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Mixing Mason Stains Into Clay


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Hi again,

CAD posted a feature on using coloured clay in coils and press moulding by Curt Benzle.  He was using different clay bodies but in SA we are very limited with our clays.  So I thought I'd use mason stain to colour the clay.  Any suggestions as to how I do it?

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Andrea -

 

Mason stains work very well with every clay body I have ever mixed them into. The higher you fire them, the darker they become.

Go to the Mason website to see the color options ... the body recommendations are guaranteed to work in clay bodies but you will find a lot of them work quite well.

Buy small amounts and test them in your clay to see what happens.

Have fun!

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Andrea:

Others have far more experience with stains than I do. I have tried the red, black, and a grey only with porcelain: with great results. I have only done it experimentally with/ for crystalline glaze: so if a novice like me can pull it off- you can.

Rose bowl

 

Mason Red body stain- sorry I forgot the number. Seems Chris Campbell is the go to lady on this one.

Nerd

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Andrea -

 

Mason stains work very well with every clay body I have ever mixed them into. The higher you fire them, the darker they become.

Go to the Mason website to see the color options ... the body recommendations are guaranteed to work in clay bodies but you will find a lot of them work quite well.

Buy small amounts and test them in your clay to see what happens.

Have fun!

Chris, do you wear nitrile/latex gloves when you are kneading the stains into the clay?

 

Roberta

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Gloves shouldn't be necessary when working with mason stains. They are ceramic colors that have been fired and milled and shouldn't be toxic. Some red and orange ones may contain encapsulated cadmium and may have additional warnings.

 

Be sure to wedge instead of knead :-)

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Andrea -

 

Mason stains work very well with every clay body I have ever mixed them into. The higher you fire them, the darker they become.

Go to the Mason website to see the color options ... the body recommendations are guaranteed to work in clay bodies but you will find a lot of them work quite well.

Buy small amounts and test them in your clay to see what happens.

Have fun!

 

Chris, do you wear nitrile/latex gloves when you are kneading the stains into the clay?

 

Roberta

Yes, I do.

Mostly because it is such a messy job ... easier to throw away gloves rather than spend time cleaning up.

I use liquid bandage to cover any small open cuts I might have on my hands.

At this time there are no known safety issues other than breathing in the stain as dust.

I definitely use gloves with encapsulated stains ... But that is from caution on my side.

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Andrea -

 

Mason stains work very well with every clay body I have ever mixed them into. The higher you fire them, the darker they become.

Go to the Mason website to see the color options ... the body recommendations are guaranteed to work in clay bodies but you will find a lot of them work quite well.

Buy small amounts and test them in your clay to see what happens.

Have fun!

Chris, do you wear nitrile/latex gloves when you are kneading the stains into the clay?

 

Roberta

Yes, I do.

Mostly because it is such a messy job ... easier to throw away gloves rather than spend time cleaning up.

I use liquid bandage to cover any small open cuts I might have on my hands.

At this time there are no known safety issues other than breathing in the stain as dust.

I definitely use gloves with encapsulated stains ... But that is from caution on my side.

 

Yes, that is what I was wondering about.  The staining on your hands.  What is your surface that you work on Chris?  Something that will clean up easily, I suppose.   You know, when you are "wedging"  not kneading :rolleyes:.   (thanks Matthew V!)​   â€‹

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There is no staining on hands ... It's just messy gooey clay under nails and caked on.

There are only a few colors that permanently stain fabric.

I work on canvas and old bedsheet fabric ... I have had these same cloths for fifteen years and they look fine after regular laundering.

p.s. I have no idea what the difference is between kneading and wedging clay ... I believe I knead mine but who knows??

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p.s. I have no idea what the difference is between kneading and wedging clay ... I believe I knead mine but who knows??

 

I believe you knead dough to incorporate air and wedge clay to remove it.

 

Whatever it is you are actually doing, a rose by any other name is still a rose !!!

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Hi I can't get white clay in the city I live in, other than porcelain, if I purchase from out of town it costs a lot to ship it up to Jhb. So I'm stuck with grey.  Can you indicate what colours look "insipid"?

 

Thanks and have a good Sunday.  I'm slabbing today, making up some new leaf platters and I think I'll do the coil method with the colours I've mixed into bisque.  

 

andrea, it helps to use the whitest clay you can.  some of the buff kinds look insipid with some colors.

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If you are using grey clay you will get more muted colors ... You won't get the strong vibrant hues but you might like the results. Buy small amounts of various Mason stains and experiment. In the teaching area of my website I have a list of stains that have worked well for me, but many other colors work well. Have fun with it!

www.ccpottery.com

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Chris:

 

If I might, would like to add to this topic: but with a different application. I have been using stains with a porcelain engobe. The red, grey, green and yellow always seem to produce good results. However, every time I use the black #6600: I am getting a very deep purplish haze/hue under the glaze. I take porcelain trimmings and run them through a grinder to produce a fine powder: so my engobe is porcelain powder, stain and water, applied at leather hard. I have used as low as 5% and upwards of 10% of black 6600 with the same result. I am firing cone6 and sometimes cone 10 crystalline glaze. Any thoughts on why I am getting this purplish bleeding with a black stain? The basic glaze is frit 3110, zinc, and silica- nothing really corrosive.

 

Nerd

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