Making colored slip

[Marge]

How do I make colored slip for use in a slip trailer? I'm working with stoneware to be fired to cone 5. I want to apply it to my greenware while still wet on the wheel. I'd like it not to drip while spiraling down my pot while on the wheel. I assume that I dip in clear (or colored glaze) after it has been bisqued. I would buy flocculant/deflocculant if this makes it any easier for me. Also... is there a simple way to make this slip also a "raised slip" if I want for other decorating purposes? Thanks in advance for any help/words of wisdom!!

[Nelly]

How do I make colored slip for use in a slip trailer? I'm working with stoneware to be fired to cone 5. I want to apply it to my greenware while still wet on the wheel. I'd like it not to drip while spiraling down my pot while on the wheel. I assume that I dip in clear (or colored glaze) after it has been bisqued. I would buy flocculant/deflocculant if this makes it any easier for me. Also... is there a simple way to make this slip also a "raised slip" if I want for other decorating purposes? Thanks in advance for any help/words of wisdom!!

 

 

Dear Marge,

 

I have gone to great lengths to make slip using Robin Hopper's recipe. People in my old studio laughed that I was taking dry ingredients and making slip in this manner. It was, however, great slip and stuck to everything. I think if you google his slip recipe you should be able to find it on-line or at the very least in one of his books.

 

Now however, what I do is take some of either my reclaimed clay or cut off slices of the clay body I am using, dry it throughly, put it in a bucket with some water and let it slake. You don't want to add too much water but just enough to really cover the dried slices. After a few days of slaking, I then take a hand held mixer or you could use a blender and simply mix it up to the consistency I want. I try to really make sure if I am adding Mason stains that I mix these really well so no spots or speckles come through in the initial bisque firing. This is quick and easy and serves all my purposes. I store the slip and simply use it as required. For example, I will take some out of the storage container, mix it up again well and add my unique colorants bit by bit as needed. Works great for me. I am sure it would work equally well in a slip trailer but you may need to water it down to the right consistency. Not so watery that it runs but not so thick that it clogs the end of your bulb or bottle.

 

Good luck. I love working with slips.

 

Nelly

[Karen B]

How do I make colored slip for use in a slip trailer? I'm working with stoneware to be fired to cone 5. I want to apply it to my greenware while still wet on the wheel. I'd like it not to drip while spiraling down my pot while on the wheel. I assume that I dip in clear (or colored glaze) after it has been bisqued. I would buy flocculant/deflocculant if this makes it any easier for me. Also... is there a simple way to make this slip also a "raised slip" if I want for other decorating purposes? Thanks in advance for any help/words of wisdom!!

 

 

Dear Marge,

 

I have gone to great lengths to make slip using Robin Hopper's recipe. People in my old studio laughed that I was taking dry ingredients and making slip in this manner. It was, however, great slip and stuck to everything. I think if you google his slip recipe you should be able to find it on-line or at the very least in one of his books.

 

Now however, what I do is take some of either my reclaimed clay or cut off slices of the clay body I am using, dry it throughly, put it in a bucket with some water and let it slake. You don't want to add too much water but just enough to really cover the dried slices. After a few days of slaking, I then take a hand held mixer or you could use a blender and simply mix it up to the consistency I want. I try to really make sure if I am adding Mason stains that I mix these really well so no spots or speckles come through in the initial bisque firing. This is quick and easy and serves all my purposes. I store the slip and simply use it as required. For example, I will take some out of the storage container, mix it up again well and add my unique colorants bit by bit as needed. Works great for me. I am sure it would work equally well in a slip trailer but you may need to water it down to the right consistency. Not so watery that it runs but not so thick that it clogs the end of your bulb or bottle.

 

Good luck. I love working with slips.

 

Nelly

 

 

 

 

 

If using clay other than porcelain for this process, I would recommend screening your slip after slaking and before adding Mason stains. This way you will filter out the grog in the clay and have a nice smooth slip to match your clay body.

[John255]

Marge,

I use a blender I picked up at a yard sale for $2.

It works great for getting the viscosity you need for brushing or trailing although it will thicken up overnight.

I use Standard #130 clay body dry scrap if in a hurry, and Mason stains up to 10% of dry weight.

Probably slaking is better.

When the slip is too thick it's amazing how little water is needed to get it right for the job at hand.

Good luck.

John255

[Nelly]

Marge,

I use a blender I picked up at a yard sale for $2.

It works great for getting the viscosity you need for brushing or trailing although it will thicken up overnight.

I use Standard #130 clay body dry scrap if in a hurry, and Mason stains up to 10% of dry weight.

