Author: Callum Forbes

Soda firing, glaze and body testing. Potter.

Candles

Candles and making candle sticks has turned out to be something very important to me. Partly, I suppose, because candles have always featured in my familial life. A single candle for Finnish independence, candles on the dinner table on special occasions, a candle lit to help burn away the farts of either my dad or… Continue reading Candles

Where to find me this festive season

I have a host of markets and events between now and the year end, and I hope to see many friendly faces at them! Open Studios 14th November, 13:00-19:00 Canal St Studios, Vulcan Works, Longport, Stoke-on-Trent ST6 4NW Me and Emily will have plenty of seconds available if you want to grab a bargain! There… Continue reading Where to find me this festive season

Mid winter and mid summer firings

We are lucky in the UK that the weather is fairly temperate and so the firing season is pretty much all year round. That has not stopped us having to fire in some fairly extreme weather (usually being forced to by a neglected deadline suddenly sneaking up on us…) The first time was in minus… Continue reading Mid winter and mid summer firings

Cordierite in a clay body for soda firing

I have been starting on a path of exploring high percentages of cordierite in clay bodies.  Cordierite is one of the minerals which is commonly used for making kiln furniture, and its a magnesium alumino silicate. I like magnesium, I like alumina, and I love silica so I thought this would be a cool material… Continue reading Cordierite in a clay body for soda firing

The second firing of the Vulcan Works Wobbler

Callum with kiln

Firing two. It took much longer than planned to get to this point, some work on the kiln was very much required and it meant the whole thing had to come down and be rebuilt. Why? Mostly, I wanted a layer of insulating bricks under the floor (which budget did not stretch to 6 months… Continue reading The second firing of the Vulcan Works Wobbler

The Clay College Blogs

When I was at Clay College, we were encouraged to contribute to the student blog when we looked after the gallery at the weekend. I seldom wrote; I don’t enjoy writing for the sake of it, but I did write at least three posts. I am republishing them here. I sometimes find them to be… Continue reading The Clay College Blogs

Building a cross-draught soda kiln: The Vulcan Works Wobbler

the skin of bricks covering the sanitary ware batts

When I was at Clay College I had costed up the kiln build for little wobbler, and had always imagined that a rebuild of that kiln would be my first soda kiln. The costing was done on the basis of all new refractories, and I started saving up towards that budget as soon as I… Continue reading Building a cross-draught soda kiln: The Vulcan Works Wobbler

Ash in glazes

I am a huge fan of ash glazes. The most simple combinations of clay and ash, free of any industrial touch, can form some of the most beautiful glazes imaginable, and mostly all of the great glazes we admire so much from China are of this composition. One of my favourite ash glazes is based… Continue reading Ash in glazes

Interesting Clay Bodies for the Electric Kiln

Successful pots all start with clay. But clay suppliers have a vested interest in producing clay bodies as cheaply as possible to maximise profit. Which means in some cases the bodies they supply do nothing for the glazes and the bodies themselves look dull and lifeless – for some reason this seems especially true for… Continue reading Interesting Clay Bodies for the Electric Kiln