[Whisky Mash Obvara]

Background:

• I've done Obvara with the traditional flour/sugar/yeast mash before.
• Recently I heard of a potter who was using whiskey mash for some unique results. That's all the detail I received so I thought I'd give it a try so I ordered a whisky mash kit off Amazon and yesterday I read the directions to find out that to mix it the way a distiller might basically takes kitchen equipment and cooking processes. I don't have that available in my RV. :-)
• I have seen videos of the traditional mash with an addition of a can or two of beer but I don't see any significant (if at all) difference in the results.

Question:

• Has anyone used whiskey mash for obvara and can you tell me how you prepared the mash? 

[Looking for Clay Bodies that Present Raw like Japanese]

3 minutes ago, Jeff Longtin said:

Do you know what we're looking at, btw? My guess is teabowls, thrown on the hump, and trimmed quickly. The "trimmed quickly" is probably one reason for the exaggerated texture. A grog, most likely sand, is another contributor. And lastly, probably a fairly unplastic clay body. Those three things contribute to the quality you seek.

No idea. I just found the photo exhibited the coarseness I'm interested in. Chawan tea bowls and kurinuki objects are my general target though; some sculpture ideas too (Michikawa/ Matsuzaki type objects.

[Looking for Clay Bodies that Present Raw like Japanese]

2 hours ago, Jeff Longtin said:

Is it the color or the texture that grabs your interest more? This looks like a palette of Mason stains. (in a body with sand or grog?)

Bottom right looks like  Coral Brown while top left looks like Chestnut or Hazelnut? The Center colors, left and right, might be Golden Brown and Woodland? Bottom left could be Taupe?

 

Only interested in texture.

[Looking for Clay Bodies that Present Raw like Japanese]

Only interested in texture.

How do I get clay like this without shipping it from Japan (in particular the top left and bottom right)? Are these clay bodies something I can create with Laguna or Highwater clays just by adding grog? Is grog the only conclusion or are other chemicals/materials required.

If grog is the answer what type/mesh is best and what percentage is required?

[How Many Pots Per Obvara Mix]

18 minutes ago, Hulk said:

Context
Obvara Firing: Tips from Expert Marcia Selsor (ceramicartsnetwork.org)

I like Marcia's description.

also
Obvara Pottery - UP IN SMOKE POTTERY
Obvara Firing Technique in Pottery (thesprucecrafts.com)

My guess would be the lifetime of the mixture has more to do with the evolving fermentation that number of dips.
Perhaps the heat imparted accelerates fermentation. 

I’ve done Obvara firings before.

I’d like to hear from someone who may know how the number of pots dipped may or may not affect the brew and thus the results. For example: as the brew ages through repeated drippings could one expect to see wide result variations or not.

[How Many Pots Per Obvara Mix]

- Given a 2.5 gallon Obvara flour/yeast brew:

----- How many pots can one dip into that brew before the brew becomes unusable?

----- What changes in results, if any, can one expect during the 'lifetime' of the above brew? (Or, will the age of the brew (during a firing period, not over time (days)) have any bearing on the results?)

 

Basically the ask is: with the above brew can I dip 25 pots, 50 pots, larger numbers of pots and still get good results? 

[How did the Romans make Terra Sigillata?]

1 hour ago, PeterH said:

2. Historically they may have found suitable candidate clays simply by paddling round the local clay-pits in late spring, looking for signs of spontaneous colloidal dispersion.  Those wishing to find suitable modern commercial clays may need to look at them after a 6-months soak.

Time to buy a drone? :-)

[Pit Firing Terracotta Clay]

Anyone have any experience using a terracotta clay body in saggar pit firing?

I have some Standard 103 and 104 I'm going to use (06 to 2). The 103 fires the red I'm after. The 104 is supposedly 103 with grog. Not sure that's true as the 104 fires more brown (at cone 2). I'll be firing around 1550 to 1600 most likely).

I'm going to do it anyway (test) but it will be about a month and I'm wondering if anyone has any experience on what results they got in the interim.

[How did the Romans make Terra Sigillata?]

On 12/12/2022 at 2:04 PM, PeterH said:

Can you give a reference? It would be interesting to know why he chose to mix by hand rather than mechanically, sounds a bit hair-shirt to me.

Not sure what hair shirt means but it appeared the researcher did employ the scientific method in his work. Unfortunately that video seems to have been removed. I searched my watch history and I left a comment there and the video and my comment do not exist in my YT history. Bummer.

[How did the Romans make Terra Sigillata?]

I wanted to note the research video but so far unable to find it again; even in YT watch history. Will try again. I've seen the Pinnell/Villars video before. The last part of your response notes some good avenues for study; probably past my scientific/chemical knowledge base though. :-) Thank you.

[How did the Romans make Terra Sigillata?]

