Glaze Development for Dummies - Electric Mid&Hi Fired Ceramics2024-03-29T15:10:10Zhttps://cone6pots.ning.com/forum/topics/glaze-development-for-dummies?commentId=2103784%3AComment%3A107319&feed=yes&xn_auth=noKabe - That sounds familiar. …tag:cone6pots.ning.com,2014-06-12:2103784:Comment:1075532014-06-12T05:01:31.650ZNorm Stuarthttps://cone6pots.ning.com/profile/NormStuart
<p>Kabe - That sounds familiar. As a tile ink I previously mixed betonite and black mason stain, but when I ran out I was too lazy to make it again, as I needed hot water to dissolve the Veegum brand bentonite.</p>
<p>Now we use our remaining Laguna red iron oxide, which fires brown, mixed with a little water in a capped pint container.</p>
<p>Fine tipped brushes are in short supply at our studio as they quickly lose their points when abused, so I tied it to the ink with a string.</p>
<p>The…</p>
<p>Kabe - That sounds familiar. As a tile ink I previously mixed betonite and black mason stain, but when I ran out I was too lazy to make it again, as I needed hot water to dissolve the Veegum brand bentonite.</p>
<p>Now we use our remaining Laguna red iron oxide, which fires brown, mixed with a little water in a capped pint container.</p>
<p>Fine tipped brushes are in short supply at our studio as they quickly lose their points when abused, so I tied it to the ink with a string.</p>
<p>The nice advantage of using an iron oxide as ink, is everyone can tell at a glance whether the tile was fired to Cone 6 or low-fired. After a cone 6 the red iron oxide gains a metallic sheen to it, which you don't see after a lower temperature firing.</p>
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<p>We typically make up 500 grams of glaze and keep the sieved glaze in a disposable quart deli container, which costs a couple of cents with the lids at a restaurant supply store. We can mark the name of the glaze on the side with a permanent marker. I have photos of the glazes in an Excel spreadsheet and in Insight-Live, but we keep a test tile on the top of each quart container.</p>
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<p>When empty we use it for refills if it's still in decent shape. We have about ten bucket glazes, but 150 other glazes in these quart containers. The containers on the right in this photo below are far more durable than the ones we use.</p>
<p><img class="shrinkToFit decoded" alt="http://www.sweethopecookies.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/IMG_9347.jpg" src="http://www.sweethopecookies.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/IMG_9347.jpg" height="956" width="1434"/></p>
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<p></p> Hi Dani. Glazing can be a cha…tag:cone6pots.ning.com,2014-06-12:2103784:Comment:1075502014-06-12T03:54:46.667ZKabe Burlesonhttps://cone6pots.ning.com/profile/KabeBurleson
<p>Hi Dani. Glazing can be a challenge. Record keeping by the motto " I'll remember and write it down later" still doesn't work well for me. I know better and sometimes I still do it. One thing that helps me in glaze testing for 100 gr batches is to write down the number or the name of the test glaze on a plastic spoon with a marker and leave it in the container forever. well at least until your done and have written down your results. A lot of time can pass between mixing up a batch, dipping…</p>
<p>Hi Dani. Glazing can be a challenge. Record keeping by the motto " I'll remember and write it down later" still doesn't work well for me. I know better and sometimes I still do it. One thing that helps me in glaze testing for 100 gr batches is to write down the number or the name of the test glaze on a plastic spoon with a marker and leave it in the container forever. well at least until your done and have written down your results. A lot of time can pass between mixing up a batch, dipping it on a tile and seeing the results. I hate to come back to my glaze table and find 2 or 3 unlabeled containers of glaze. "Oh I thought I would remember." When you finish a test, pour the glaze and the spoon in a ziplock bag and label the bag. You can always reuse the glaze to see how it would look combined with another glaze, like a dip on a rim. makes it easer to do a test because it is already mixed. Label your test tiles with a mixture of bentonite and black iron oxide and water. paint it on with a fine brush like ink. it fires on the tile and will not come off. I use a number system to keep track of all my tests you can always change the name or number at a later time. computer glaze software is a must, I have insight so I can record notes in it. You only need to learn one thing at a time, it is the combination of one things that turns into knowledge. have fun. happy firing</p> "...for Dummies" books aren't…tag:cone6pots.ning.com,2014-06-11:2103784:Comment:1075112014-06-11T21:09:36.131ZCarl Cravenshttps://cone6pots.ning.com/profile/CarlCravens
<p>"...for Dummies" books aren't really for dummies. They're often great introductions to their topics, written with an assumption that you know nothing about the topic.</p>
<p>I really like Bailey's "Glazes Cone 6" (there's a link on the sidebar here) as an introduction... the book is fairly short, and focuses on the balance between glass formers, stabilizers and fluxes, and examines what happens when you push each one to the extreme, etc. It's very much about learning how to develop "good"…</p>
<p>"...for Dummies" books aren't really for dummies. They're often great introductions to their topics, written with an assumption that you know nothing about the topic.</p>
<p>I really like Bailey's "Glazes Cone 6" (there's a link on the sidebar here) as an introduction... the book is fairly short, and focuses on the balance between glass formers, stabilizers and fluxes, and examines what happens when you push each one to the extreme, etc. It's very much about learning how to develop "good" glazes. I've read it cover-to-cover twice. I think it covers the basics that "Mastering Cone 6 Glazes" assumes you know something about, and they work well together.</p> Have fun Dani.
