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Babs

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  1. Like
    Babs got a reaction from HenryBurlingame in Gas or Electric Kiln For Starting Out   
    Search Joseph Fireborn on these forums , Gallery and elsewhere, he posted some great pots using an electric kiln as have many, many  others. I suggest getting to know a potter who uses gas and spend time in their studio.
    John Britt has extensive material online showing and teaching the effects possible in an electric kiln at C6
    Still missing my gas kiln here after many years though....
  2. Like
    Babs reacted to Mark C. in Gas or Electric Kiln For Starting Out   
    No permit and easy for gas then I suggest gas but I am a cone 10 gas potter myself so I am a bit bias. Learning with gas and cone 10 is a big learning curve but very doable.
  3. Like
    Babs got a reaction from Hulk in Glazing large piece   
    Are you brushing, spraying or dipping your glazes?
    Are you waxing the bottom?
    Damp piece of short pile carpet is effective to rotate the pot on, or used as a batt.
  4. Like
    Babs reacted to Rae Reich in Glazing large piece   
    @Hulkhas a good solution for your situation. He uses blue tape, used for masking woodwork when painting, to tape off where he wants the glaze to end and peels it off while the glaze is still slightly damp. You could do that, brush your glaze on the lower portion, remove the tape and proceed glazing the rest of the pot.
    @Babs carpet covered bat works well, too, allowing you to slop on glaze at will while the pot sits on the dampened carpet, then turning the dry pot slowly by hand on the carpet to rub off accumulated glaze at the base. I would moisten and trim off any chunks of glaze with a fettling knife or trimming tool before turning on the carpet.
    Waxing the bottom before glazing could help to keep any glaze from seeping under the base and sticking.
  5. Like
    Babs got a reaction from Rae Reich in Glazing large piece   
    Are you brushing, spraying or dipping your glazes?
    Are you waxing the bottom?
    Damp piece of short pile carpet is effective to rotate the pot on, or used as a batt.
  6. Like
    Babs got a reaction from Ben xyz in Bertoncello's "Screziato Havana" Glaze?   
    From the little bit of exposed handle it is a rough clay or had a grogged slip brushed over. The colouris the glaze breaking on these areas imo.
  7. Like
    Babs reacted to Kelly in AK in Bread kloche bisque vs cone 6?   
    Damn @neilestrick!!!
    Best low fire work I’ve seen in a long time. So good I could eat it.
    To @Biglou13, bisque anything will tolerate that kind of abuse better than a clay close to maturity. Lots of grog, kyanite, or even spodumene (gotten a bit expensive lately) will help. Unglazed flameware sounds better than any other clay body, but I haven’t tried that.
    It can be done in the studio, ordinary clay products that handle the extreme temperature swings of cooking, but that’s far from saying it should be. I’ve made several earthenware pots that survive the stovetop, experimenting with clay formulations and bisque temperatures. Though I used them regularly, the maintenance was unforgiving (mold will not be denied if given a habitat to grow), and sooner or later they will fall apart despite all best practices. You didn’t bring this up, but I would never try to sell such a thing. Too complicated. 
    Pottery used for cooking is largely disposable, in places it’s actually used. Manufacturers like Le Creuset and Wiliams-Sonoma create ceramic ware that’s functional in a contemporary kitchen, but they are carefully engineered first world conveniences. If people can afford to use metal they do. 
    I’ll confess, I’ve never had better beans than those I cooked in clay pots. I don’t want to discourage anybody, I just think they should know what they’re in for. 
  8. Like
    Babs reacted to Magnolia Mud Research in Why does my Bone China have a Green tint?   
    When we produce a ceramic material that allows "light" to pass through that material we are working with a "glass" even though us potters call the material a clay body or a glaze.  
    Todays "Ceramic-Tech-Today"  article: Colored glass: From alchemy to empirical chemical design  
    https://ceramics.org/ceramic-tech-today/education/colored-glass-from-alchemy-to-empirical-chemical-design/   
    has some useful information and background that might help determining why the bone-china pots show a color when seen in a light source.  Remember that the source of the "light" is also an important variable.  
    LT
     
  9. Like
    Babs reacted to High Bridge Pottery in Bisque firing frustrations   
    It's my zero3 fritware clay, kiln is just a 40 litre rust bucket.
     
