Does anyone have success dipping the SH Glazes rather than spraying??

[Belinda Willis]

It appears most of the folks on this forum are spraying Steven's glazes as he recommends. Has anyone dipped the glazes instead? If so, how are the result? Any suggestions? What to avoid? Etc?

 

Oh, for a spray booth..........sigh.

 

Belinda

[Joe Shaw]

Before we had a spray booth, we made do with a large cardboard box, such as you might get a washer or dryer in. Use it outside, set it on a folding table, use clamps as necessary, put a turntable or banding wheel in the center, drape a sheet of very lightweight plastic over the front to protect yourself and lift the plastic over your hands while spraying. Doesn't cost more than a few $$ for the plastic, the rest is free or in your studio already. 

[05frtid5u78ox]

I tried dipping the rims of my pots with the Hanna's blue ash and it was way too heavy an application. I dont know if you could adjust the glazes for dipping though. I'm with Robert Shaw though on using a box.

[Joe Shaw]

I've dipped the rims on a few of my soup/cereal bowls and I like the effect quite well. In my photos look for this image: Cognac Gold Soup:Cereal Bowl-3. Look also at  Cognac Gold Soup:Cereal Bowl-7 thru 9.

I dip the SCM quick and dipped the whole bowl in Randy's Red to a four count.. I fire a cone 04 bisque, just to give you an idea.

[Michele Hartung]

I am dipping all of the glazes now because I don't have a spray booth either.  The SCM works the same as when sprayed.  The only glaze that won't work is the spotted black.  Otherwise, I have been getting great results with SCM and the watercolors using Steven's firing schedule.  I have tested SCM under all of my dipping glazes.  Just go for it!

[Jan Wallace]

I am currently using a large cardboard box as a spray booth. I tape large sheets of newspaper to completely line the inside of the box. I put the box on a card table and put pots on a turn table. I spray outside and wear a mask and goggles ( I worry about the overspray getting in my eyes, cant be good). Then when finished spraying, I remove all the paper and renew it for next time. Works very well.

[Belinda Willis]

Whoa, Robert! Those Cognac Gold pieces are stunning! You've certainly taken your glaze combos to a gorgeous new level. It was fun to look at your entire photo album and see the the progression of pots as you've moved to more bold colors. Thank you for sharing so much information.

Belinda

[Belinda Willis]

Thanks for the input, Michele. I'm ready to mix up dip-able quanities of Steven's glazes after reading your post. It appears everyone dips/sprays SCM as the first layer with another glaze on top of it. Do you dip it as a thin application or do you treat it like a regular glaze? On a vertical surface, does it make the second glaze run much? I'm so hesitant to put an unknown glaze on anything but the top 1/4 of a pot until I know how it behaves. 

Oh, this is exciting!!  Thank you.

[Belinda Willis]

GREAT idea to line your spray box with newspaper! An instant grab of excess glaze.  Have you ever thought to tear shapes out of the glaze covered newspaper and lay 'em on a pot to see how it would look after being fired? If the glaze is thick enough, that might turn out really fantastic. If I decide to spray glazes, I'll let you know how it works.

I had a friend who had developed a lovely palette of glazes. She saved all her "trash" glaze into one bucket, never mixed it until glaze time and then only enough to be able to dip. Those were some of her most beautiful pots and they could never be repeated. 

[Belinda Willis]

That is why I'm hesitant to dip Steven's glazes. They interact so beautifully but I don't know what to expect and I'm terrified of ruining my kiln shelves. Thank you for the warning.

[Joe Shaw]

Just be sure the SCM is a very thin layer. It will cause other glazes to run like crystalline glazes tend to do. Joe usually does a very fast dip (when he dips) of the SCM, and then puts the other glazes on the top 1/3 to 1/2 of the bowls. We use glaze catchers under the bowls, made of the same clay. The center of the glaze catcher needs to be higher than the outer rim, at least for our bowls, that way the glaze runs off in the channel, but the sides of the bowls/pots/whatever do not touch the outer rims of the glaze catcher. Joe has been redesigning the foot of his pieces and does not make a foot rim, per se. The bowls seem to be floating rather than showing a foot beneath. He also tries to put about three small inscised lines at the bottom outer rim of the bowls to help slow down any runs of glaze. If you would like some photos, we can post some if you need it to be more clear. So, to make a long post short, very quick then layer of SCM, other glazes on top third to half of the piece in order to have plenty of room for the glazes that like to run, glaze catcher below and three inscised lines. Lots of little steps, but a good outcome for the work you put in. You can see how close the glaze came to running on the lager glass.

[Belinda Willis]

Thanks again, Robert. Do you guys put glaze catchers under all your pots? Yikes!  If so, that means you also grind alot of your pots.  I have a grinder with a wheel that will eat glaze drips in half a second but I don't have anything to smooth the rough surface with. Can you tell me what you use to fine grind and where I might get it?

[Sylvia Shirley]

I know this isn't exactly Steven Hill's recipes, but it's the same theory.  Here's a combination I really like dipped.  It is Tom Coleman's Crystal Matte underneath Ron Roy's black number 3.  It makes a really nice effect and doesn't run off the pot.