Pinging Pots

[Brandon Franks]

2 minutes ago, neilestrick said:

That's a good clay if you like the feel and look of a buff. I prefer the #630 because it doesn't have grog. It's feels fairly smooth, but fireclay gives it enough tooth to be quite forgiving. I also prefer the color of the #630. Try them both!

Awesome, Thanks so much.

[Bill Kielb]

It is more common to match you glaze to your claybody than the other way around so eventually when you settle on a body  you may  need to get some matching glazes. FYI - We rarely use any body that is not less than 1% absorption at our working cone temp. I am guessing many of the folks here are 1% or less as well. Just a note,  porcelain  bodies sometimes are harder to fit in that they are generally lower COE so glazes that once were great on stoneware can tend towards crazing on porcelain bodies.

 

[Brandon Franks]

1 hour ago, Bill Kielb said:

It is more common to match you glaze to your claybody than the other way around so eventually when you settle on a body  you may  need to get some matching glazes. FYI - We rarely use any body that is not less than 1% absorption at our working cone temp. I am guessing many of the folks here are 1% or less as well. Just a note,  porcelain  bodies sometimes are harder to fit in that they are generally lower COE so glazes that once were great on stoneware can tend towards crazing on porcelain bodies.

 

Do you have any recommendations? I only really have Standard Clay near me.  Also, most the mid-fire clays seem to be somewhere within the 1.25% to 2% shrinkage rate.

 

[liambesaw]

2% or under is fine, over 2% and you risk weeping, microwave issues, mold and mildew.  What I hate is that the bodies I've tried that are closer to 1% are more finicky in the ole kiln.  Bloatier when fired a little hot.

[Bill Kielb]

1 hour ago, Brandon Franks said:

Do you have any recommendations? I only really have Standard Clay near me.  Also, most the mid-fire clays seem to be somewhere within the 1.25% to 2% shrinkage rate.

 

I do not. I throw porcelain  and prefer several but find it is a personal preference thing. Just wanted to get you thinking about absorption as well as trends in glaze fit.(not necessarily related) Typical, not always but typically functional potters target 0.5% and will accept 1%. When I learned - 3% leaks on your grandmothers antique piano, 2% probably, 1% maybe. Manufactures would love to sell 3% as being good enough That would be absorption rate, not shrinkage though.

[Brandon Franks]

1 hour ago, liambesaw said:

2% or under is fine, over 2% and you risk weeping, microwave issues, mold and mildew.  What I hate is that the bodies I've tried that are closer to 1% are more finicky in the ole kiln.  Bloatier when fired a little hot.

Awesome, thanks!

[Brandon Franks]

16 minutes ago, Bill Kielb said:

I do not. I throw porcelain  and prefer several but find it is a personal preference thing. Just wanted to get you thinking about absorption as well as trends in glaze fit.(not necessarily related) Typical, not always but typically functional potters target 0.5% and will accept 1%. When I learned - 3% leaks on your grandmothers antique piano, 2% probably, 1% maybe. Manufactures would love to sell 3% as being good enough That would be absorption rate, not shrinkage though.

All right, will definitely take into consideration.

 

Im probably going to try out three different clays now, just because I am in the market for new clay and do not want to purchase 2,000lbs of clay that doesn't work well with some of my other glazes.

 

Thanks for your help though, I have not had to take absorption into account for years (and honestly forgot to check it)

 

Have a good day!

 

[Marcia Selsor]

Get a copy of Mastering ^6 Glazes or Michael bailey's Cone 6 glazes and mix your own.  You can adjust a glaze fitting to your clay with an small addition of Silica like 0.5% or an adjustment of kaolin up to 2% but you have to test. 

Marcia

[Brandon Franks]

1 hour ago, Marcia Selsor said:

Get a copy of Mastering ^6 Glazes or Michael bailey's Cone 6 glazes and mix your own.  You can adjust a glaze fitting to your clay with an small addition of Silica like 0.5% or an adjustment of kaolin up to 2% but you have to test. 

Marcia

I do actually mix my own glazes. I was just interested in these particular glazes because they break unlike any of my glazes.

[liambesaw]

21 minutes ago, Brandon Franks said:

I do actually mix my own glazes. I was just interested in these particular glazes because they break unlike any of my glazes.

That's a fact! 

[Bill Kielb]

IDK, some basic glaze chemistry and a little bit of dialing in melts is pretty easy actually. Definitely worth learning so you can get the look you want. This tile below is from a batch of five progressions to replace rutile. Breaks nice, movement is dialed in as I wanted, no crazing and durable flux ratio. All created in about thirty minutes. Making your own definitely has advantages. Picture not so great though!

[Brandon Franks]

29 minutes ago, liambesaw said:

That's a fact! 

Good one, I should have seen that coming