PeterH

Another video of a firing, looks like the same pots after glazing and after firing

Eleaceramics seems to be Elea Lelimouzin, ceramicist in Bordeaux, web page https://elea-lelimouzin.com/ Video of a glaze firing. If they are the same pots before & after glazing firing I'm confused.

Suggesting/pointing-out that the talc wouldn't be acting as a flux is one thing. Suggesting that this means that a 50% talc body cannot have a high thermal expansion seems -- on Hansen's evidence -- just plain wrong. If it does have a high thermal expansion then claims that this cannot assist glaze fit seem misguided. Of course, people may have been have been using erroneous arguments to explain why the thermal expansion was high. But disproving those arguments doesn't influence whether or not it actually is high.

Pure speculation, but uniformity of the glaze might indicate the use of a stain ... If the colour was due to an "inert" stain and the embedding glaze matrix did leach: what would leaching tests show? Presumably as the glaze matrix is leached stain particles would become free. But unless the stain itself was attacked by the leaching agent the offending elements would not go into solution, and would not be picked up by "wet" chemical tests on the liquid. Doubt that stain particles have been shown to be safe to ingest. PS The mugs and a Mason stain

You may find this thread by a beta-tester of the (discontinued?) Bartlett Genesis LT-3140 of interest https://tinyurl.com/jtcjby88

Was Max Katz claiming that the talc doesn't increase the thermal expansion (and hence improve glaze fit), if so I'm confused. In https://digitalfire.com/article/low+fire+white+talc+casting+body+recipe

Just for reference https://ceramicartsnetwork.org/pottery-making-illustrated/pottery-making-illustrated-article/In-the-Studio-Make-Your-Own-Kiln-Setters BTW "Start with a 4545-gram batch of the Mullite Setters dry mix (recipe on page 11) and add it to 32 ounces of water" makes more sense when you realise 4545g is close to 10 lb.

Sorry I have no experience with ceramic printers. But if you have only been in contact with enduring images so far sending the printer back to them may not be the optimum move ... Here is the official Ricoh policy on servicing Enduring Images ceramic printers: “The full Ricoh warranty can be found on the Ricoh web site at www.ricoh-usa.com. In summary, Ricoh printers include a standard one year Ricoh warranty including parts and labor. There are 2 exceptions. The Photoconductor Units (PCUs) and the Intermediate Transfer Unit (ITU) are limited to 90 days. For Ricoh printers sold by Enduring Images, the standard Ricoh warranty applies except that there is no warranty at all on the PCUs and ITU. So, within the first year of ownership, Enduring Images customers can expect full warranty repairs on the printer except for any failure of the PCUs and ITU. Those devices will be replaced at the customers expense, or covered by Enduring Images, but there is no Ricoh Warranty of any kind on those components in an Enduring Images ceramic printing system. After the expiration of the one year warranty period, any Ricoh service office or 3rd party Ricoh Authorized Service Provider can repair Enduring Images printers on a T&M basis (at standard rates). Because they are not modified in any way (except the toner) all standard Ricoh repair procedures are applicable.” Sounds simple. The underlying premise is that any part of the printer that contacts ceramic toner cannot be warranted because the result of that contact has not been studied and is unpredictable. For reference, the components that contact the toner are: toner cylinders, toner feed system, photoconductor units (PCUs), image transfer unit (ITU), and fuser assembly. The PCUs and the ITU only get a 90 day warranty from Ricoh, so they are essentially exempt from Ricoh’s warranty too. This is because statistically those are the components that break. But there are some techs and field service offices that will simply walk away from making any repairs if they learn ceramic toner and not Ricoh toner is in the device. Again, rare but call us if this happens. You can minimize any delay in repair if you have an authorized 3rd party service provider near you. They don’t care so much about policy but want to provide good service so that you call them next time and not Ricoh. Find one. They can be your best friend at the worst time. Problems occur when your Ricoh tech has never heard of Enduring Images. If you can avoid discussing ceramic toner then do so, because this will prevent confusion on the part of the service tech. If it never comes up, the service tech will fix the printer like any printer. But if it does come up, and it will if the part is covered in ceramic pigment, you should be prepared to give the tech the statement above. If they have any questions about it have them call us. It is rare that a service tech will care about the toner in the printer unless it is in contact with the component suspected of causing the problem. If the tech deems that the toner is causing the problem, then they can charge for repairs that otherwise would be covered by the one year warranty. After the one year, it no longer matters since all repairs are T&M and why would they care. T&M work is a good gig. So this issue is primarily relevant during the warranty period. Again, call us if it surfaces after the warranty and a tech decides they don’t want to repair a ceramic printer. This is contrary to policy but does happen, and it can take several weeks to resolve the misunderstanding. We generally cover all of this during training, but it looks like we have missed it for a number of customers. We’ll do better in the future and will make sure it is part of training videos. I hope this blog helps everyone else.

