Kip O’Krongly mugged us with utility jars perfect for these final six weeks of winter. Thanks for the pics and sharing your experience with the CerPrint ceramic decal printer.

Kip upgraded to the Akiles Pro Lam 330 laminator to use with his CerPrint ceramic decal printer in early 2022 and began incorporating more decals into her work. Kip’s tests show a more prominent edge to the decal if she cuts the decals using a Silhouette machine and applies them directly. She gets a softer edge if she runs the decal through the laminator again after cutting.

“It’s so exciting to have this new tool in my studio,” she wrote. “I really think this is going to completely change my studio practice for the better.”

Kip asked CerPrint founder Rob Hullar some questions. We’re sharing them because when one potter has questions, the same questions usually occur to others.

Q. What is the typical shelf life of a toner cartridge?
A. The shelf life for a toner cartridge is typically 1 year, but that’s kind of an industry standard. If the cartridge is being used, I think it will last longer than that, depending on volume, of course. I have not had an issue with the shelf life of the paper, at least not yet.

Q. I know the recommended firing range is up to 1600 degrees for high fire donor paper. Do you have a cone recommendation? I fired to 1500F and cone 014 was FLAT, so I know it’s hotter than that! I’m trying to figure out what to shoot for cone-wise so that I can translate temps to my big kiln when I get to that point.
A. I typically fire to 1500F these days, as I can discern no real difference between that and 1600 or 1550. I have been recommending cone 015, but results also depend on firing rate. (NOTE: see Rob’s new blog post “Fire Up for Intense Blue” for more on temperature.)

Kip O’Krongly, www.kipokrongly.com