Magnolia Mud Research Posted January 2, 2017 Report Share Posted January 2, 2017 Terri Your description is what I make it to be from Nichols' book and some of her articles elsewhere. I have never tried it. I don't know when to quit the 'baking' of the soda ash. I probably would quit when I needed the oven or was really bored with messing with it. I would run some through a dry blender to see if it becomes more powdery. I would dry mix the stuff before adding water. LT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrim8 Posted January 2, 2017 Report Share Posted January 2, 2017 Sounds good- thanks!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrim8 Posted January 2, 2017 Report Share Posted January 2, 2017 I stopped baking the soda ash about 30 minutes ago & put it thru the blender. That fluffed it up nicely. It did't lose any noticeable weight after baking so i proceeded with 2 kg soda ash, 3 kg baking soda & 5 kg CaCO3- dry mixed, then added 6 litres of hot water & stirred. Voila! It is now setting as you can see in the 2nd picture. I wore gloves and a mask & an apron. Looks like we have lots now! Thanks so much LT for the help, esp. the blender tip. Terri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick White Posted January 2, 2017 Report Share Posted January 2, 2017 Why is everybody so busy in the baking aisle of the grocery followed by time in the oven? Go over to the laundry aisle. Washing soda and soda ash are both the same, sodium carbonate. All done, probably cheaper too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted January 2, 2017 Report Share Posted January 2, 2017 I guess all this is over my head-I just bought a 50# bag about 20 years ago of soda ash-no baking required.Stuff was dirt cheap. I have found that keeping all things pottery out of the house really is the best concept.-I try to do that the other way round and never eat or drink in the studio. Just best practices all the way around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnolia Mud Research Posted January 2, 2017 Report Share Posted January 2, 2017 You are welcome Terri. Have fun with the soda firing. I want to remind you as my grandfather did for me when I played with fire: don't forget to stay UP WIND of the vent. LT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnolia Mud Research Posted January 2, 2017 Report Share Posted January 2, 2017 Mark, It's been an exercise in making do with what's on hand. And fun for me, and I think for Callie and Terri. You are right about washing soda (a soda ash hydrate) is just as good as soda ash light. But if you are trying to make the Nichols' chunks you need fluffy anhydrous stuff so make do. Your insights were helpful to me. Thanks. LT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted January 2, 2017 Report Share Posted January 2, 2017 Magnolia Mud, great description of the technical differences in soda ash. The 'straight from the mine' soda ash I used in 1987 was a complete unknown but provided by the college. It was grainy, with visible impurities. Since I began salt firing in 1968,I have used salt, rock salt, soda ash in water , baggies with salt thrown into ports,etc. Haven't done the chunk method. So many ways that potters use, never a dull moment.I do love to fire soda ash in water the best so far.. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 2, 2017 Report Share Posted January 2, 2017 Dumb question time. Shouldn't just mixing some baking soda with gum arabic and brush it on a bisque fired pot then glaze fire work? I tried it on a 1/2" x 3/4" test tile (come ^5) and to my amateur eye it looked good. While firing I did have a tube surrounding the tile in case it off-gased, which it did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnolia Mud Research Posted January 2, 2017 Report Share Posted January 2, 2017 Dumb question time. Shouldn't just mixing some baking soda with gum arabic and brush it on a bisque fired pot then glaze fire work? Yes, and no. I have deliberately produced pots in a school cone 10 gas reduction kiln that 'appear' to have been soda/salt fired. But, it takes some ingenuity. Many of the 'clues' to a wood, salt, or soda fired pot have to do with characteristics unrelated to the glaze it self, and more to do with artifacts of the firing. Wood, soda, and salt fired (WSSF) pots are all fired on wadding pads. Where the pads contact the pot is generally without glaze and quite light in color and shows an outline of the wadding pad after firing. WSSF pots often have evidence of flow around the pot. If you take the effort to add these details the answer is Yes. If you just put a coat of soda ash on the pot, no. The pot will be covered with a smooth glossy glaze, but will not look like a WSSF pot. I often spray my pots with soda ash, 20-MT borax, or Trisodium phosphate (TSP) over bare spots to produce a shine or red color to the pot. It works. To make it work for you, you will need to do testing to get the application technique that works for you. At school, we have a large barrel of 'wash water' used to rinse the stirrer used to stir the glaze buckets before using the glaze. After a while the 'wash water' picks up solubles and fine bits of glaze components. I began using the 'wash water' to create wood fired effects on the unglazed portions of my pots. When I fire the pots on wadding and have dipped the pot in the 'wash water' many visitors think the pots are wood fired, when I fact they are glazed with a standard shino glaze and fired in a gas kiln. LT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callie Beller Diesel Posted January 2, 2017 Report Share Posted January 2, 2017 ....sort of. You could go at some bisque with a sprayer, but...it's like a gluten-free bread at that point. It's not the same. A big part of the aesthetic of any atmospheric firing, especially the ones where you chuck somethin' dirty into the firebox is the record of the flame path that's left behind by things like various forms of sodium, or wood ash. These types of pots look FIRED, not just like glass was melted. You're using a kiln to paint with. It's not just that you throw some soda into a kiln and hope it lands in a neat-looking spot, you stack the entire kiln picturing how the draft will flow through it, where obstructions will divert the gasses to create flashing shadows on adjacent pots, or dump a lot of flux in a particular place. Maybe you leave little pots full of volatiles in strategic places to create interesting effects. Even the wadding should be placed with intention. If you're not familiar, this is an image of Gail Nichol's work. It is soda fired (no salt) and she's very focused on using her kiln as a tool to its fullest potential. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callie Beller Diesel Posted January 3, 2017 Report Share Posted January 3, 2017 Sorry. Wrote the above at the same time as the lovely Magnolia. I want to qualify things by saying that you have to understand a bit about atmospheric firing with sodium/wood ash before you can successfully recreate the effects. I have seen people simulate it, but they had a good working knowledge of how the original worked in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnolia Mud Research Posted January 3, 2017 Report Share Posted January 3, 2017 Yep. They do need to do that. LT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 3, 2017 Report Share Posted January 3, 2017 Thanks for the info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted January 4, 2017 Report Share Posted January 4, 2017 Chris I'm glad you asked for a really basic question as this one went 4 pages and is still growing. If you asked for a really difficult thing I will need a new computer . My only other thought is hey whats in the drink called Tang? can I make that from corn starch??as I have no Tang on the shelve.Maybe start baking down some orange peels? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted January 4, 2017 Report Share Posted January 4, 2017 ....sort of. You could go at some bisque with a sprayer, but...it's like a gluten-free bread at that point. It's not the same. A big part of the aesthetic of any atmospheric firing, especially the ones where you chuck somethin' dirty into the firebox is the record of the flame path that's left behind by things like various forms of sodium, or wood ash. These types of pots look FIRED, not just like glass was melted. You're using a kiln to paint with. It's not just that you throw some soda into a kiln and hope it lands in a neat-looking spot, you stack the entire kiln picturing how the draft will flow through it, where obstructions will divert the gasses to create flashing shadows on adjacent pots, or dump a lot of flux in a particular place. Maybe you leave little pots full of volatiles in strategic places to create interesting effects. Even the wadding should be placed with intention. If you're not familiar, this is an image of Gail Nichol's work. It is soda fired (no salt) and she's very focused on using her kiln as a tool to its fullest potential. I have a small piece of Gail's that I love. She gets great results. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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