     
    I would go with the cone program as it may dynamically alter the firing depending on how it keeps up with the rate of climb. Do skutt controllers do that? 
  10. Like
    Babs got a reaction from Rae Reich in Bisque firing frustrations   
    Not knowing the clay you use, or the kiln, here's my bisque in °C.
    And, Callie the expert, so listen to her.
    If bisqueware dry and of good thickness i.e not thick sculpted pieces
    50°C / hr to 100°C
    100°C/hr to 600°C
    150°C/hr to 1000°C 
    Soak for 10 minutes.
    Target is C06. 
    I pack bottom shelf with taller stuff, rest of kiln is tumble packed. Soak at end for me is to allow kiln temp to even out and tumble stacked ware to get to the cone target. 
    Seems brutal but works
  11. Like
    Babs got a reaction from Rae Reich in Bread kloche bisque vs cone 6?   
    Now sounding like, in my brain, " what's on your table" topic at start of Covid lockdowns.
    Amazing bread, Neil. Wouldn't last long around here
  12. Like
    Babs reacted to Pres in Bisque firing frustrations   
    Density of the load has an effect on the way heat moves in the kiln. Kilns are heated by 3 different forms of heat transfer: Radiant, Conduction, and Convection.  Understanding these will help you to understand the need to pack the kiln consistently. Radiant heat is occurs first in the kiln as the elements radiate heat to heat up the air and the pottery. The pottery on the outer edges will heat up to radiate heat towards the center of the kiln. Please note that while Radiant heat is going on Convection is also occurring in the kiln as air heats up and begins to move to the top of the kiln forcing cooler air downward. Overly tight loads will inhibit the movement of air in the kiln causing areas that do not get air to not reach expected cones. However, as this is going on Conduction, where heat is moving through a solid, is taking place, Conduction is a slower process but it allows the pots to heat up from the outside to the inside, and the kiln from the inside to the outside. This good reason to have proper distance from the kiln to outside walls or other materials that could ignite.
    Hope this helps to answer some of you concerns.
     
    best,
    Pres
  13. Like
    Babs reacted to neilestrick in Bread kloche bisque vs cone 6?   
    Thanks @Babs! My bread game drastically improved during Covid lockdown. My 2 teenage boys and I were home every day for 3 months, and we went through 3 loaves a week. I figured out a lot with all that practice.
  14. Like
    Babs reacted to fergusonjeff in Potters who are to longer with us-Glaze recipes live on   
    The sharing that goes on here is even more valuable than I had realized.  I am the lucky pottery who met up with Mark in St. Louis a week ago.  I knew I had absorbed a lot of his tricks of the trade from this site, but I did not fully realize how much.  As we talked for an hour or two in my booth, almost every aspect of my pottery has some mark of his influence.  From the way I wax my pots to the design of my display shelves - Mark's influence and generosity are  everywhere.  Helpful potters like Mark and Neil E. deserve a lot more credit than they get. 
  15. Like
    Babs reacted to LeeU in QotW: Slip, Slip with vinegar, Magic Water: What is your choice, and why?   
    I use Peggy Heer’s orIgInal Spooze, which is, essentially, 1/3 ea. clay, vinegar & corn syrup. Sorry-too tired to find the recipe, but it's online.  I use this when I want to join or mend something or fill in a crack  on dried greenware. It works great for my purpose. (which is not production/retail/professional). It has never failed! 
  16. Like
    Babs got a reaction from Magnolia Mud Research in Chrome & Zinc - toxic?   
    Cobalt being v expensive I wonder if your glaze could handle less. 2% seems a high amount of cobalt oxide.
     
  17. Like
    Babs got a reaction from Beccap in Chrome & Zinc - toxic?   
    Cobalt being v expensive I wonder if your glaze could handle less. 2% seems a high amount of cobalt oxide.
     
  18. Like
    Babs reacted to Rae Reich in Chrome & Zinc - toxic?   
    Oh, that is a lovely green! It looks enough matte, though, to use a liner glaze with it on food surfaces. A white with tin in it could blush nicely at the lip of a vessel. (Use a liner because a matte glaze doesn’t clean as well as a gloss and can harbor bacteria over time, not to save the user from leaching-chrome exposure.)
    I think you’re right that the cobalt, besides modifying the chrome, also helps to keep it from ‘browning’ or to rescue a brown by sending it toward blue - like the  little-bit-of-cobalt “cheat” in copper reds that rescues an uneven reduction red from ‘snot green or bleached white to soft blue (I learned this from a Tom Coleman student).
  19. Like
    Babs got a reaction from Rae Reich in Chrome & Zinc - toxic?   
    Covalt oxide or cobalt csrbonate?
    Photo of glaze and recipe will help folk answer.
    I would not use chrome on inside of functional ware. Lots of folk use liner glazes because of ingredients.
    Havent heard of folk worrying about Zinc Oxide.
    Wearing gloves and proper mask would protect you when mixing glazes and applying glazes.
  20. Like
    Babs got a reaction from Pres in Chrome & Zinc - toxic?   
    Cobalt being v expensive I wonder if your glaze could handle less. 2% seems a high amount of cobalt oxide.
     
  21. Like
    Babs got a reaction from Min in Chrome & Zinc - toxic?   
    Cobalt being v expensive I wonder if your glaze could handle less. 2% seems a high amount of cobalt oxide.
     