Probably slaking is better.

When the slip is too thick it's amazing how little water is needed to get it right for the job at hand.

Good luck.

John255

 

 

Dear Marge,

 

Yes, absolutely. The sieving part is really important. I forgot to mention that.

 

Nelly

[muddylane]

Marge,

I use a blender I picked up at a yard sale for $2.

It works great for getting the viscosity you need for brushing or trailing although it will thicken up overnight.

I use Standard #130 clay body dry scrap if in a hurry, and Mason stains up to 10% of dry weight.

Probably slaking is better.

When the slip is too thick it's amazing how little water is needed to get it right for the job at hand.

Good luck.

John255

 

 

Dear Marge,

 

Yes, absolutely. The sieving part is really important. I forgot to mention that.

 

Nelly

 

[muddylane]

This is my recipe for coloured slip. Ball clay powder 35 parts;Kaolin powder 25 parts; Potash Feldspar 20 parts; silica 15 parts. I mix this into water (guesstimate amount), then when it has 'slaked down", i sieve it, and then it can settle so that extra water can be skimmed off so that the consistency is as you want it. I end up with a largish amount of slip, which I then decant into separate containers, and i mix different coloured underglaze powders into the different containers. I use this for painting on leather-hard ware. I have used it for banding onto the pot while it is still on the wheel, but you tend to contaminate the colours, as with each brushstroke, you are putting some of yr thrown clay into the slip bottle. This can also be put into little squeezee bottles for slip trailing. You will get used to what different consistencies you need for the different applications. In the beginning, I followed the recipe exactly, now I just use an approximation.

[Marge]

How do I make colored slip for use in a slip trailer? I'm working with stoneware to be fired to cone 5. I want to apply it to my greenware while still wet on the wheel. I'd like it not to drip while spiraling down my pot while on the wheel. I assume that I dip in clear (or colored glaze) after it has been bisqued. I would buy flocculant/deflocculant if this makes it any easier for me. Also... is there a simple way to make this slip also a "raised slip" if I want for other decorating purposes? Thanks in advance for any help/words of wisdom!!

 

 

Dear Marge,

 

I have gone to great lengths to make slip using Robin Hopper's recipe. People in my old studio laughed that I was taking dry ingredients and making slip in this manner. It was, however, great slip and stuck to everything. I think if you google his slip recipe you should be able to find it on-line or at the very least in one of his books.

 

Now however, what I do is take some of either my reclaimed clay or cut off slices of the clay body I am using, dry it throughly, put it in a bucket with some water and let it slake. You don't want to add too much water but just enough to really cover the dried slices. After a few days of slaking, I then take a hand held mixer or you could use a blender and simply mix it up to the consistency I want. I try to really make sure if I am adding Mason stains that I mix these really well so no spots or speckles come through in the initial bisque firing. This is quick and easy and serves all my purposes. I store the slip and simply use it as required. For example, I will take some out of the storage container, mix it up again well and add my unique colorants bit by bit as needed. Works great for me. I am sure it would work equally well in a slip trailer but you may need to water it down to the right consistency. Not so watery that it runs but not so thick that it clogs the end of your bulb or bottle.

 

Good luck. I love working with slips.

 

Nelly

 

 

Thanks to everyone for their great responses!! I'm going to start slip trailing immediately! Do you guys suggest adding mason stains over chemicals like cobalt carbonate or copper carbonate?

 

Margie

[Marge]

Thanks to everyone for their great responses!! Do you suggest adding mason stains vs copper carbonate/cobalt carbonate? I'm just asking because I own these already...

[weeble]

I've made slips using both, what I've noticed is that the copper carb. (I've never worked with cobalt carb that wasn't already blended in something) reacts with the overglaze but the mason stains don't tend to react as much. I suppose its going to depend on what is in the mason stain, but the copper carb turns a clear glaze green. VERY pretty, but just something to be aware of.

 

ETA: I'll admit most of what I've worked with is terra sigs, which form such a thin layer they mostly burn out under glaze.

[AtomicAxe]

When I do slip trailing, I just ball mill my slip, it does the job of defloculants without getting gummy in the bin. otherwise, it's just blend really well and sift after milling to make sure it's all just fine particles ... should be fine. ... should take you longer to make tests of all the colorants you want to use to find the best ones for your ware.

[perkolator]

pretty much any white slip recipe can be made into a colored slip. for most natural oxides you will use the same percentages you would in glaze recipe (so like 2% for cobalt carb = blue) if using a mason stain, you'll want to be up near 10%. my go-to basic white slip recipe is equal parts (25/25/25/25) of EPK, OM#4, Silica, and Custer Feld. you can easily tweak this recipe with flocculants/deflocculants or suspension agents to get the consistency you desire. this slip can be used at pretty much any temp range.

