Comment

Comment by Jan Wallace on May 5, 2011 at 9:42pm

Thanks George. I will read that discussion and let everyone know how i go with my tests. 

Comment by George Lewter on May 5, 2011 at 6:37pm

Hi Jan,

B-Mix is simply a "White Stoneware", meaning mainly that it doesn't contain any ingredients with a lot of iron or other coloring oxides that would darken it. I would think you could get similar results with another white stoneware or with porcelain as your clay body. Check my discussion How to Down-Fire a Manual Kiln with a Dawson Kiln Sitter for information on defeating the shutoff feature of a kiln sitter, and doing a controlled cool down on a manual kiln. After you've digested that information, reply in that forum with any questions you may have.  Generally, you can heat up as fast as your kiln will heat, but doing a soak at the maximum temperature of 30-60 minutes, and slowly cooling the kiln to about 1500 degrees Fahrenheit will markedly improve matte and semi-matte glazes, and allow more mixing of layered glossy glazes. 

Welcome to our network!

Comment by Jan Wallace on May 5, 2011 at 5:28pm

Hi George. As i from Australia, i have not heard of B-mix 5. Is it a buff clay or white? I am going to test some of the glazes on this site soon (new member) and also would like to ask a technical question please. I have a small electric kiln (39 x 39 cm) with a manual controller (10% to 100% energy regulator) and an auto shut off at set temp. What would you suggest for me with respect to the way i turn up kiln in order to gain the best results in my kiln? I have been reading a few things that suggest firing schedules to help those with controllers, so hence my question as this is very differant for me with a manual kiln. I would really appreciate your advice. Thanks.