The Process of Making Pottery Decorating, Firing, Glazing, Making, Technical There is a rhythm and flow to clay. It can’t be done all at once! Even the making process! It can take weeks to get everything done, especially if you can only work on your pottery once a week! Even though we have three hour classes, it’s often just not enough time! Here is an overview of some of the processes so you have a bit more grasp on some of the technical stuff! Step One – Design There are SO many ideas out there for making stuff in clay! From delicate porcelain jewellery, through to heavy sculptural work and everything in between. Deciding your direction is sometimes not that easy – when you first start, try everything, you will naturally gravitate to the style that you enjoy! The options and variations are endless and can get a wee bit overwhelming too! Check in with me before you start to ensure your ideas will work, what order you might do things, how you could achieve the look you are seeking and any other technical data required! Step Two – Making Clay is thixotropic. This means that as you work with it, the clay first gets sloppier and wetter, before is begins to dry in the atmosphere. For most things, you simply can’t do all parts of the project at once. An example of work order might look like: Get last weeks work out from the shelves Prepare clay for today’s work – roll your clay, prepare balls for throwing, make the first stage of a pinch pot) Clean up last week’s work and put it on the shelf for bisque firing Check that you have any glazing to do – and do enough of it that you will have time to finish your main project Do the next step of your next project – there might be a further step that can’t be complete immediately, in that case, wrap your work well and put onto the shelves. Letting your work rest for a while can really help keep your work clean and professional looking. Many things require bagging under plastic to keep it ready for work the next week – put your name on the outside of the bag so you can find your work easily. We have stickers and markers. Consider how you want to decorate your work – coloured slip can be applied at a fairly wet stage (remembering that it will make your work even wetter!). Trying to apply slip to dry clay won’t work! If you want to do sgraffito – you will need to keep the work leather hard (a state of dryness where you can still work the clay with a little effort and a little water and care). Step Three – Drying Most of the time your work can go into the rack uncovered to let it dry out for the following week. If you want to continue forming or shaping you will need to double bag your work – put your work on a suitable sized bat and put the bat in a bag so the base of the bag is under the bat, then put another bag over the top of the work and tuck the top of the bag under the bat. If you want to trim (or turn) your thrown work the following week, it should also be double bagged. If your work is large, delicate, or of uneven thicknesses, you should lightly cover your work for drying. When considering the drying process, bare in mind the weather, humidity and wind! The hotter and dryer, the faster things dry and work can dry unevenly in the shelves – this can lead to cracking – another time to lightly cover your work for drying. Step Four – Trimming and Cleaning Up Your work is dry! It is called greenware now and it is at it’s most fragile! Handle everything with two hands. I often refer to soft hands – keep everything gentle and with your fingers spread as much as possible. Try to not pick up things like plates too much, and always with both hands! Before your work can be bisque fired it should be “cleaned up”. You work won’t go into the kiln if it has sharp edges – when glazed, sharp edges turn into razor blades! Use a piece of fly wire to rub the work all over – this will scratch a little so be light handed. Use a knife or metal kidney to scrape any areas that require a bit more dynamic treatment than the fly wire offers! Finally, a very light wipe over with a slightly damp sponge can help soften and soothe all of your edges and dags! Trimming thrown work: If you are planning to trim (or turn) your thrown work (and you should be), make sure you bag it well – your work should be leather hard to almost dry for easiest trimming. Use this step to finish the work completely – use a metal kidney to polish the surface, or a slightly damp sponge to give a freshly thrown look. Wipe the sponge around the rim after trimming, and check the inside of the pot for dags! Trimming slip cast work: Usually I will trim the rims of your work on the wheel the following day to make that stage easier, however you will still need to check your work for lumps and bumps. Last but not least – check that your name is still clearly on the bottom of your work. Step Five – Bisque Firing When the work is completely dry it can go into the bisque kiln. The bisque kiln is fired to 1000°C. This process burns off the water in the clay as well as some of the chemically bound water. The structure of the clay is not altered that much at this temperature. Inside the bisque kiln, the work is stacked a little, small bowl inside a larger bowl and onto a heavy plate. Smaller items like decorations or drink coasters might get stacked several high. Consideration is paid to the weight of the stack and shape