 

for a raised slip/heavy surface texture, i prefer "Arnie's Fish Sauce" and i believe it's a midrange/stoneware recipe. Mix it THICK, like yogurt or even cream cheese. this can also be colored.

43.6 Grolleg

15.6 Silica

23.4 F-4/Minspar/soda spar

7.8 Pyrax/Pyrophyllite

9.5 Bentonite

[Pompots]

I also use Karen B's approach. using the same body clay to make your slip makes a best match, not that the other wont work, but this is the perfect combo.

[High Bridge Pottery]

Does this Robin Hopper's slip recipe exist anywhere or am I being 'thick'?

 

EDIT

Might have found it here http://ceramicartsdaily.org/pottery-making-techniques/ceramic-decorating-techniques/mocha-diffusion/

 

Also is there any trade I can do for Pyrax?

[Chantay]

Robbin Hopper's Slip Recipe:

 

75 Ball clay

10 Kaolin

5 Feldspar

10 Silica

 

I do a lot of slip trailing with an applicator.  If I want the slip to stand up firmly after I have sieved the slip I add a few drops of darvan and then add more ball clay, or some of the dried clay that I am throwing with till a thickened consistency.  All the ball clay makes this a nice slippery slip.

[High Bridge Pottery]

Thanks, yea that is the same as the one I managed to find. Does this fire to a white or more buff colour?

[Chantay]

It is white except where colorant has been added.

[clay lover]

Does adding Darvan make it flow out of a bulb trailer more evenly?  I am darvan  deficient..  Is there a down side to having it in your slip?

 

Nelly , when you mix your large batch of slip and divide it, how do you determine how much colorant to use.  Do you use a % of WET weight?

[High Bridge Pottery]

I would get 1000g of the dry clay and mix it with water till the right consistency. Pour this evenly into 10 containers so I have 100g of ingredients in each. Add whatever % colourant and mix.

[DMac]

I’m new at this. Let’s say I mix 100g of white slip. As a base and then want to make a pale eggshell blue. I read to put a certain percentage of cobalt in. Does the percentage translate to grams?  For example is 2% equal 2 grams in 100g of white?  Is cobalt the best choice to make an eggshell pale blue?

[Dick White]

Your math is correct. 2% of 100g of base material is 2g of colorant. 2% of 1000g of base is 20g of colorant. Etc. I don't have an absolute answer whether 2% of cobalt will give you the eggshell blue you want. Too many variables - cobalt carb or oxide? how pale is pale in your opinion? Test a small batch to see if it comes out the way you like it.

[Min]

7 hours ago, DMac said:

Let’s say I mix 100g of white slip. As a base and then want to make a pale eggshell blue. I read to put a certain percentage of cobalt in. Does the percentage translate to grams?  For example is 2% equal 2 grams in 100g of white?  Is cobalt the best choice to make an eggshell pale blue?

You could use cobalt, cobalt oxide will probably leave speckles of darker blue in the slip, cobalt carbonate won't if it's well mixed and sieved. If you are testing 100 grams of base try adding just a portion of the total cobalt you will be testing, say 0.50 grams, mix/sieve it and put some on a test tile. Now add another 0.50 grams and repeat. Keep doing this until you get to the maximum amount you think you might need. You'll then have a range of blue tests of increasing intensity from one test batch of slip.  There are some really nice blue stains that might work also.

Welcome to the forum!

[Crusty]

Pilchers Slip ^06-10

Ball Clay 25

EPK   25

Flint-Silica 12,5

Nepheline Syenite 12.5

100

Now for the colorants to make the white. you need to run a line test  from probably 1 to 5% but 5 is the base recipe for the white..

Zircopax  - 5.0

frit 3124  - 5.0

Now for the Blue- another line test needed to get the softness you like.. i would do .5 increments if it were me but you do it how you want..

Cobalt Carbonate   at 2%  is 2.0 

line test .5 - 1 - 1.5- 2- 2.5- 3- 3.5 etc  you can do this all in 1 firing so take your time .. you can even run the line test at a .1 rate.. .01-,02-,03-.04-.05 etc ..  go watch John Britt on YouTube, i have learned alot from him in a really short amount of time...  

[Nicola]

Has anyone tried to make a slip which has a sheen like a glaze but can be decorated on leatherhard ware and once fired? A vitreous slip? Any clues as to how high to fire to or a simple recipe?