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GEP

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Everything posted by GEP

  1. In my experience, self-supporting cones can stick to the shelf if you overfire them just a little. They’re not supposed to, but it happens! As @Bill Kielb said, if you kiln wash your shelves, this is not a problem. I do not kiln wash my shelves, so I have had to chisel off some stuck cone bits. My solution to this is to use cone plaques, the kind that have holes in one side for holding non-self-supporting cones at the correct angle. I use the underside that doesn’t have holes, put kiln wash on that surface, and place my self-supporting cones on them. Any small piece of old or broken kiln furniture will work too.
  2. Another soy wax user here. I much prefer it to paraffin. Not only does it smell less, it melts to a more liquid consistency, therefore makes a straighter line on your pot. When you dip a pot into melted paraffin, the top edge of the paraffin can be wobbly and uneven, because it starts to solidify against your pot too fast. Note that it’s possible to by the wrong type of soy wax. There are some soy wax pellets that are formulated to stay soft when cool. Those do not resist glaze very well. Make sure to use soy wax FLAKES (looks like you have the right kind, @Snickerhaus Studio), and that the flakes are shiny and hard at room temperature.
  3. For most of the 20+ years I’ve had my basement studio, I’ve been using the same 3 base recipes. A dry matte, a semi-matte, and a glossy base. I have 1 variation on the dry matte, 2 variations of the semi-matte, and 2 variations of the glossy. Which equals 5 total. Which means I totally agree with your goal to keep 5 glazes. I also agree with @Marilyn T that having fewer glazes is beneficial to you, in terms of artistic growth.
  4. I like to say “even potters need a hobby,” and mine is bookbinding! I make hand-bound notebooks, sketchbooks, and journals. I love paper, cloth, adhesives, and sewing. My graphic design training taught me about pages/sheets/signatures, so I get to use my previous career’s knowledge.
  5. Agree that everyday functional pottery sells much better than sculptural or decorative ceramics. But “functional” alone will not automatically sell, there are plenty of functional wares out there that don’t sell well. It also needs to be pleasing to touch and hold it. And it needs to be correctly priced. Not too high OR too low. And it helps a great deal if it is stylistically original, i.e. customer does not look at it and think “I see a lot of pottery that looks just like this.”
  6. Based on simply looking at your photo (which is not very scientific), the glaze appears to have been applied too thickly to me. Over thick application is a common cause of pinholes. Perhaps the thing that has changed recently is the amount of water you are using? Do you measure for specific gravity? Another common cause of pinholes is underfiring. Sometimes a 5 degree higher firing can solve a pinholing problem. Perhaps the real issue is that your elements or thermocouples need to be replaced, and therefore your kiln is slightly underfiring? A firing with witness cones can answer this question.
  7. Yes. And if possible, let someone put them through a dishwasher 5x/week for 10 years! No formula can give you more information than that.
  8. My “for what it’s worth” contribution to this discussion: The glaze I use the most is based on a MC6G semi-matte base, which I altered with talc and calcium carb to make it more matte. At one point, I calculated out the unity formula, and it was well outside of the range that MC6G recommends. But I’ve been using it for going on 20 years, and it has been rock solid. Even in cases where a customer brought back some 10+ year old bowls, where the glossy liner glaze was visibly losing its shine. These customers are heavy dishwasher users, and again these pots had been in almost daily use for 10+ years, but the matte glaze on the outside was exactly like day 1. Unity formulas, flux ratios, boron charts are all useful guidelines, but glaze chemistry has far more variables than us mere humans can test. No substitute for first hand experience. “Melt and see” is still an indispensable mindset.
  9. Would love to hear how it did in your test!
  10. I am currently searching for a new cone 6 glossy base, and came across this very simple recipe. 50 Frit 3134 30 EPK 20 Silica I am attracted to how simple it is. But is it too simple? I know that some Frits are considered almost complete glazes on their own. I need a glaze that will withstand daily use and dishwashers. Has anyone here tried a recipe like this, or have any other thoughts about something this simple?
  11. I spoke to my local supplier, they did not have any info about the ingredients used to make Cornwall Stone, and they said availability seems good. They suggested I check with Laguna, so I gave them a call. The tech I spoke to said that their Cornwall Stone blend does not use Custer Feldspar. He declined to tell me which feldspar was used (it is 65% of the total) but assured me that it was not going out of production anytime soon. So it seems that Cornwall Stone Laguna Blend is plentiful, and can be a reasonable substitute for Custer Feldspar. More good news from my local supplier... all the Ferro Frits are plentiful again. That was not the case during the pandemic.
  12. These are awesome @Min! Thank you so much!! And thank you @Mark C. for the breakdown of Laguna Cornwall. Well, at least in my studio, I’m gonna call it Fabio Talc from now on :-)
  13. The listing on my supplier’s website is “Cornwall Stone - Laguna Blend” so I’m pretty sure it is the Laguna product. I will email them tomorrow (need to ask them some other questions anyways) and confirm where it’s from. THANK YOU for the adjusted recipe!!
