MacKINNON

You are not alone in chasing nuance. I made six or seven just trying to get a form that suited a new kashira die I had made. I arrive at a example I find pleasing only to reject it a week later. I don't think this little game ends any time soon. I think your work is pretty impressive. I especially like your inlay techniques. Inlaying and producing a clean ground without surface texturing is no mean feat.

Shibuishi is an awful alloy for splitting seams. I'm not surprised you had some issues. One of the handy things about forming them in the round is that you can then work one edge over a standard ring mandrel to form a slight cone. When you shape this up it forms ' funbari', ( Stradle) , that is, the fuchi takes on some flaring at the seppa. It makes for a more subtle form than a simple parallel ferrule.

Thanks for the explanation. I do the same thing, but in the round, with soft materials, knocking them into shape after soldering. It doesn't work very well with iron or harder alloys as even a reinforced joint generally can't handle the stresses of hard shape changing. Me too. I get very sheepish talking about koshirae as invariably my friends in Japan waive their fingers at me and ' tut,tut'.

It is my understanding that using panels of Samegawa was a reaction to material shortages after the closing of Japan by the Tokugawa shogunate in the 1600's. 'Belly meet' and 'overlap' wraps were still used, but only by the wealthy Samurai. Using panels is also technically a lot easier to do than either of the full wrap versions. Late Edo tsuka are often seen with multiple small panels of Samegawa cobble together.

Beautiful work. I'm wondering why you joined the fuchi in the middle rather than than traditional join on the mune ?

It does have it's moments in the North Island. View from my old factory.

Right now, the view is less inviting. Just waiting for the start of a week of rain.

Are you pitching for a job at Tourism New Zealand ?

Mr. Schneider, I have shown you the little I know. I have given my opinion of the use of modern coatings on crucibles. I'm sure you will develop your own recipes from research and experiments. I am a tradesman, not a teacher. Good luck with your endeavors.

Just a couple of broad strokes. In high temp wares, clay is often your enemy. Yes. I know, it sounds stupid, but if you think of clay as a 'green strength' binder that holds together the more durable materials until they solidify at higher temperatures, you're getting my point. Try to keep the clay content as low as practicable. All they clays I used , whether Fire Clay , ball clay or Kaolin are all high Alumina clays. In some trials I tried high iron, terracotta type clays. In low %'s , some made reasonable non-ferrous pots but most just melted at stoneware temps. And

Pots are serious business, and I don't even like clay ;-)

Giving you a simple recipe isn't that easy. I was not making wootz but was trying to make large, first stage direct reduction pots, similar to the process described by Needham as in use in Shanxia, China in the 19th century. First, I talked with potters. After numerous clay trials I gave up on potters as being particularly useless and began reading patents. I followed them back through 'patents reference by' until I arrived at formulas I understood. Then I moved forward in the patent search trying out new formulas and recipes. Once I had a reasonable handle on the technology. I was able t

I did similarly with little good effect. Most often the wash simply puts more of the pot into solution at high temps. I tried ITC Turdish liner in the early days and found that it handled slags OK but impacted thermal transfer to he charge so badly as to make the whole exercise pointless. These lining are used on pots used to transfer molten iron and steel, not for melting in a standard crucible fire. As I said previously, there are many things that will handle molten steel slags but they tend to be highly insulatory, making melting in a small crucible furnace very difficult.

I'll have to find my notes from 15 years ago. Half the issue is that pots need to be thermally transparent as well as slag resistant. If they simply insulate well, then you don't end up melting anything unless you are running induction. I've tied all sorts of glazes, washes etc. and I have found that a simple kaolin/alumina wash will increase the life of pots if used on the inside.

I made a few Silicon carbide pots using a molasses and flour , carbonising binder. Could never get the things to bisque without turning into piles a asphalt in the kiln.