@felix3232 My interpretation of your problem is that the decals aren't getting printed right, rather than aren't firing well. Can you confirm this? It may be simpler/more-local than that. Enduring Image printers seem to be re-badged Ricoh printers. The Enduring Image help-desk seems to only handle problems specific to the ceramic pigments used (e.g. firing advice?). They recommend/will-pass-you-over-to the Rocoh help-desk for printer-related support. Which seems to be what the OP might need. And surely Ricoh will have more locally based support staff (if their help-desk cannot resolve the issue). See Preventive or Reactive Ceramic Printer Maintenance? – Part 2 in https://www.ceramicprinting.com/blog/

Stumbled across this, which seems to confirm the point, and offer a mitigation of sorts: to make it into a casting slip add 0.4% Dispex; to attempt a plastic body add 3% bentonite: I have used real bone ash and have not had the smell but I choose synthetic bone ash for it's chemical consistency batch to batch [my emphasis]

@oldlady+ Not saying it's your problem, but damage/misalignment during transit can result in hard to diagnose problems. As I found out with my last (non ceramic) laser printer purchase. PS Eventually found the solution in user feedback on an amazon page of all places. You may find it interesting/amusing. look for Unstoppable Paper Jam notification on first run!!!! >>>>Here is the Solution<<<< in https://www.amazon.co.uk/Xerox-6510-DNI-Phaser/product-reviews/B01N012SZM

Can you say where in the process you are having problems? Digital ceramic print and decal process https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=455272361928046

Opened OK for me, try this URL instead https://community.ceramicartsdaily.org/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=15303

I was asking if you changed your casting process to make the seat significantly thicker would the seat then be less inclined to slump on firing. Two ways to achieve this increased thickness might be: 1) After emptying the mould immediately add enough slip to - say - double the final thickness of the seat. 2) Only partially empty the mould and let the remaining slip increase the final thickness of the seat.

The flat surface with holes that you sit on. Didn't want to say top because of the possibility of bisque-firing inverted.

A question rather than a suggestion. What would be the effect of casting the seat thicker than the sides (by manipulating the slip level)?

https://ceramicartsnetwork.org/daily/article/A-Colorful-Variation-on-the-Naked-Raku-Firing-Technique After the bisque, we apply the resist slip and glaze combination that gives naked raku its special look (Figure 3). For the resist slip, we brush on a thin layer of our Amador throwing clay. It holds on to the pot very well throughout the process and comes off with ease after reduction. We have experimented with making the resist slip from lots of different stoneware clays with excellent results. Be sure that the pot does not feel too “cool” to the touch before glazing. ... my emphasis, maybe Amador has no unique/special properties (except already being used by the Jacobsons).

While registration is required to access info from minarikdrives.com a google for Minarik Drives XP Series User Manual gives two freely-accessible manuals on another site. Minariks DC Drives - XP-DC Series - User Manual https://www.galco.com/techdoc/mnrk/xp08-60dc_um.pdf (44 pages) MInarik DC Drives - XP-AC Series - User Manual https://www.galco.com/techdoc/mnrk/xp10-115_um.pdf (32 pages) I've no idea of their status relative to current or historic versions of the boards. Note that both MAX SPEED and MAX SPD are used, so allow for this when searching the documents.

Having difficulty finding the full firing range for "sax trueflow glaze", but this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sax-True-Flow-Gloss-Glaze/dp/B0044SCR6O says Dinnerware safe when fired to cone 06-05 (so cone 08 seems low).

Nice, and very haunting. There does seem to be an issue in getting enough iron deposited to form a good image when fired, let alone high-fired. I came across this thread which may be of interest How to improve density in Cyanotypes? https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/how-to-improve-density-in-cyanotypes.175947/ ... I haven't read it all, but it contains interesting snippets such as This tonal reversal is the phenomenon of ‘solarisation’ first observed and named by Herschel. It is actually desirable for making a print-out image, because it can ultimately yield a higher maximum density: the self-masking action by the Prussian blue in the shadow regions of a printed-out image is diminished by the reversal to white, which allows the ingress of more light and formation of more (white) product. After the exposure, the Prussian white so formed is oxidised back to Prussian blue, either slowly by the oxygen of the air, or more rapidly by including a bath of an oxidising agent, such as hydrogen peroxide or a dichromate, in the wet-processing sequence: Prussian white + hydrogen peroxide ---> Prussian blue + hydroxide ions. ... my emphasis It also mentions Mike Ware, who I hadn't heard about before. He is "a chemist and photographer who has spent part of his career updating old photographic processes". As he is a member of the Royal Society of Chemists this looks like it would be an in-depth study. wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Ware_(photographer) Home page: https://www.mikeware.co.uk/mikeware/main.htm The new cyanotype process: https://www.mikeware.co.uk/mikeware/New_Cyanotype_Process.html 406-page downloadable book on the cyanotype process (including lots of history): https://www.mikeware.co.uk/downloads/Cyanomicon.pdf

Oops, I was completely mislead by the controller's manual stating that "the controller will display PF when first plugged into an outlet". Especially as elsewhere it clearly indicates that the switch should be in the off position between firings. Apologies to the OP @socrasoup

Interesting ... This may be the same reaction New Positive Siderotype Process using Iodine/Starch Colorant https://tinyurl.com/5zda5fmv This "development" process looks like a variant of the starch/iodine test, and IMHO the iodine complex is pretty sure to burn out. Just FYI Sanity check: Iodine does indeed form a blue complex with PVA (which is in the Elmers glue used in first reference). https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/3-540-56579-5_3?noAccess=true

ChoCoLate from New Mexico Clay https://nmclay.com/chocolate-clay

The kiln should have been left with the "safety switch" turned to "off". Can you confirm that it was back "on" before this test? From The Safety Switch https://paragonweb.com/wp-content/uploads/IM-126-DTC-600C-DTC-600-Instructions-1.pdf p1

Kiln and controller types models?