Holiday Baking (or why my wife is convinced I've finally lost it)

[jldecarlo]

Here are pics of me straightening 1600+ BCCs:

I'm using the method described here, which is much better than my initial method of letting them bake in the summer sun (especially since it isn't summer anymore).

These chips are very nice looking (see my initial post) but many were warped. Initially I thought it was from being shipped in the heat of the Vegas summer, but now I think the BCCs are just more heat sensitive than most and the hotstamping process encourages warping.

Chips are stacked and clamped. Note my custom-built wooden chip stacker:


Baked:


and Cooled:


then "rinse and repeat."

They're much better now. Probably not perfect, but then clay chips really never are perfect. You just have to learn to live with that.

L

[TenPercenter]

No worries of the plastic parts of the clamp melting? I suppose not since they didn't.

[jldecarlo]

Originally Posted by TenPercenter

No worries of the plastic parts of the clamp melting? I suppose not since they didn't.

Some worries at first, but 170 degrees for 11 minutes really isn't that much heat. I can take them out with bare hands. Anyway, I already had the clamps and didn't want to go buy more, so I gave it a shot.

L

[BigKyle]

Is that a Meadowcraft wrought iron table on your patio?

[cdnmoose]

How come the metal rod is twice as long in the 3rd picture as in the 2nd picture? Looks like your chips are a lot thinner 'after'.

[jldecarlo]

Originally Posted by BigKyle

Is that a Meadowcraft wrought iron table on your patio?

I have no idea. We've had it for years.

One of my clamps is longer than the others.

L

[gmunny]

Thanks for sharing. Any problems with using non-blank ceramics? Any color transfers?