I found this w…tag:cone6pots.ning.com,2014-06-11:2103784:Comment:1075462014-06-11T18:18:03.409ZNorm Stuarthttps://cone6pots.ning.com/profile/NormStuart
<p>Have fun Dani.</p>
<p>I found this webpage useful in combination with "Mastering Cone 6 Glazes". The chemistry of glaze color.</p>
<p><a href="http://digitalfire.com/4sight/properties/ceramic_property_glaze_color.html" target="_blank">http://digitalfire.com/4sight/properties/ceramic_property_glaze_color.html</a></p>
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<p>Chrome oxide used above 5% or so in many glazes leaves the excess precipitated out as small but expensive brown spots.</p>
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<p>Have fun Dani.</p>
<p>I found this webpage useful in combination with "Mastering Cone 6 Glazes". The chemistry of glaze color.</p>
<p><a href="http://digitalfire.com/4sight/properties/ceramic_property_glaze_color.html" target="_blank">http://digitalfire.com/4sight/properties/ceramic_property_glaze_color.html</a></p>
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<p>Chrome oxide used above 5% or so in many glazes leaves the excess precipitated out as small but expensive brown spots.</p>
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<p></p> Thanks Juli. That GlazeCal lo…tag:cone6pots.ning.com,2014-06-11:2103784:Comment:1073962014-06-11T11:13:33.137ZDani Montoyahttps://cone6pots.ning.com/profile/DaniMontoya
<p>Thanks Juli. That GlazeCal looks pretty neat and helpful. Thanks for the heads up on it.</p>
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<p>So i have started to play. I used up all my test tiles yesterday just adding colorants by themselves to see the color progression. I am not being all that accurate yet, but just wanting to see the actual color of a single colorant like chrome oxide green. </p>
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<p>So here I go!</p>
<p>Thanks Juli. That GlazeCal looks pretty neat and helpful. Thanks for the heads up on it.</p>
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<p>So i have started to play. I used up all my test tiles yesterday just adding colorants by themselves to see the color progression. I am not being all that accurate yet, but just wanting to see the actual color of a single colorant like chrome oxide green. </p>
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<p>So here I go!</p> Dani,
I was in the same boat…tag:cone6pots.ning.com,2014-06-10:2103784:Comment:1073882014-06-10T23:58:00.993Zjuli longhttps://cone6pots.ning.com/profile/julilong
<p>Dani,</p>
<p>I was in the same boat as you, no classes, overwhelmed, put it off, bad notes,(still can't figure out what the heck I was thinking, and can't read my own writing)! Here is something I did to make it easier on myself. I bought "GlazeCal"<span>. Your Glaze Makin' Cheat Sheet. Converts Glaze Recipe Percentages Into the Correct Gram Weights. It makes it doable for me then to make a 200, 500, 10,000, whatever batch size. It does all the converting and it's…</span></p>
<p>Dani,</p>
<p>I was in the same boat as you, no classes, overwhelmed, put it off, bad notes,(still can't figure out what the heck I was thinking, and can't read my own writing)! Here is something I did to make it easier on myself. I bought "GlazeCal"<span>. Your Glaze Makin' Cheat Sheet. Converts Glaze Recipe Percentages Into the Correct Gram Weights. It makes it doable for me then to make a 200, 500, 10,000, whatever batch size. It does all the converting and it's cheap.</span></p>
<p><span>The second thing that make my life easier, was buying an electronic scale.</span></p>
<p><span>After that, it took me an afternoon to set </span>everything up, and make my first glaze test. It took me that long because, I don't know, it just did, but I did it, and I haven't stopped since.</p>
<p>Juli</p> If you ever decide you want t…tag:cone6pots.ning.com,2014-06-10:2103784:Comment:1073842014-06-10T19:04:13.023ZNorm Stuarthttps://cone6pots.ning.com/profile/NormStuart
<p>If you ever decide you want to add a computer controller to your kiln to replace the kiln sitter, I think the Bartlett V6-CF for $489 is best for the money.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.clay-king.com/kilns/olympic_kilns/electro_sitter.html" target="_blank">http://www.clay-king.com/kilns/olympic_kilns/electro_sitter.html</a></p>
<p>If you ever decide you want to add a computer controller to your kiln to replace the kiln sitter, I think the Bartlett V6-CF for $489 is best for the money.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.clay-king.com/kilns/olympic_kilns/electro_sitter.html" target="_blank">http://www.clay-king.com/kilns/olympic_kilns/electro_sitter.html</a></p> Yes, Organization is critical…tag:cone6pots.ning.com,2014-06-10:2103784:Comment:1073192014-06-10T14:11:42.617ZDani Montoyahttps://cone6pots.ning.com/profile/DaniMontoya
