Saggar and Reduction

[Saggar firing is a technique for the firing of pottery.  Saggars are ceramic, boxlike containers which can be used to enclose or protect ware in kilns. Traditionally saggars were made primarily from fireclay. Saggars have been used to protect, or safeguard, ware from open flame, smoke, gases and kiln debris: the name is a contraction of "safeguard". From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]

I have four to five firing done with the saggar placed at the oxidation spot, and got the good reduction constantly.  The best result was achieved when the sagger was flipped over.  I tried to placing the plate as a cover, with different gaps, that was not satisfactory.



I used the white stoneware body for the sagger, and it started to show a sign of the bloating. This clay is not meant to be the saggar and repeated firing.  I made new saggars, with mixture of roughly 50% fireclay and 50% white stoneware. I hope this will last longer.



With the saggar, I was able to fire a relatively small piece related to the shelf space.  I still like getting two small pieces rather than getting two seconds.  Now I am getting close to 90-95% of good pottery out of the kiln.  I am almost done throwing for now, and am ready to fire the kiln 2-3 times in next two weeks. Then I am ready for the first three shows.