A week of ash tests
Twenty-four tiles, one variable at a time, and a notebook that is finally worth keeping.
Wood ash is never the same twice. The batch I am working from came from a neighbour's stove — mostly beech, some apple, and whatever else went in on cold nights. That variability is the whole problem and also the reason the results are worth having.
Washing, or not
Half the tiles used ash washed three times, half used it raw and only sieved. The washed ash gave a quieter surface, more even, less interesting. The raw ash ran. Where it ran it left a green line at the bottom of the tile that I have not managed to reproduce deliberately since.
| Tile | Ash | Clay body | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | raw, sieved 80 | stoneware | heavy run, green pooling |
| 12 | washed ×3 | stoneware | even, slightly dry |
| 18 | raw, sieved 60 | porcelain | crawled at the rim |
| 23 | washed ×1 | stoneware | best of the batch |
Tile 23 is the one I am chasing. One wash, sieved at eighty, over an iron slip. It has the movement of the raw ash without the flood.