<p>Yes, Organization is critical, I can see that. I really haven't worked out a good system as yet. I do have a notebook I write things down in but it gets sloppy after a while and hard to read. I will work on this aspect. <br></br><br></br>My Kiln is not really manual, but it is not digital either. I have a dial that allows me to fire faster or slower or "normal". It does it own thing and it does a pretty good job but I can not regulate the temperature to hold the temp. I tend to fire overnight…</p>
<p>Yes, Organization is critical, I can see that. I really haven't worked out a good system as yet. I do have a notebook I write things down in but it gets sloppy after a while and hard to read. I will work on this aspect. <br/><br/>My Kiln is not really manual, but it is not digital either. I have a dial that allows me to fire faster or slower or "normal". It does it own thing and it does a pretty good job but I can not regulate the temperature to hold the temp. I tend to fire overnight because my studio gets too hot when its firing especially if it is already 100 degrees outside (It is nice to fire during the day in the winter though!)<br/><br/>I had not heard about the computer contoller. I will look into it . THanks</p> Dani, I am not a chemist eith…tag:cone6pots.ning.com,2014-06-10:2103784:Comment:1072112014-06-10T13:11:19.612ZNadine Mercaderhttps://cone6pots.ning.com/profile/NadineMercader
Dani, I am not a chemist either but I have made some great glazes. The most important advice is what Norm said, ORGANIZATION, and record keeping. When I am weighing out materials I have the formula printed out with a check box and I keep notes as I go. I am fortunate because I don't have any others in my studio to mingle minerals together! I am unfortunate because I don't have anybody to warn me that I missed something! I also only make glaze when there are no distractions .<br />
I keep my printed…
Dani, I am not a chemist either but I have made some great glazes. The most important advice is what Norm said, ORGANIZATION, and record keeping. When I am weighing out materials I have the formula printed out with a check box and I keep notes as I go. I am fortunate because I don't have any others in my studio to mingle minerals together! I am unfortunate because I don't have anybody to warn me that I missed something! I also only make glaze when there are no distractions .<br />
I keep my printed "recipes" in a binder and add notes after firing.<br />
You can regulate a manual kiln if you are EXTREMELY patient. I used to fire manually but later bought a separate wall mounted computer controller. Check on eBay and you might find one. Your kiln simmply plugs into it with all knobs on high and it delivers power as required by the program, it is like a rheostat on a light. I look forward to seeing your pots! Well alrighty then!
No magic…tag:cone6pots.ning.com,2014-06-10:2103784:Comment:1074852014-06-10T11:22:04.446ZDani Montoyahttps://cone6pots.ning.com/profile/DaniMontoya
<p>Well alrighty then!</p>
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<p>No magic glaze fairies will pop into my studio today! Thanks for the replies. I got a good chuckle Norm over the apple pie example because I once did that, i added a cup of salt to orange juice instead of a cup of sugar, but it wasnt really my fault. I was in a strang kitchen and they had the salt and sugar in cannisters that looked remarkable alike. The orange juice sucked and I learned right away to double check everything.</p>
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<p>WhenI bought…</p>
<p>Well alrighty then!</p>
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<p>No magic glaze fairies will pop into my studio today! Thanks for the replies. I got a good chuckle Norm over the apple pie example because I once did that, i added a cup of salt to orange juice instead of a cup of sugar, but it wasnt really my fault. I was in a strang kitchen and they had the salt and sugar in cannisters that looked remarkable alike. The orange juice sucked and I learned right away to double check everything.</p>
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<p>WhenI bought materials i think I bought enough to do what I needed, not 1/4 lb but 2 to 10 lbs. But as fate would have it, i never have exactly what I need!</p>
<p>My kiln is an older Cress, with a Kiln Sitter. I have yet to figure out how to hold a temp. In calling Cress and asking they say I can't. I did just get a pyrometer so maybe that will help. </p>
<p>I think it is my note taking that I fall apart on. I make notes and when I go back to read how I did something i tend to think "what the heck does that mean"!</p>
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<p>I do have a pottery teacher but for some reason he is reluctant to teach glazing. I have asked and asked. No go.</p>
<p>So...i will just go out there and keep playing! </p>
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