No major issues this load.
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I just picked up my pieces and wonder why I got bloating. It’s a new to me clay body, Laguna porcelain five but it’s for cone 3-5. 
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If it happened to be in a hot spot in the kiln, it may have hit a bit higher than cone 5, which is max temp for your clay and then ended up too hot for that clay. Kiln firing temps can vary a bit depending upon location in the kiln.
The clays available for purchase at makeict work well in makeict kiln firing.
I recommend since you now know your clay is sensitive to the way our kiln fires, you might try some test pieces for the next time you fire it. Leave a note with them on the shelf requesting the pieces fire in the coolest part of the kiln due to the Clay. In this kiln, as I recall from witness cones, the coolest area tends to be the top shelf in the kiln.
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Ok good to know. I fired some clay ornaments in this clay body without issue, though it was a different batch.
Do you happen to know the firing schedule for the glaze kiln?
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Cone 5 with 10 minute hold- medium speed.
That is what works in this kiln to get the most even heating throughout the kiln.
Evans will also fire up to cone 5, for a fee, if you need anything more specific than what makeict fires.
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On Dec 28, 2025, at 7:40 PM, Stephanie via MakeICT Forum noreply@talk.makeict.org wrote:
| fleepmo
December 29 |
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Ok good to know. I fired some clay ornaments in this clay body without issue, though it was a different batch.
Do you happen to know the firing schedule for the glaze kiln?
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Thank you! I appreciate all the info. Laguna porcelain five is somewhat new to me but I really like working with it.
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One more question! What is the firing schedule for bisque?
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It’s cone 04. It’s fired in the older kiln with a kiln sitter- not digital.
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I emailed Laguna about my clay WC 395 and just heard back from them! He said they’ve never had an issue with bloating unless it got to cone 7
I’m so confused! I’ve made some test pieces to be fired for experimenting
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I’m sorry- I have no answer. We don’t use witness cones for every firing but we do use them every few firing. We fire digitally to cone 5 and add a 10 minute hold. Elements were replaced in recent months. The top of the kiln is the coolest section and hits a cool cone 5. The center and lower hit hot cone 5 or cool cone 6 from what I’ve observed. Bloating has not been an issue. Possibly a reaction with your glaze and clay?
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If you continue to have issues firing this clay in our kiln consider firing it at Evans instead. That clay is not one we carry in studio and don’t have experience with it.
Calico and speckled b-mix can be sensitive to firing above cone 5. We often fire them and don’t have issues with bloat with them.
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It’s ok, I’m just confused! I don’t think I’ll be buying more of it and will likely end up switching to b mix but I do have quite a bit left. I don’t believe it would be a reaction with the glaze as I made an ornament with this glaze and clay fired at MakeICT with no issues. Maybe it was just a fluke.
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