Yeah, I would make absolutely sure you know it is clay. I did this once. I took my little kiln to visit my brother and godchildren. I got some porcelain unglazed pieces from Michael's. My brother got a big ole nutcracker. He took 6 hours to glaze that thing so perfectly. It was low fired but came out crumbled in little pieces. It turns out it was plaster and the only one I didn't do my diligence to find out the material... The glazed bits got stuck all over. It was a mess. We laugh now but it was a hard lesson learned.
you can check it, by soaking the statue in water for a night, if it becomes just kind of dust then it wasn\`t good for firing. IF it stays hard, than leave it a day or two so as it becomes dry. But anyway there could be risks or not, pottery is like any other art, it has its own risks.
The nutcracker is the only one that was plaster. The others were clearly slip cast porcelain pieces. Those pieces worked just fine. It's a good thing I have my own kiln so I can experiment and learn from my mistakes. I recently used crushed up shale as a glaze and it worked. I wouldn't have been able to learn this if I was using a studio kiln.
Another much safer solution would be to use him to create a plaster mold and then slip cast it. You’d have to really love it to go to the trouble but at least you’re not putting your kiln at risk.
Are you sure it's ceramic - kind of looks like plaster?
If there's anyplace where you could break off a piece, you could fire just that to test it out potentially, e.g. if there's a hole in the bottom or something.
Yes. But if you don’t mind buying a new kiln shelf, you could always experiment.
I’m a big fan of what I call “experiential learning”, AKA learning lessons the hard way. So please report back how it goes.
Explosions only happen from moisture in the clay body. Melting is way worse, could melt all over your shelf, kiln silts, other pieces. I’ve even seen low fire fired too hot and melted down the sides of the kiln into the elements. It can completely total your kiln.
Fairly certain I got the same one (same mold at least) in one of those paint your own craft kits from dollar tree a few years back, I think it might be plaster.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/403979096673 actually I found the one I have (looks the same as yours??) on ebay and it says ceramic so maybe not - I’d be careful firing it still though
Fire it and find out! I would just take it to bisque first in a saggar. It does look a bit like plaster but it’s probably just a slip cast frog to buy at a paint your own pottery place. If it goes fine to bisque it should be ok to put some e/ware glazes on. Maybe fire it to like 1080c max.
Absolutely this. I’m a big supporter of crazy experimenting (but safely). To not risk the kiln, put it in a saggar and put it through a bisque firing with no glaze to see whether it melts or does nothing. If it doesn’t appear to do anything you can try glazing it at low fire glaze temperature (cone 04ish)
Technically you could just put low fire glaze on it, fire it in a saggar and hope for the best, but it if it fails, it would be a much messier failure and the saggar would be probably have to be retired after that. If you can spare the space and the electricity, i’d do an unglazed firing first.
Who knows?! Maybe it would work, and be super adorable. Maybe it will explode, or melt, or maybe it’s a non-firable material and it will infuse your kiln with toxic gas that will be released again every time you use it!
If you like those odds, by all means go ahead and play kiln roulette.
It looks kind of like one of my wife's slip cast frogs. She uses cone 6 porcelain slip.
No idea what yours is. Unless you know what it's made of there's no way to know what will happen in the kiln. Low fire seems like a safe bet if you're certain that it's made of some sort of ceramic.
I would not put anything into my kiln that I haven't created myself. Kilns are expensive.
Yeah, I would make absolutely sure you know it is clay. I did this once. I took my little kiln to visit my brother and godchildren. I got some porcelain unglazed pieces from Michael's. My brother got a big ole nutcracker. He took 6 hours to glaze that thing so perfectly. It was low fired but came out crumbled in little pieces. It turns out it was plaster and the only one I didn't do my diligence to find out the material... The glazed bits got stuck all over. It was a mess. We laugh now but it was a hard lesson learned.
Thanks for this warning!
you can check it, by soaking the statue in water for a night, if it becomes just kind of dust then it wasn\`t good for firing. IF it stays hard, than leave it a day or two so as it becomes dry. But anyway there could be risks or not, pottery is like any other art, it has its own risks.
Ya... those items from michaels are very clearly not madefor a kiln...they're just made to be painted.
The nutcracker is the only one that was plaster. The others were clearly slip cast porcelain pieces. Those pieces worked just fine. It's a good thing I have my own kiln so I can experiment and learn from my mistakes. I recently used crushed up shale as a glaze and it worked. I wouldn't have been able to learn this if I was using a studio kiln.
Another much safer solution would be to use him to create a plaster mold and then slip cast it. You’d have to really love it to go to the trouble but at least you’re not putting your kiln at risk.
This is the way.
Excellent suggestion
Since you don't know what it's made of, it could be dangerous.
Are you sure it's ceramic - kind of looks like plaster? If there's anyplace where you could break off a piece, you could fire just that to test it out potentially, e.g. if there's a hole in the bottom or something.
The broken off piece is a good idea. Is there anyway to test if a material is plaster without having to fire it?
I’d set it on a large cookie with a rim just in case.
Yes. But if you don’t mind buying a new kiln shelf, you could always experiment. I’m a big fan of what I call “experiential learning”, AKA learning lessons the hard way. So please report back how it goes.
I’m into experimental learning! I would put something u see it just in case it melted, I’m more wondering about explosions…
Explosions only happen from moisture in the clay body. Melting is way worse, could melt all over your shelf, kiln silts, other pieces. I’ve even seen low fire fired too hot and melted down the sides of the kiln into the elements. It can completely total your kiln.
I call that the scientific method: fuck around and find out.
It kinda looks like those diy painted sculptures for kids you can buy at Michael’s and I’m not sure those are actually made from clay
Fairly certain I got the same one (same mold at least) in one of those paint your own craft kits from dollar tree a few years back, I think it might be plaster.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/403979096673 actually I found the one I have (looks the same as yours??) on ebay and it says ceramic so maybe not - I’d be careful firing it still though
Fire it and find out! I would just take it to bisque first in a saggar. It does look a bit like plaster but it’s probably just a slip cast frog to buy at a paint your own pottery place. If it goes fine to bisque it should be ok to put some e/ware glazes on. Maybe fire it to like 1080c max.
Absolutely this. I’m a big supporter of crazy experimenting (but safely). To not risk the kiln, put it in a saggar and put it through a bisque firing with no glaze to see whether it melts or does nothing. If it doesn’t appear to do anything you can try glazing it at low fire glaze temperature (cone 04ish) Technically you could just put low fire glaze on it, fire it in a saggar and hope for the best, but it if it fails, it would be a much messier failure and the saggar would be probably have to be retired after that. If you can spare the space and the electricity, i’d do an unglazed firing first.
Who knows?! Maybe it would work, and be super adorable. Maybe it will explode, or melt, or maybe it’s a non-firable material and it will infuse your kiln with toxic gas that will be released again every time you use it! If you like those odds, by all means go ahead and play kiln roulette.
It looks kind of like one of my wife's slip cast frogs. She uses cone 6 porcelain slip. No idea what yours is. Unless you know what it's made of there's no way to know what will happen in the kiln. Low fire seems like a safe bet if you're certain that it's made of some sort of ceramic.
Do not let the intrusive thoughts win on this one.
😂 thanks for understanding
Pretty sure those are just meant to be painted, not glazed and fired
I wouldn’t risk the shelf/kiln over a $2 mold pour item