Mark C.
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Posts posted by Mark C.
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My hoarding has paid off in spades so far. Out of Kingman feldspar after burning thru 3,000#s in 40 years now I'm using custar instead but have 1,000#s
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On 4/21/2024 at 5:28 PM, Dick White said:
All the time now. Gerstley is gone and Gillespie is not a perfect match. 3134 requires a complete rewrite of the recipe. Custer is gone from the market, but I still have some. G200EU might be ok, haven’t tried it yet. Still have some old Amtal talc, but some Fabi is in my future. What’s next?
Custar is back now Dick at least from Laguna locations
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I bet they made some small hobby doll kilns and the like in the UK that ran on 120 like they did here
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13 hours ago, fergusonjeff said:
Since you are not too far away, here are a couple options. About 10 years ago I convinced Alsey (a hard brick manufacturer in Illinois) to sell me three pallets of "seconds" for a significantly reduced price. When they arrived they looked perfect to me and have done well in my wood kiln. These were super duty bricks. I think they were not really seconds and they were just being nice. They normally crush up any rejects as grog in future batches. https://www.alsey.com/
One other option: There was a second-hand refractory store near St. Louis that closed a few years ago. A local guy that makes an occasional pizza oven bought all the remaining inventory he could move. I bought a large load of 4x3x9" really nice bricks for only around $1/brick just a few months ago. He probably still has a large inventory, particularly of large and odd-shaped bricks. I can try to contact him if you are interested. Would be a bit of a drive though.
This is several solutions all in one from Jeff who I had the pleasure of meeting a few weeks ago.
Dealing direct with the manufacture on seconds or even a pile of used ones is really a lead worth exploring . I know of several huge piles of them in my area from tow sources as most potters are long gone and the hoarders (I only have a small pile) do not know how to get rid of them here now.
Rent a heavy dudy truck and go pick them up in MO or have them trucked to you from the factory. I have moved more hard brick in my life than I will ever need. I built several kilns with them ,my salt being the last.
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1 hour ago, Dave Earley said:
Ttwo years ago I rebuilt a 4ft x 4 ft catenary arch kiln that I had saved in a pile of bricks for several decades. While rebuilding it i found I was short 4 #3 arch bricks. I bought a bag of refractory cement, rated at 3000 degrees F, made a form using an available brick and cast them. I have also recently made some bricks using wild clay from my back yard.
I could have mailed those 4 #3 bricks to you from my hoarder fire brick pile.
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If this is in the UK? then we need to know more on what the electrical voltage is in the UK. Maybe some UK potters can chine in with this tec info
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I have seen lots of hard brick over the years on many sites from potters web to craigslist and others-search a thread here thats old on ceramic sites for sales ( not facebook marketplace) They make the bricks in the east where you live by the way.
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also old mills that used bricks in say kiln drying or boilers can be a source.
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classic fast firing with wet wares
after you clean up the shards from kiln use a soft brush on a vacuum to suck small pieces from the element grooves -be gentle doing this.
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Always my key tool with plaster is the jiffy mixer -also drop the bucket hard a few times to get the air bubble to rise to top before pouring also is a good tip
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Laguna now sells a flameware body so you can get a 25# at Laguna/Aftosa location in Fl
- Rae Reich, Kelly in AK and neilestrick
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I used 2 old fashion galvanized hoops with brass screens for decades with two sticks over a bucket until I bought a Talisman. Now I have three if them hanging -bought two used from other hobbyists who sold out. I have one for white glazes and one for dark and one that just hangs. Many people buy one and find their set up cannot clean them well. The trick is a tall faucet in studio with a rubber or in my case silicone hose as I can put a 5 gallon bucket in sing or spray out the sieve when done with it. Once you master the plumbing they work fine. in a small sink its to hard to clean them. I have been to NZ to the factory on the north Island in thge 90s and bought spare parts as well. I have about 30 years now in using them and never looked back. Now the other day I was doing smaller than 1000 grams and used one of the tiny smaller Talisman from Laguna clay baby sieves .These are made from PVC with stainless screen. I use an 80 mesh for all sieving as well no matter what the sieve.
The Talisman is made for large batches like 5 gallon buckets or larger. I do not consider it a hobby size deal as its to big.