I've found very little on this topic (how to create the liquid based t-sig). If I understand correctly the Romans and Greeks didn't have/use a deflocculant in their recipes and were still able to achieve a gloss finish after firing.

I found one YouTube video in english that was created by a researcher in Europe. I 'think' I understood he was able to recreate the Roman/Greek level of gloss without a deflocculant but at great effort by manually adding clay to water (hours of doing it slowly with his fingers). His fired results certainly did look as glossy as ancient terra sig pottery.

Apparently (according to Wikipedia) a German chemist named Karl Fischer was able to recreate ancient terra sig but I'm unable to find any detailed evidence of how he achieved it.

So, who know how to create terra sigillata (the liquid mixture, not the pottery) the Roman way?

[Adding Fee for Credit Cards?]

On 5/4/2022 at 10:26 PM, Bam2015 said:

As a consumer, I am insulted when I am charged an additional fee for using my credit card. Credit cards are not a novelty, so sellers should expect that the majority of their customers will be paying with cc.  I feel that the establishment should build this into their expenses. I know what to expect in terms of sales taxes, but I don't want to arrive at the cash register with my credit card out and then be told that I need to pay more, which to me feels like a penalty for using my credit card.

My two cents, which I'll be paying by credit card please.  

the seller from penalizing the customer and could take away charing privileges, is this no longer true? 

Agree 100%! Credit card transaction fees are charged to the seller and should be paid for by the seller. If you're operating a business you should have enough business education to know about COGS (Cost Of Goods Sold). CC fees should be part of those calculations and NOT a method of punishing a certain section of your customer base for using a service YOU are providing. If you don't want to pay CC fees then don't take credit cards. Nuff said.

[Ferric Chloride; Dilute or Not?]

I got my question answered by Mikkel deMib Svendsen on YouTube. He uses an ~40% solution and gets some nice results.

[Ferric Chloride; Dilute or Not?]

4 minutes ago, oldlady said:

i saw a firing using this in england.   the 2 men were dressed like astronauts and had lots of experience.    be  VERY careful  if you decide to do this.

FLOL :-)

[Ferric Chloride; Dilute or Not?]

3 hours ago, Babs said:

Do a search Ferric Chloride in this Forum.

Oh! I didn't think of that. ;-)

============

If you're new to the thread I've asked:

• Ferric Chloride; Dilute or Not?
• Is 53% satisfactory for pit firing?

[Ferric Chloride; Dilute or Not?]

I want to do some pit firing and include ferric chloride. I've read a bunch of threads and Google search results but none of them mention the concentration.

100% FC is pretty expensive; like $40 for 16 oz. Amazon had it in 43% dilution, gallon units for ~$25.

Is 53% satisfactory for pit firing?

 

[How Much Grog to Wet Clay for Raku]

2 minutes ago, Min said:

I couldn't find the mesh size on the Laguna site so I emailed them and asked.  Rosanne Sloane replied saying it's a 48 mesh grog in the ^5 B-Mix with grog.

Awesome!! Thank you.

[How Much Grog to Wet Clay for Raku]

On 9/17/2021 at 4:11 PM, Min said:

I believe B-Mix with grog is going to be much finer than 35 mesh. I'm guessing it's more like an 80 mesh. 

I’m betting you are right. I tried to find out on Google but couldn’t find B-Mix specifications that went that deep. Searching Google for “what mesh grog for raku” the prime hit is 20 mesh. Couldn’t find that locally so went with 35. I’m going to cut back from 20%, my gut is telling me that’s just too much. Will try 10% and 35 mesh and see what happens.

Thanks for the responses Min!

[How Much Grog to Wet Clay for Raku]

I haven’t, even though I do have some. I just got started with Raku so wanted to do all my learning curve stuff with some reclaim I have which is a scrap mix of B-mix 5 w/wo grog, some Buncombe and other ‘whites’. There’s not a lot of b w/grog in it. So far what I’ve used without adding grog has done well with few cracks; only one explosion so far. 

[How Much Grog to Wet Clay for Raku]

Thanks Min. Here's how I do it:

- roll out five pounds of clay

- spread a layer of grog (Kyanite 35 mesh)

- roll that up, slice and slam wedge

- repeat until all the grog has been added

- spiral wedge, then to the wheel

 

One thing that makes me think 20% (1lb grog to 5lb clay) is too much is B-Mix 5 with grog from the store doesn't' look at all like my B-Mix with 20% grog.

[How Much Grog to Wet Clay for Raku]

How much grog is best added to B-Mix for use in Raku.

Answer = what percentage, by weight, is an appropriate amount? 10%, 20%, 35%, 50%, ?????????

==============================

99% of Google hits are about adding amounts to raw materials to make a clay body. I put all the values I found into my black box and the result was 20% to the question above. I think 20% is too much but I don't know. I do know it took a heck of a lot of wedging to get a pound of grog into 5 pounds of clay and by appearance and wedging behavior it seems like its way too much.