How is the Japanese raku different from Western firing?

The amount of oxygen that is allowed during the firing and cooling process affects the resulting color of the glaze and the amount of crackle. Unlike traditional Japanese raku, which is mainly hand built bowls of modest design, western raku tends to be vibrant in color, and comes in many shapes and sizes.

What are the differences between Japanese Raku and Western Raku?

Firstly, it points to the fact that Japanese raku is exclusively about the making of tea bowls. Whilst western raku practices are used to make all sorts of different types of pottery and ceramics. The Japanese raku method is about making tea bowls.

How is Raku different from a normal firing?

Western-style Raku firing differs from normal firing as it uses a low-fire method that means the ceramic piece is heated very quickly. The unpredictability of the outcome is something that attracts many potters to this method. Typically western Raku is made from stoneware and heated to around 1,650 F.

What is Japanese Raku?

Raku is a Japanese style of pottery first made during the 1580s; the practice is characterised by the removal of a clay object from the kiln at the height of the firing and causing it to cool very rapidly. Originally created for the tea ceremony, Raku ware is most commonly found in the form of tea bowls.

What is the difference between Raku and naked Raku?

Naked raku is a variation of the raku technique in which a slip is applied to the pot before it is placed in the raku kiln. The slip cracks and breaks apart during the firing and is chipped off after to reveal a blackened crackle pattern.

The Story of Raku - A Traditional Japanese Firing Technique

How do you identify raku pottery?

Typical examples of rakuware are hand-sculpted (rather than thrown on a potter's wheel) lightweight porous vessels adorned with lead glazes. Raku chawan tea bowls are molded using the tezukune technique, with the palms of the hand: clay is shaped into a dense, flat circle and built up by compressing between the palms.

Can you bisque fire in raku kiln?

Bisque firing in a raku kiln is in a certain extent possible however: It may require concessions with regard to your choice of clay that you are using. It require practice and building up some experience.

What is Western raku?

Western Raku is typically made from a stoneware clay body, bisque fired at 900°C (1650°F) and glaze fired (the final firing) between 800-1000°C (1450-1800°F), which falls into the cone 06 firing temperature range.

What is the function of Japanese raku bowl?

Raku ware (楽焼, raku-yaki) is a type of Japanese pottery traditionally used in Japanese tea ceremonies, most often in the form of chawan tea bowls.

What is the process of Raku firing?

In raku firing, all of nature's elements are used, earth, fire, air, and water. The earth is used to make the pot, then it's put into a reduction chamber kiln, then plunged into water. The cold water halts the firing process. A lovely fact about raku is that its name literally translates as 'happiness in the accident'.

Can I use a normal kiln for raku?

Potentially any kiln could be used for Raku, as it's really the post-firing reduction that makes it happen. However, certain kilns are commonly used because of the access to the pot that they allow. Browse our selection of Raku kilns.

Is raku Wood Fired?

' The traditional Japanese method of Raku is a natural firing process that relies on each of the elements: fire, air, earth and water. Vessels are fired at a low temperature for a brief amount of time, removed from the kiln when it has reached its highest temperature, and then left to cool.

Is raku firing toxic?

Raku kilns can emit harmful (even dangerous) metal fumes (depending on how pots are decorated) and vapors of chlorine and sulfur (from salts, chlorides, and sulphates).

Why is there grog in raku clay?

Grog helps make the pottery more resistant to thermal shock and reduces shrinkage. There are specially made raku clay's that often contain kyanite. Porcelain can be raku fired if it contains a suitable grog, is well made, and is fired under 1200F.

Can you drink from raku?

May I use your Raku ceramics to eat and/or drink? Yes, you may. Unlike traditional Raku ceramics, we use only food-safe glazes without lead or other metals.

Who invented raku firing?

Raku is a low-fired ceramic ware first produced by Sasaki Chōjirō (d. 1592) in the 16th century in Kyoto. Under the encouragement and patronage of his close friend, tea master Sen no Rikyū, he crafted a style of bowl which was very much unlike the colorful Chinese-influenced ceramics of the time.

Is raku pottery glazed?

Glazes used in the raku process need not be “raku” glazes at all. At its core, raku is a low-temperature firing method. The fact that we remove the ware from the kiln while the pots are hot and the glaze is molten is irrelevant.

Is raku pottery waterproof?

Some potters say the answer is basically no, you can't make raku waterproof. The argument is that raku can be coated with various things that make it temporarily waterproof. However, with time the pottery will suffer from continual seepage and will eventually disintegrate.

Can you raku fire greenware?

Typically, the greenware is bisque fired to around 1650F (900C). It is then allowed to cool before any slips or glazes are applied. The raku process takes place during the final firing. The glaze fire in a raku process ranges in temperature between 1470-1830F (800-1000C).

Can you throw with raku clay?

But it does not feel as smooth during throwing as our Sculpture clays. Since Raku-Throwing has a fine clay base it burnishes reasonablty well for a grogged body. You might find it helpful to make a slip of the material and screen out the grog, then paint this on and burnish.

Why does raku glaze bubble?

If the glaze is melting during release of these gases, they must bubble up through it. If the melt is stiff, the kiln is ramped up too quickly, cooled too rapidly, or the glaze melts too early, it will not have opportunity to heal properly.

What do you put on top of the fired raku piece before covering it?

Underglaze can be applied to raku pottery in the same way that it is applied to any other. Often the underglaze is left to dry and then a clear crackle glaze is applied on top before raku firing.

Can you use raku glazes in an electric kiln?

Use raku or metallic oxide glazes when rakuing, which will give vivid raku colors upon reduction. Begin heating the kiln on high with the fire chamber completely closed. The kiln may take 2 hours to reach raku temperature. As the kiln reaches approximately 1900º Fahrenheit open the kiln and begin loading your ware.

Can you put plants in raku pots?

Raku fired Cachepots are a decorative planter for a pre-planted orchid, decorative plant, or artificial flower arrangement.

What should I wear to raku fire?

At a minimum, care should be taken to be sure all clothes are cotton. We also wear split-hide welders jackets. Some of my colleagues wear full-hide aprons that go all the way to the shins. This can be helpful for extended moments reaching with mits into the kiln.