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So I am testing some new liner glazes today to look for one to replace my go to I have used for 40+ years. I opened my glaze book and found one TRJ emailed back in the day from this site, also wishing me a Merry Christmas . For those that do not recall him he was another professional full timer like me from Canada. After a few years of back and forth emails we were going to meet at an upcoming NCECA but alas he got sick and passed away. His posts live on here just like mine will when I'm gone. He shared info freely as many do on this site. I mixed up his liner cone 10 reduction glaze today and will test it in coming week. It was good today thinking about a man I never met and what may have been. Now I may be using his liner glaze on a zillon pots if I like it. Thanks TOM akaTRJ
On that note I did meet another Potter last week at a Crafts Fair in Saint Louis and we did a mug exchange . I was there twofold to visit with my wifes sister who moved 1 hour south of STL last year. Also we drove south 3 hours to see the eclipse which was fabulous with clear skies our second one in the past 7 years. It was a joy to meet another potter from this site and share stories and ideas.I had my coffee in his copper red mug this morning.Its a small planet really.
- Kelly in AK, Hulk, Chilly and 1 other
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I feel that whatever works for you with slip use that . If it works use it. I will add that in my clay body and calc class back in collage we tested all types of attachments (long before magic water ) and what was leaned that scoring and slip make for stronger bonds. It's a night and day difference so score and slip . If you are not that you are making weaker bonds.
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I use the slip from my hands throwing medium and larger forms. I keep in in tall plastic open container with a piece of light plastic over it. If it gets thick we add a splash of vinegar. Sometimes no vinegar for months. Thgis slip is always teh same body we are working with and water is not added. I also collect from splash pan if needed quickly, gthge thicker stuff .Never bothered about magic-I learned ceramnics before those concepts where born and never needed them so never thought about doing them later. Now I will add we handle thousands of mugs every year in porcelain and getting the handles on same day is the norm with the clay all the same moisture content. Handles, on then cover with loose light plastic sheets that night uncover and let dry. If any small cracks appear I use a thin wood stick to rub them out while loading them in bisque kiln. (pro tip I leaned from another potter in the 80s) then they never show up again. Also if you do this while loading that saves handling them another time which is all about time saving which is what am all about with clay.
- Kelly in AK, Pres, Hulk and 2 others
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More chimney (taller for sure to suck better).
That dampermaybe low as you said 5 bricks up from floor, How tall is that in inches? Low. if it was waist high the flame/heat expands out of the chamber and then gets reduced down and then expands again after the damper The damper that close has little expansion space which will slow draft down a s well. A taller stack may help this flaw.
I cannot tell how much flame expansion space you have?
The double expansion is spelled out well in a few books like Nils Lou space age kilns.If I recall-its be awhile so I hope i have that right. I biult the double expansion stack in my salt kiln and its works great with less taller chimneys .I have 7-8 feet brick and 8 feet of heavy stainless pipe
Read up on making cone pack making. Cones should face slightly away from each other so than do not fall on each other for better reading-good temp records count
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I buy my clay in about 3 -6 ton lots minimum and order it made extra soft for bad wrists. I have a shed near the road witha canvas front facing north in the shade of my potshop. That shed stays cool year round. I then bring into shop about 750#s at a time and store under wedging tables on redwood floor boards.(2x12s are my floor in old shop-new addition is painted plywood floors ) Clay warms slightly in shop in winter with heat -summer heat is off and its cooler in shop
I order from Laguna clay and have it trucked the 13 hours north and supply a few other potters as well that Have been with me for many decades on clay buys-although many are now gone.I have been with Laguna since they bought out westwood clay in the med 80s before I was with westwood in the 70s also used to used Robert Brent Clays when they where in Healsburg and Quyle clay from the Sierra. They now are out of the clay business. Also usewd some Emory clays from Sacramento area -all those where stonewares-switched in mid 80s to all porcealin .From Laguna just before they bought up Westwood.I drove down to LA in 185 to meet the Laguna owner and try there porcelains .He sold Laguna about 5 years ago to the new owner.
I also store some clay just outside shop door for slab roller use-I moved my two peter puggers last summer onto new kiln cement slab and have yet to. decide about where slab clay will live-it never ends.
Ok off to see the eclipse via some airplanes
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The photos do not work for me
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Just heard this -The owner of Kemper Tools has sold the business. New owner has to move the factory as the property has sold as well. Not sure if this will stay as a domestic business and what will be made in terms of the tool line. They made so many I would not be surprized that that line is trimmed down . Pricing may change as well.. It's funny as I noticed Bailey has a sale going on Kemper now which is odd. My guess is there will be a time period that these tools will not be in production as well. The good news is Kemper will be around in some sense in the future.
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I see those for $700-$900 as Neil said they are not the best slab rollers. I dislike the cables always stretching-really poor design.-post it on the ceramic facebook sites for best exposure
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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.
Bisque Menders Recipe - Making Your Own
in Clay and Glaze Chemistry
Posted
kyanite is something I use in my home made ITC mix and comes in many mesh sizes. Does not shrink
The crystals are long and its one of the strengtening things say in mulite kiln shelves
It great stuff