198. Kiln Opening Part 2 | My Worst Kiln Results in 5 Years

Part 1 gave me hope. The lower half of Blaze absolutely did not. I only needed a few special pieces to survive this firing, but what came out of the kiln left me genuinely devastated. This became one of the worst kiln openings I’ve had in five years — fused pots, major glaze runs, pinholes, cracks, an exploded plate and a very unexpected pottery rescue mission. In this Part 2 kiln opening, I’m unloading the bottom half of Blaze after a cone 6 glaze firing full of new glaze combinations, special pottery gifts, mugs, lotion bottles, sippy cups, mushroom stems, test pieces and Paint Your Own Pottery from the family festival. Some of the glaze results were absolutely beautiful, including Amethyst Tide, River Birch with Olive Float, Mayco Birch, Sandstone, Ancient Copper, Obsidian, Seaweed, Soft White and more. But unfortunately, beautiful glaze does not always mean a successful piece. This kiln opening includes pottery stuck together, pieces fused to cookies, heavy glaze drips, pinholes, cracked pottery, an exploded plate, emergency grinding, Dremel work and a lot of “it’s only clay” self-talk. There are still some lovely moments in the firing, including the children’s Paint Your Own Pottery pieces, my Tinkerbell mushroom stems, some successful sippy cups and a couple of mugs that may just have survived enough to become gifts. But honestly, this was a hard one. I also share more of what I’m learning about Advancer shelves, kiln cookies, running glazes, silica sand, alumina hydrate, refiring pottery and deciding when to trust the kiln shelf rather than overprotecting a piece. This is Part 2 of a three-part kiln opening story. Part 1 started so well. Part 2 is where it all went wrong. Part 3 is the rescue and refire attempt, where I grind, Dremel, reglaze and try to see whether any of these pottery disasters can actually be saved. The rescue video will be uploaded very soon after this one, so if you want to know what happened next, make sure you check out Part 3. ADVANCER SHELVES / KILNSHELF UK DISCOUNT If you’re in the UK and you’re interested in trying Advancer shelves, KilnShelf have a UK depot and you can order through: https://kilnshelf.uk You can use my discount code for 10% off: FARFOREST For viewers in the USA, KilnShelf have also kindly agreed to honour the FARFOREST discount code. Please email me and I’ll send you the details for who to contact: [email protected] Thank you so much for joining me for the very real highs and lows of pottery, glaze testing and kiln openings. This one was a tough kiln opening, but it also taught me a lot. 💜 Jeanette #pottery #ceramics #kilnopening #glazetesting #stonewarepottery You can also find Jeanette on 🎨 Instagram   / farforestceramics   🎨 Glaze Tests on Instagram   / farforestceramicsglazetests   🎨 Facebook   / farforestceramics   🎨 Online Store & Website https://farforestceramics.com/