of the work. A bisque kiln can fire about one and a half times the amount of work that the glaze kiln can fire. The firing takes about 10 hours to complete the cycle and about two days to cool down. Once it has been emptied the work is placed in the glaze room ready for you to decorate! Step Six – Glazing Decorating your work with colour can be a lot of fun – and time consuming! There are three main options for surface treatment at this stage: Oxide Washes Underglazes Glazes Washes and underglazes do not “glaze” the work – It will still need a layer of glaze to fully seal the clay (washes don’t need glaze on surfaces not designed for food or liquid as they can gloss up a little on their own). Underglazes are stable colourants that turn out pretty much how they look in the jar. They can be mixed with each other to form other colours and can be used like water colours to paint onto your work. Mostly they should have a clear glaze on top to seal them. Oxides are a different species – the pink oxide (cobalt) wash turns out bright blue for instance. They don’t always need a glaze on top, and some glazes can change the colour of the wash! The glazes need no other “glaze” on top! Be careful of unknown glaze interactions – you can put any combination of glaze in a bowl or on a plate, but only a single glaze on the outside of any vertical surface! Glazes are a chemical reaction under heat. We don’t know the exact chemicals in the Mayco glazes we use. I can guess by the way they interact with each other, however, on the whole, you need to test every idea you have, and not run the test on a vertical surface! Simply put, glaze is a layer of glass like substance that bonds with the clay underneath. Clay is made of silica, alumina and water. Glaze is made of mostly silica. Silica has a melting point of 1700°C and we fire to 1240°C. The silica requires a “flux” to help it melt at the lower temperature. Fluxes can be all sorts of chemicals – a common one is calcium – calcium has a melting point of 2500°C, however, together they both melt at a much lower temperature! Colourants are metal oxides like cobalt (blue), chrome (green through black), copper (green, blue, even red!), manganese (black, purple and pink) iron (red brown), etc. Different chemicals in the glaze can have dramatic effects. for example, barium carbonate (which we don’t use) turns manganese bright pink! Other elements can turn manganese dioxide brown, blue, purple and reddish brown. Manganese dioxide is a flux in and of itself as well. So, glazes that get their black and purple colours, often interact with other glazes and RUN! Our mirror black is a good example – it mixes really well with many glazes because it fluxes them – causes them to melt faster. It will also bring out many beautiful colours in the glazes because it’s black colouring most definitely comes from manganese dioxide! Glaze chemistry is a whole subject on it’s own! We use commercial Mayco glazes on purpose – for their huge range of colour possibilities, stability, cool interactions, artistic freedom with the ability to easily brush the glazes on and ease of use. We currently have almost 50 glazes on hand! A major project is to test the interactions of all glazes with each other. That is 2,500 test tiles!!!! I’m going to make the wall behind the wheels the feature wall of pretty colours! Step Seven – Glaze (Gloss or sometimes called “Glost”) Firing Most of the time this is the final stage of making your creation (but not always!) The glaze kiln goes to 1240°C. This is called cone 6, or midrange. It is the low end of stoneware temperatures. Stoneware clays and glazes are typically fired at cone 8 – 10, that is 1260 – 1290°C. The energy requirement to go from 1240°C to 1280°C is almost a 30% more! Our clay is formulated to vitrify (mature, turn “glass-like”) at 1240°, as are our glazes. A glaze kiln take around 12 hours to reach temperature and two to three days to cool down. Sometimes a third firing process is required – this is for decoration that is added to work after the glaze firing. For example – adding precious metals and lustres. this firing temperature is usually around 600 – 800°C depending upon the techniques being used. There are many students interested in gold and silver trims – we will be doing this third type of firing soon! After firing your work will be in the student finished work shelves. Remember to pay for it before you head out the door! There is a small extra charge for using porcelain clay (it’s more than twice the price of regular clay), and for any third firing process! Once your work has been fired it can not turn back into clay for millennia – so don’t fire it if you don’t like it! Put it in the bucket for recycling. https://firebirdstudios.com.au/the-process-of-making-pottery/This bowl was made by renowned pottery company J & G Meakin of England. The firm was established in the mid-1800's. The bowl is an example of kitchenware used in the 19th century and still in use today.Bowl; white ceramic, round and tapering inwards towards base. Made by J and G Meakin England.On base, 'Ironstone China Reg SOL 391413' with symbolflagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, warrnambool, maritime museum, maritime village, great ocean road, shipwreck coast, mixing bowl, food preparation, j & g meakin, pottery, stoke-on-trent, kitchen equipment, ceramic

