A guy at the Philly studio told me to stop using a wet newspaper pad for shaping

He grabbed my arm and said 'You're cooling it too fast, you'll get a chill crack every time.' I switched to a dry pad and haven't had a cracked bowl since. Anyone else get stubborn about a bad habit until someone called you out?

3 comments

3 Comments

robinp8923d ago

My old ceramics teacher drilled that into us, said wet pads are the number one cause of thermal shock.

rodriguez.mia23d ago

Oh man, that is so true. My friend Sarah learned this the hard way last year. She was so excited to pull her first big platter out of the kiln and set it right on a damp cloth. We all heard this awful ping sound from across the room. It cracked straight across the middle before it even cooled down. She was heartbroken, all that work gone in a second. Her teacher said the same thing, that sudden cool spot from the wet fabric just shocks the hot clay. I never forget to check my surfaces now.

colethomas23d ago

Yeah, "number one cause of thermal shock" sounds about right. My stubbornness was the number two cause.