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Most Stable (True To Tiles) Amaco Potters Choice?


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I have just started at my home making and firing cone 6 stoneware. I am using speckled brownstone. I like the idea and concept behind the Potters Choice glazes but after reading through all these forums about these glazes I am having second thoughts. Here is what my idea is as my funds are quite limited at the time right now. 

 

I am considering getting 2 colors in either gallons or 25# dry (so I can dip) and then buying a couple of the glaze packs in pints that I will brush over. Are there some colors that are more consistent or stable than others? 

 

After looking through the Amaco tests and info here are the couple colors I am considering as my bases:

 

Deep Firebrick

Blue Midnight

Deep olive Speckle

Iron Stone

 

If you have experience with these glazes (even better these glazes on this type of clay!) I would love feedback or suggestion or pictures!

 

Thoughts????

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loaded question.

 

to an extent.

 

from a somewhat technical vewpoint.....  all computer monitors are not created equal, nor is the proper calibration if calibration is even possible.  

so that being said the red i see   is not the red you see,  and more so no the glaze that appears on your clay.

lets add to the error in lighting, photography, clay, firing temp, cooling, atmosphere, application techniique, application thickness. etc etc. 

 

i could go on for days

 

but best advice is get  a small amount    try it on your clay your kiln your application tecnique  as a TEST.   take notes   eg  kiln 1 or kiln 2.   bisque kiln 1 kiln 2,   clay, brushed dipped 1 coat 2 coat 3 coats  etc.....

 

when you get one you like then buy a larger quantity.

 

most of the commercial glazes are what i call super glazes   they perform well within a large window of variables.  so thats a goood thing.

 

****the best way to judge a glaze is to go and look at test tiles at ceramic store, second is to have glaze company send you a sample poster......... then test it with what you use!

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Please remember that the "reds" glaze colors are hard to achieve.  There was a tread about "Santa coat red" about a month ago.  It got a lot of responses because true red is very hard to produce.  I would shy away from the reds at first.  Try a small amount of different reds to see if you can reproduce the one you like best on  demand.

 

The blues, greens, and iron colors are easier for consistant results for those of us who are not experts....yet.

 

You have a great idea about limiting your glazes to a few that interact well.  Do lots of tile testing with one glaze over the other, etc.

 

Good Luck,

Jed

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I haven't used any of the colors you listed

I can vouch for temmokku, blu rutile, ancient jasper.

 

Ancient jasper has been a big hit with the layering crowd at community studio.

 

And all the pc glazes have performed extremely well over a wide range of clays, as seen in community studio.

 

It was necessary to thin , add water to get to appropriate consistency. ( and stretching glaze dollar)

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I haven't used any of the colors you listed

I can vouch for temmokku, blu rutile, ancient jasper.

 

Ancient jasper has been a big hit with the layering crowd at community studio.

 

And all the pc glazes have performed extremely well over a wide range of clays, as seen in community studio.

 

It was necessary to thin , add water to get to appropriate consistency. ( and stretching glaze dollar)

 

 

I have used Temmokku and Ancient Jasper.  Ancient jasper tends to look black with small amounts of the red/green color.  I have tried to apply it thick and it still gives me this look. Do you think I am still applying it too thin? I brush on glazes. Could I be doing something else wrong? I love the idea of this color. I have not layered it yet

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Something doesn't sound right.

Are other glazes coming out ok?

Same looks different clay?

Maybe a dumb suggestion...some glazes will settle to the point you have to use a wooden spatula to,get it to mix......

Have you tried thin?

Try calling they have to have some customer service.

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Much depends on your clay body (which sounds like it's different than example images you may be seeing) so testing is essential as you know, and consider whether that's the only clay you will be using for some time or whether you will add or change to another. Test your proposed base colors with the various layered colors before investing in quantities of the base colors. A lot of test tiles and time spent testing, but it's necessary unless you are fine with making a lot of pots you don't like  :wacko:

 

I use 3 different clay bodies, a smooth buff, a mid-range somewhat groggy clay, and a dark red.

 

I have experience with Deep Firebrick, which has been easy and reliable for me on all 3 clays. It is beautifully bright on the buff; darker and appealing to me on the mid-range; and extremely dark, too dark for me, on the red clay. Big differences. I like to layer over Firebrick wtih Iron Lustre or Light Sepia.

 

Deep Olive Speckle is also reliable for me, but for my taste I only like it (solo) on the dark red clay where the color is rich, breaking to brown over texture. On my other 2 clays it just doesn't appeal to me...but that's just my preference.

 

No experience here with the other 2 glazes you mention.

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Ive had good luck with deep firebrick, olive speckle (but apply thick, or else it is the most unappetizing color), sienna speckle.  Midnight I've had mixed results with.  No bad results per se, but not always what I am looking for.  I think thickness, temp, amount of water added all affect that glaze more than the others.  Ironstone is almost always appealing as long as it's thick enough.  Under the right conditions it can also produce a really awesome red flash on your pots.  I tend to notice it more on the insides of pots, maybe because the heat is getting held longer?  They're al fun glazes, but I definitely recommend making your own test tiles both of the glaze itself, and the way it will mix when layered with other glazes.  My layering results have been spectacular, but they rarely line up with Amaco's layering example sheets.

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