Glazing Tips

1. We have two carts used for Clay Docent.  You may pre-load the cart 1/2 day in advance.  Please check the calendar to make sure that there are no other classes going before yours.  DO NOT PRE-LOAD THE GLAZES ON THE CART.  Mark the cart with a post-it including the teacher's name and date.
2. The bisque pieces are stored in plastic bins in the kiln room.  Each bin will be labeled with the post-it you used when sculpting your projects.
3. Shake all glaze jars before using.  Some of the glazes may have separated and need a good shake.
4. Be aware that another class may be glazing at the same time as your class.  To check if another class is glazing, there is a hard copy of the clay schedule in the kiln room.  Look for a clip board standing on it side on third shelf from the top.  You can also check the Clay Docent website (http://bhclaydocent.blogspot.com) for the schedule.
5. If another class is glazing at the same time
• Take only one cup of brushes
• Take only one jar of each color of glaze
• Take 1/2 of the samples if the other class is the same grade level as yours
6. DO NOT GLAZE THE BOTTOM OF THE PIECE.  If we find pieces that have glaze on the bottom, the piece(s) will not be fired with your class.  We will send you an email to either have the student or a parent wipe the glaze off the bottom with a wet towel.  I have already run across this problem with 3 classes.  
7. DO NOT SHARE BRUSHES BETWEEN TWO DIFFERENT COLORS.
8. Broken pieces - have the student glazes the broken pieces.  Keep all the pieces together on the drying board along with a note stating the piece is broken.  The committee tries to fire and mend all the broken pieces.  If the pieces are too small we are unable to fire them.
9. If a student is absent the day of glazing, there are a couple of options:
• Arrange for the student to join another class for glazing.  This needs to be coordinated with your teacher and the teacher of the other class.
• Have someone glaze the piece for that student.
• If you are willing when the student returns to school, you can arrange to have the student glaze during recess or lunch.  
10. Leave any empty glaze jars in the kiln room so we can restock the color.
11. Clean up
• Have the students rinse the glaze off their hands in the bucket of water.
• Rinse brushes in the buckets of water.  The darker glazes are harder to rinse out of the brushes.  These brushes may need to be rinsed a couple of times.
• Wipe the mouths of the glaze jars and inside the lids with a wet towel.
• Rinse all towels in the buckets.
• Dispose of the bucket water outside near a bush or tree.  DON'T dispose of the water in the sink, the roses by the front office or the street gutters.
12. Return all supplies to their proper place.
13. Once your class pieces have been fired, we will email you.

Our next Clay Docent Workshop will be on November 13th, 8-11:30am.

Glazing Demonstration - Monday, Oct 13th, 8:00-9:00am

Since we had to cancel our Clay Docent Workshop on the 9th, we have scheduled at glazing demonstration for Monday, October 13th, 8:00-9:00am in the Science Lab.

This is for the volunteers who are new to Clay Docent and have a glazing lesson before our next workshop on November 13th. 

This is a demonstration only since we only can get the Science Lab for one hour.  We can also answer any questions you may have. 

The Kiln is Firing

The electrician has serviced the kiln, so we're back in business!

We successfully ran our test firing and now have started firing the class pieces.

The Kiln is Sick :(

If you have been in the kiln room the last couple of weeks and noticed that we have yet to fire any pieces and the overcrowding of the drying racks, the reason is the kiln is in need of servicing.

Last week when we attempted to perform our test firing of the kiln, we got a "FAIL" error!!!  This error indicates that the thermo-coupler needs to be replaced.  Every couple of years we have to replace the thermo-coupler and it was due.  We have opened a service order with the school district to get the district's electrician to come out and service the kiln.  Unfortunately, the electrician has not come out to our school as of today, October 3rd.  Mr. Witter is trying to expedite our service request, but nothing has happened yet.

So please check back with us to see if we will be able to hold our Clay Docent Workshop #2 on October 9th.

If you have any questions, please contact us at BHClayDocent@yahoo.com.