  14. I’m trying to make a white glaze, so you’re right that an exact color response is not that important to me. My supplier is only offering Minspar and Plastic Vitrox Clay, as far as feldspars go. Plus the Cornwall, which they do not classify as a feldspar exactly. My needs are to find a reliable recipe that I can make in large quantities on a regular basis, so buying 50lb sacks online and shipped to me is not feasible. I need to work with what my local supplier has. I like the idea of subbing Cornwall, but upping the Frit to boost the melting.
  15. Yes, the Cornwall data is from Jeff Zamek 2011 article. The one my supplier is carrying is a Laguna product, and described as “Apparently the same as original Cornwall Stone but we recommend testing.” I am assuming this is the same one as Zamek’s analysis, but could be wrong. I have some FABI Talc and plan to do any further glazemaking with it.
  16. Hi to all those smarter at glaze chem than me, How do you all feel about subbing Cornwall Stone for Custer or G200? Here's an analysis of "new" Cornwall Stone, which appears to be very similar to "old" Custer (according to Ron Roy's 2000-2012 numbers above). The Cornwall Stone is short on potassium, at 3.34% vs. 7.52% in Custer. Cornwall Stone seems to be available and plentiful. I'm trying to develop a new liner glaze, and want to prioritize long term availability in materials. The recipe I'm interested in is a glossy base from MC6G. My local supplier does not carry G200EU, so I'm wondering if Cornwall Stone would be close enough. MC6G Glossy Base Glaze 1 20 - G200 Feldspar (can I sub Cornwall Stone here?) 20 - Frit 3134 10 - Wollastonite 20 - EPK 11.5 - Talc 18.5 - Silica
  17. I rely heavily on a deer tail brush as part of my glazing process. They last a long time, but I taught myself how to make them just to make sure I would always have one. I made a video for anyone who wants to learn how, it’s free on youtube.
  18. @Pyewackette, I drag heavy things across the floor a lot, and it does not scuff at all. If I had the choice of bare concrete, I would prefer that. I needed some kind of covering because my basement came with asbestos tiles. Best way to mitigate those is to cover them up. I would not put ceramic tiles in a pottery studio. Lots of heavy things get dropped, and the tiles will be cracked in no time. I don’t think the G-Floor makes the floor warmer or softer, it’s not like a residential vinyl floor. I wear very cushy shoes to keep my feet happy (brand name OOFOS sandals, designed for runners). If you have the option for wood or concrete, those would be best. Like others here, you can use foam mats where needed if you need some softness.
  19. It’s called G-Floor, a heavy duty vinyl flooring meant for garages. It has held up very well at the 10 year mark. The only deterioration is some minor buckling around the legs of the kilns, I guess from the heat of the kilns. But overall I am very happy with it.
  20. The technique you want to learn is “collaring.” Search youtube for this specific term.
  21. Self-employed. From my perspective (one who makes my income at art fairs and craft shows), I think most who rely on pottery for income are as well, though many have other supplemental incomes streams, such as teaching or another day job. But the pottery operation itself is a small business where the potter is the boss.
  22. Great question, Pres! From my perspective as someone who has been self-employed since my mid-20s, as a designer and as a potter, my approach to insulating myself from the occasional “deal gone wrong” is to make sure I never have too many eggs in one basket. In other words, I would not undertake a deal that would force me to forsake too many of my other clients/customers, making me overly dependent on one client/customer. That way, if one deal goes belly up, it doesn’t hurt me that much. Having all of the terms in writing is also essential, but this is not always a guarantee, just a another layer of safety. Any legitimate business partner will have no problem with putting things in writing. Anyone who balks at this should not be viewed seriously at all. In all of these years, using simple one-page boilerplate contracts with my design clients, and with wholesale galleries, I can count on one hand the number of times I got stiffed on a payment. These days as a potter, the largest orders I deal with are when a customer wants to get a full set of dinnerware. Several different items x8, or x12. At most, it will total about $1500. The terms are discussed by email, so I have it in writing. But I never take a deposit, and I make clear that they can cancel or change the reservation at any time. So by making it clear that I don’t NEED them to show up for the pickup, because somebody else will buy the pots instead, that’s my leverage. Again, I can count on one hand the number of customers who have cancelled, for reasons such as an unexpected trip out of town, or an unexpected surgery. If some hypothetical commercial customer wanted to buy such a quantity of my work that would force me to drop my usual schedule of shows and customers, I would say no. Because I don’t want all of my eggs in one basket. And knowing the pottery landscape like I do, I would view the customer as being naive or inexperienced. I would advise any aspiring potter to not expect to find a big customer that represents a big leap forward financially. That customer probably doesn’t understand ceramics, which means the deal is doomed. A pottery business is built out of little blocks.
  23. Even if it’s older than 5 years, an L&L really holds its value. Selling the small kiln will be easy no matter when you’re ready to upgrade.
  24. I tend to prefer simple and inexpensive tools. If I was being forced to spend $150, I would spend it all on various ribs. Different sizes, shapes, and materials. The one expensive tool that I would buy again in a heartbeat is the Giffin Grip.
  25. I once had to remove some stuck wheel heads in the classroom where I used to teach. They were Pacifica Wheels. We were advised by Laguna to put on some sturdy and grippy work gloves. Make sure all the set screws were loose or removed. Then have a strong person grab the wheel head with the gloves on, and twist counter clockwise while also stepping on the pedal. It worked!
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