Please say a prayer for my mugs 🙏 I’ve tried EVERYTHING and continue to have attachment issues. Potters what are your most unhinged solutions for handles? I’m not talking about slowly drying them out, using magic water or paper clay. #pottery #pottersofbluesky #ceramics
Add wax resist to the clay around the join! It will help the handle area specifically dry slower and more evenly, then burns off in the bisque.
I’ve read that bisque fix works well. Also vinegar or vinegar in your slip.
I’ve definitely heard of using vinegar but I’ve always used sodium silicate. Have you heard of anyone using bisque fix on porcelain?
I’ve used bisque fix on porcelain, but only on actual bisque — I try to avoid bisque fix when I can because it doesn’t hold onto glaze as well as clay does, so sometimes it creates a glaze defect (just FYI). Plus, porcelain absorbs water so fast that I find slip is glue-y enough on greenware!
What’s the moisture difference between the mug body and the handle? I have issues with cracking if the mug body is even a little beyond leather hard. If you are finding that this is the case, spraying the body with water and covering with plastic for about 15 minutes usually does the trick.
I try to keep my mugs leather hard before attaching handles but that very well may be a contributing factor. I’ll need to give that a try. Thanks!
Those look so well-attached! And lovely handle shapes and thicknesses too 💕 I’m so surprised you’re having issues — is it cracking? You could try using thick slip, letting the slip glob out of the seams initially, and waiting for it to dry and shrink back a bit before cleaning the join up.
Thank you so much! Such wonderful feedback and suggestions. It is cracking and it happens pretty well every time. They are quite small and are usually right around the seem of the attachment. I’ll try your slip suggestion next time I get cracks!