Matt Oz Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 I posted a while back in the studio section...best-blue-for-colored-clay It seemed to be getting technical, so I'm posting the results here. My clay fires to a glassy finish at cone 6 and only needs small amounts of stain, so I don't know how informative this is. Maybe more for glazes. Cobalt Mason Stains: Mazerine 6300- the darkest, but a little more on the red side. Also acts as a strong flux. Wedgewood 6310– Not as dark, seems closer to blue, doesn't flux. Lighter shades (smaller amounts) still have noticeable red. Zirconium Vanadium Mason Stain 6315: Makes nice light blues, but close to turquoise. Mixing a small amount of Mazerine with it also made a nice blue. Stains added to wedgable clay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 Thanks for publishing the results. I like that zirconium vanadium ... Is that just the chemical or is it a Mason Stain? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Oz Posted July 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 Thanks for publishing the results. I like that zirconium vanadium ... Is that just the chemical or is it a Mason Stain? oops, yes the stain I will edit for clarity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eoteceramics Posted July 5, 2012 Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 Hi Ive never stained clay body before but have recently bought some Mason stains which Im going to lots of tests by wedging into different clays . However If you could enlighten me on a few things before I go ahead. For the effect Im hoping for I have different clay bodies: a light stoneware , a speckled stoneware and a heavily grogged stoneware. Im not neccesssarily looking for bright colours but more earthy, natural colours. I simply want to know will I be wasting my time trying to stain these , I then want to once fire after burnishing so no glaze will be used. Also do you use gloves to protect hands? Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Oz Posted July 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 Hi Ive never stained clay body before but have recently bought some Mason stains which Im going to lots of tests by wedging into different clays . However If you could enlighten me on a few things before I go ahead. For the effect Im hoping for I have different clay bodies: a light stoneware , a speckled stoneware and a heavily grogged stoneware. Im not neccesssarily looking for bright colours but more earthy, natural colours. I simply want to know will I be wasting my time trying to stain these , I then want to once fire after burnishing so no glaze will be used. Also do you use gloves to protect hands? Thanks in advance. I don't think you're wasting your time, you may get the earthier looking color you want using clay that has some of its own natural color. With Mason stains I wear gloves if mixing in larger amounts, just because it's messy. Working with it I don't, but that's just me. Here is a discussion on the subject from the clay art archives....//www.potters.org/subject44495.htm/ Wear a mask for the dry powder part. Hopefully you'll get more info from others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eoteceramics Posted July 5, 2012 Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 Hi Ive never stained clay body before but have recently bought some Mason stains which Im going to lots of tests by wedging into different clays . However If you could enlighten me on a few things before I go ahead. For the effect Im hoping for I have different clay bodies: a light stoneware , a speckled stoneware and a heavily grogged stoneware. Im not neccesssarily looking for bright colours but more earthy, natural colours. I simply want to know will I be wasting my time trying to stain these , I then want to once fire after burnishing so no glaze will be used. Also do you use gloves to protect hands? Thanks in advance. I don't think you're wasting your time, you may get the earthier looking color you want using clay that has some of its own natural color. With Mason stains I wear gloves if mixing in larger amounts, just because it's messy. Working with it I don't, but that's just me. Here is a discussion on the subject from the clay art archives....//www.potters.org/subject44495.htm/ Wear a mask for the dry powder part. Hopefully you'll get more info from others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eoteceramics Posted July 5, 2012 Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 Thanks Matt, cant wait to experiment, will post results if any good. thanks for link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted July 5, 2012 Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 You describe the physical look of the clay rather than its color which is what will make the difference. You will be doing basic color blending so if you put blue stain into a yellowish clay you will not get blue, but you might get another very interesting color. Here's a good way to test. Mix about one pound of each clay with a specific % of stain. For dark colors you don't need much ... Maybe 5% ... For pale pinks, violets, yellows you could need upwards of 15% ... Get a teaspoon or a melon ball scoop and measure out several equal scoops of all your colored and plain clays. Then start blending them 1:1. 2:1. 3:1. .... Take notes ... Once you have blended them flatten to a disc, write the blend on the back in whatever code you can understand. (You can cut the measured scoops in half or quarters so your discs don't get too big). Glaze 1/2 of the top surface and once fire to the final temp. For more info on coloring clays you can go the the clay lessons part of my site. http://ccpottery.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eoteceramics Posted July 6, 2012 Report Share Posted July 6, 2012 Thanks Chris, Yes I see what you mean re colours of clay, I have three greyish and one white all stoneware so I imagine the white will need less stain. Dont really know until I start mixing if any will give me the results I'm looking for. I assume when I'm mixing the % of stain into a pound of clay I keep going until I get a good colour since I can tone it down after by adding un-coloured clay. Note keeping is a must with this one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted July 6, 2012 Report Share Posted July 6, 2012 I put in a lot of mason stain since mixing is such a messy job and it is easy to add white later. My light colors are over 20% stain and my darks about 8 - 10%. Post images of your results as it will be very interesting to watch your progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eoteceramics Posted July 7, 2012 Report Share Posted July 7, 2012 Hi, ok have started experimenting but am amazed how much stain is required i think I must be going wrong somewhere! I started using 1lb of clay but reduced it down to 8oz because eg. the sky blue stain mixed with a white stoneware required the whole 50g of stain to get any kind of colour, Does it fire to a more intense colour.? I only bought small amounts of stain because I didn't know what colurs Id like. Im currently letting the colured clay dry a little before starting the ratio mixing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted July 7, 2012 Report Share Posted July 7, 2012 Well you have about 20% color if my math is right .... 1.76 oz of color to 8 oz of clay?? Gosh its been a while since I did fractions and such .... that should be enough to color the clay and yes it does get darker as it fires and gets darker the higher you fire it. A good approximate color test is to fire it to Cone 06 then wet the piece to see the color it would be at Cone 6. That is why you have to mark the bags you store it in because sometimes you cannot see the color at all until it is fired ... after all my years doing this I recently used a pale blue thinking it was white clay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eoteceramics Posted July 8, 2012 Report Share Posted July 8, 2012 Thanks Chris, I guess the only way to find out is to get on with it and fire them! Thanks for doing the maths my head hurts trying to work it out. I'll post the results, may take a while though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.