Large white ironstone china bowl. Made by J & G Meakin. Hanley England. 15' in diameter.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, china bowl, bowl

Plan by Public Works Dept., Melbourne. M. Drake (draughtsman), R. G. Wilson, Chief Architect.m. drake, g.r. wilson

Typed below photograph, "1950 - Parish Hall Xmas Party. Mrs. Caughey, Mrs. McCrae Senr. Mr. and Mrs. G. Williams, Mr. John McCrae, Mrs. M. McCall, Mrs. McWilliam, Mrs. Dedman, Mrs. Win Leslie, Director".

Built by W. G. Allen & Sons (Tipton) Ltd., Tipton, Staffordshire, England. This vehicle was used on the construction of dams, etc., and the Jindivick tunnel at Tarago in Gippsland for the state Rivers & Water Supply Commission of Victoria. The small wheel located on the side ran up a suitably located ramp automatically tipping the hopper and emptying the contents. Historic - Industrial Narrow Gauge Railway - side tipping wagon used by the State Rivers & Water Supply Commission of Victoria - Jindivick tunnel at Tarago, Victoria, AustraliaSide Tipping Wagon made of Iron, steel and wrought ironpuffing billy railway, pbr, side tipping wagon - w. g. allen & sons (tipton) ltd, puffing billy, side tipping wagon, w. g. allen & sons (tipton) ltd, jindivick tunnel, state rivers & water supply commission of victoria

Object. Oval shaped copper coloured badge. In the centre is a tree. Written around the edge, "EAGLEHAWK C.C.''Vertical brooch clip on the back.Letters on back ''K C LUKE MELB''numismatics, badges-civil, eaglehawk badge

Report or Thesis - 49 foolscap sheets photocopied onto heat sensitive paper titled "Tramway Reserved Tracks - A comparative study by R. G. Vanselow" prepared most likely for his Hons at the University of Melbourne c1969. Has a table of contents. Gives background, Literature survey, description of theoretical analysis, experimental arrangements and methods, results, discussion, conclusions and references. Pages 46 to 62, 64 to 66 missing. Document scanned into three parts. Bob passed away 18/2/2019. He spent some 10 years with the MMTB Civil Engineering.trams, tramways, trackwork, reserved track, reports, mmtb, melbourne university

Displayed in History HousePen and ink sketch of a house partially obscured by trees. In foreground are two paddocks, with two horses grazing at centre right. Mounted in grey matt in black wooden frame, under glassFront: C G Darvall/Jan 1890

One of a group of unprovenanced photographs donated to the Society by Betty Morgan.While its provenance is unclear, and it has suffered from fading, the photograph is a useful record of children's clothing in the first decade of the Twentieth Century. It is an example of Massingham's commercial photography at his studio in Bendigo. The clothing worn by the boys can be used to deconstruct social values in the period preceding the First World War.Faded sepia studio photograph of three unidentified boys, the oldest boy dressed in a quasi-military uniform; the two younger in berets and lace collars. The photographer is named as G.L. Massingham ( (George Leake, active 1866-1921) of View Street, Bendigo (and Geelong); active in View Street from 1901-c.1921.G. L. MASSINGHAM / VIEW STREET. BENDIGOaustralian photographers - g. l. massingham - view street - bendigo

Erik of London was an internationally significant milliner. He was a recognised authority on fashion, frequently quoted in the Australian press of the day. A number of his models are illustrated in Australian newspapers. It was not unusual for him to glamorise his hats with French names. A model 'Carmen' was launched in 1952.The Kew Historical Society’s fashion and design collection is comprised of costumes, hats, shoes and personal accessories. Many of these items were purchased or handmade in Victoria; some locally in Kew. The extensive hat collection comprises items dating from the 1860s to the 1970s. While most of the hats in the collection were created by milliners for women, there are a number of early and important men’s hats in the collection. The headwear collection is particularly significant in that it includes the work of notable Australian and international milliners.Ivory coloured woman’s hat bordered and almost completely covered with abstract floppy flowers of the same colour. Beside the label on the brim is the handwritten word ‘Cezanne’ which is presumably the name of the model.Label: Erik London. C & G Kobenhavenerik london, c & g kobenhaven, milliners -- london, women's clothing -- hats

St Luke’s Anglican Church officially opened on 15 March 1863 and originally operated as a branch of the Albury church. The first minister to conduct a service there was Rev. Robert Potter, followed by Rev. B. Brownrigg , Rev. J. H. May, Rev. D. E. Jones and Rev. J. K. Tucker. The first resident minister at Wodonga was Rev. J. H. White who came in 1879. The Church was constructed from locally hewn stone. After serving the congregation for more than a century, the Church was closed by the Health Commission due to its deteriorated condition which was judged to be beyond repair. It was demolished by voluntary labour on the 10 – 11 August 1968. A collection of 4 black and white photos depicting St. Luke's Church Wodonga at different times in its development.st luke's church wodonga, churches wodonga, early churches wodonga

