stains. Simple oxides often account for some colors.
But, most come from stains.
STILT:
Stilts are triangular.
At the apex of each angle there is a point to rest the
bottom of the ware on. Stilts are made of very stable
refactory material. Cheap, utitarian stilts are made
entirely of refactory material. The better, sharper
pointed ones have kanthal metal points. Capilary action draws
a small pucker of molten glaze during firing, at the point
of contact. When the stilt is broken off; it leaves a
razor sharp spur. This spur will severely slice a finger tip or palm.
Much like a deep paper cut. Wear gloves when unloading the kiln.
STONEWARE:
This is a high fire clay body.
It is considered to be in between earthenware and porcelain.
It matures at tempertures above 2300 degrees fahrenheit. It is
usually earth colors of brown or beige from the presence of iron
and other foriegn materials. It is ideal for serving or containing
food because it has very low absorbtion.
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