  22. Like
    Babs reacted to Min in Chrome & Zinc - toxic?   
    Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater here. The form of chrome used makes all the difference in the world in regards to toxicity.
    Potters use chrome oxide, it is insoluble in water and gets bound in the glaze matrix in a balance glaze. It is volatile in the kiln so it can cause a pink blush on tin white glazes. Wear gloves if you get contact dermatitis with it. (it's a good idea to wear gloves whenever handling raw materials and glaze slurries to avoid skin reactions)
    We do not use the exceedingly dangerous hexavalent chromium in ceramics. Iron chromate is toxic, stay away from using it.
    Zinc oxide fumes from kiln firing shouldn't be breathed in, zinc can become volatile above around 850C/1560F and like all the materials we use in glazes practice good studio hygiene and wear a respirator while handling dry materials. In a glaze it isn't a problem. 
    Chrome + tin pinks and reds are perfectly safe, whether in a stain or from the oxides.
     
     
     
  23. Like
    Babs reacted to Min in Strontium Crystal Magic Cool- Food Safe?   
    First off have a look at the materials and their amounts in the recipe itself. I re-totalled the recipe from the original 60.60 to 100 as that is the standard base amount. When we apply a standard amount it makes it easier to notice possible areas of concern. Top part of the screenshot below is the Glazy recipe re-totalled to 100.
    First thing that jumps out is there is no silica added to the recipe. Yes, there will be silica in the formula from the feldspar etc but probably not enough. (more on this later) Second thing that jumps out is the amount of titanium in the recipe, nearly 12%, this is a huge amount! Third thing, is approx 40% feldspar for a ^6 glaze is getting quite high. Put these things together and you have a recipe that won't be durable (low silica), probably won't melt properly at cone 6 and is overloaded with titanium.
    I know this glaze and the "warm" version of it are very popular at cone 6. It's important to note also that it isn't used as a standalone glaze, it is used as a layering glaze with one or more other glazes. What the combined chemistry is of the layered glaze is what needs to be looked at, will those be durable, I don't know, each combination would need to be looked at.
    BTW, giving credit where credit is due, this glaze started off as a Tom and Elaine Coleman ^10 glaze called Yellow Crystal Matte. Barium was removed from original glaze and strontium subbed for it, the gerstley borate was subbed with the Ferro 3124 and the zinc removed.
     

     
  24. Like
    Babs got a reaction from Piedmont Pottery in Rusty Pug   
    Are those whits spots holes in the drum? 
     
    Looks too far gone for me to touch. The metal us really pitted. Have you seen it with the auger turning? Can't see this pugmill lasting or even working for long.
  25. Like
    Babs reacted to Mark C. in Early Brent Wheels   
    I recently sold some Brent parts in the classified here. It was a complete motor controller foot pedal setup. It just needed the wheel frame and wheelhead and large pulley .(This sold with days o posting.)
    I also listed it on a few of the ceramic sales sites on facebook for national coverage.
    Long story short is a fellow full timer had been lugging a Early Brent frame around for decades with everything on it but what I was selling.
    I shipped it to him in the SF Bay Area and within days it looked like this and is again a fuctional wheel.
    This is the same very early 1969-1972 flat top formica Brent wheel that I to own-Mine looks justslike this one except the formica is a bit more worn from use. Its got a 14 inch wheelhead
    These wheels do not have the flange that holds the splash pan down. ( I put an new wheelhead with flange on mine two or three decades ago) but this one is still orginal.
    These wheels are built with thicker metal parts (the deck) and ground flat with grinders to the formican situation s flat and are a bit heavier than the modern ones from the mid 70s on except for the CXCs which for some  early years was also made with theis extra steel (my 1982 CXC is really heavy.
    Just seeing this wheel takes me back as a kid to 1970 when I went to a converted 3 bedroom house in Santa Monica to buy my wheel from Robert Brent.. The garage was full of guys weilding stands and grinding them flat  outside..
    Robert Brent had a small bedroom as an office and did my paperwork-in one converted bedroom was a room full of motors and the other rooms had the electronics and an assembly bedroom. No one lived in this house as it was all manufacturing.. From there they moved North to Healdsburg Ca. in Sonmoa County. Since I moved north myself to Humboldt county in 71 I used to stop all the time at that facility to buy clay as they expanded to clay making as I drove north and south  many times every year.. They fixed my wheel for free or low coast as well. I have some great stories as well about that place but they are or another time. When Brent sold out to Amaco some of the folks moved with them and I knew them for decades until they retired. Those folks sent me a  replacement motor or example to test out for free (still using it) as they where trying it out and needed it tested . They did not use it on any production wheels it turns out. Its now a new day and all the old timers are gone.I miss those folks and how they ran a great business and took care of customers like me.
     

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