One of a collection of over 400 photographs in an album commenced in 1960 and presented to the Phillip Island & Westernport Historical Society by the Shire of Phillip IslandPhotograph of a sketch of a geological section across Mornington Peninsular Western Passage and Phillip Island. Drawn by Dr G Bakerlocal history, photography, geological fault block movements, black & white photograph, geology, phillip island, mornington peninsula, sketches, john jenner, bryant west

One of a collection of over 400 photographs in an album commenced in 1960 and presented to the Phillip Island & Westernport Historical Society by the Shire of Phillip IslandPhotograph of a sketch of the geological section from Pyramid Rock to Cowes - drawn by Dr G Baker, CSIRO, University of Melbourne.Geological section from Pyramid Rock to Coweslocal history, photography, geological section across phillip island, black & white photograph, geography, topography, cowes, pyramid rock, sketches, dr g baker, john jenner, bryant west

G. S. Brett (unknown - 1934) was ordained in 1894, having attended college at Oberlin, Ohio (USA) and was a congregational minister in Brighton, 1900 - 1911.Matte black and white, head and shoulders studio portrait of Rev. G. S. Brett on buff card.Handwritten on back: "Rev G. S.Brett Brighton Cong."g s brett, congregational minister, congregational church brighton victoria

This badge is possibly the earliest example of the membership badge of the Ladies Harbour Lights Guild. The simple discreet design compared to later versions by Stoke suggest it was possibly made in the early post-war 1920s period when resources would have been limited.Earliest known example in the MTSV Collection of an LHLG badgeOval dark blue enamel badge with "LHLG" in large writing at the bottom and "LADIES HARBOUR LIGHTS GUILD" in smaller font running across the top. "K.G. LUKE MELB" on back of badge"LHLG" "LADIES HARBOUR LIGHTS GUILD" "K.G. LUKE MELB" k.g. luke, badge, lhlg, ladies harbour lights guild, mission to seafarers, mission to seamen

This is a photograph of Councillor H. A. Luke who represented West Riding on the Orbost Shire council from 1905 -1912. He was president in 1907 and 1912.This item is associated with the Orbost Shire Council. The shire covered an area of 9,347 square kilometres and existed from 1892 until 1994 when it became part of the East Gippsland Shire Council.A black / white head and shoulders portrait photograph of a bearded man in a suit.on back - "Cr H.A. Luke Orbost Shire"luke-h.a. orbost-shire-council

Plan for construction of Mudbrick Hut in the Native Garden - weekend workshop in 1981, drawn by G. Archer. Note final version is not round.native garden, mudbrick, g. archer

Report - photocopied on foolscap paper, about 35 pages, titled "An Investigation into the adoption of automated procedures for the preparation of crew duty rosters and timetables" Prepared by B. G. Cargill, dated 8/1/1973. Has a table of contents. Looks at the preparation of rosters, development of an automated system, proposed procedures, various outputs and has appendices. Outcome of this proposal not known. Not known if the author worked for the MMTB or this was an consultant proposal.trams, tramways, rosters, timetables, crews, mmtb

Sepia photograph of a portrait panel of ten councillors of the Shire of Eltham, 1913 Woodgrained Portrait panel with photos of ten Shire of Eltham Councillors 1913 presented to Mr A.G. Thomas C.E. whose photo is prominant on the panel "by the above as an expression of appreciation of many services rendered as Secretary to the Shire and best wishes for a successful career in his new sphere, November 3rd 1913.". Photographs include: Cr. W. Morris J.P. Ex Pres., Cr P.J. Downer, Cr J. Smedley, Ex-Pres., Crs R. D. Taylor, Cr. W. G. Gray J.P.. Cr. J. Fitch, J.P. Ex. Pres., Hon. E. H. Cameron, M.L.A. J.P. Ex Pres., Cr. C. H. Bath, J.P. Ex Pres and Cr. J. Darley Mealy J.P. President.This photo forms part of a collection of photographs gathered by the Shire of Eltham for their centenary project book, "Pioneers and Painters: 100 years of the Shire of Eltham" by Alan Marshall (1971). The collection of over 500 images is held in partnership between Eltham District Historical Society and Yarra Plenty Regional Library (Eltham Library) and is now formally known as 'The Shire of Eltham Pioneers Photograph Collection.' It is significant in being the first community sourced collection representing the places and people of the Shire's first one hundred years.Digital image 120 format B&W negative Printsepp, shire of eltham pioneers photograph collection, councilors, shire of eltham, a.g thomas, councillors, downer, e.h. cameron, eltham shire council, ewan hugh cameron, g.h smith, greg taylor, j smedley, w morris, w.d taylor, w.g gray

Circular glass bottle with embossed words - "The Victoria Feeder Baby Feeding Bottle"Front: The Victoria Feeder/F G & Co/Mbaby, babies, feeding, bottle

Catechism was taught at Sunday School by most Christian religions during the 1950s. Students attended Sunday School classes at the Kergunyah Presbyterian Church. Sunday school was held in a little 16 foot square wooden building which came from Rocky Valley after it was no longer needed there. Ewen Wallace's father initiated and organised the move. C2011 the building was knocked down because of white ants. The Presbyterian Church will be 125 years old in 2015.Historical: Religious Education: This book was used by students who attended the Sunday School classes at Kergunyah Presbyterian Church. Religion: Presbyterian Church at Kergunyah, in the Kiewa Valley, celebrates its 125th anniversary in 2015 after being handed over to the Uniting Church in the 1970s.Small, thin, orange booklet with black print on cover - for title. Also in black a tree with 'ribbon' underneath inside which are 2 Latin words. 16 pages inside thin cardboard cover. On back cover "B.C.E. Publications" Listed with price.Title and "Presbyterian Church of Australia Price: Sixpence. Seventh New Edition"religion, kergunyah, ewen wallace, catechism, presbyterian church, religious education, sunday school

A Large Rare mid 19th Century Balance Scale (also called a Beam Scale) Made in England by W&T Avery a British manufacturer of weighing machines. The company was founded in the early 18th century and took the name W & T Avery in 1818. The undocumented origin of the company goes back to 1730 when James Ford established the business in the town of Digbeth. On Joseph Balden the then company’s owner’s death in 1813 William and Thomas Avery took over his scale making business and in 1818 renamed it W & T Avery. The business rapidly expanded and in 1885 they owned three factories: the Atlas Works in West Bromwich, the Mill Lane Works in Birmingham and the Moat Lane Works in Digbeth. In 1891 the business became a limited company with a board of directors and in 1894 the shares were quoted on the London Stock Exchange. In 1895 the company bought the legendary Soho Foundry in Smethwick, a former steam engine factory owned by James Watt & Co. In 1897 the move was complete and the steam engine business was gradually converted to pure manufacture of weighing machines. The turn of the century was marked by managing director William Hipkins who was determined to broadening the renown of the Avery brand and transforming the business into a specialist manufacture of weighing machines. By 1914 the company occupied an area of 32,000m² and had some 3000 employees. In the inter-war period the growth continued with the addition of specialized shops for cast parts, enamel paints and weighbridge assembly and the product range diversified into counting machines, testing machines, automatic packing machines and petrol pumps. During the second world war the company also produced various types of heavy guns. At that time the site underwent severe damage from parachute mines and incendiary bombs.Then from 1931 to 1973 the company occupied the 18th-century Middlesex Sessions House in Clerkenwell as its headquarters. Changes in weighing machine technology after World War II led to the closure of the foundry, the introduction of electronic weighing with the simultaneous gradual disappearance of purely mechanical devices. The continued expansion was partly achieved through a series of acquisitions of other companies. After almost a century of national and international expansion the company was taken over by GEC in 1979. Keith Hodgkinson, managing director at the time, completed the turn-around from mechanical to electronic weighing with a complete overhaul of the product range of retail scales and industrial platform scales. In 1993 GEC took over the Dutch-based company Berkel and the Avery-Berkel name was introduced. In 2000 the business was in turn acquired by the US-American company Weigh-Tronix, who already owned Salter, and is today operating as Avery Weigh-Tronix. Item made and used possibly around the 1850s by Victorian colonial government to check weights of goods being sold by early shop keepers on the gold fields item is very rare.James McEwan & Co were the retailers of W & T Avery scales in Victoria from 1852. A very rare item used probably to check weights used by merchants during colonial times by government inspectors in Victoria. A similar example exist in a NSW museum, the item is believed to have been made before W & T Avery expansion to the Soho foundry in Birmingham in 1885 and after 1818.Beam balance scale suspended from a wooden tripod, with metal trays suspended by three chain lengths. embossed on the balance beam W T Avery, Birmingham,flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, scale, avery

From Mitcham R S LA black dress jacket of D J Scarff. Jacket has metallic buttons. Gold cord epaulets over red with crown badge and R badge. Both lapels have 'unique' badges. Ribbons on left pocket with oak leaf badge. Belt with brass buckles. 14/6201. 16.10.51.4 Lapel on inside. A pair of trousers with red stripe down sides and button fly.14/6201 16 10.51.4uniforms, army