Hulk

your newspaper reminded me of a feast our gang at the office earned.  everyone ordered blue crabs except me, allergic to shellfish.  i ordered a steak.  the day was wonderful we were at the edge of Chesapeake bay at a picnic table.  two of us had the ends in chairs and the table was covered with newspapers.   the steak took forever and when the waitress set it down on the newspaper in front of me, we all realized there was no table under the newspaper.    

When we lived on Haida Gwaii we were spoiled with all the fresh fish and crab we could get. My husband and I would limit out with crab every time we went diving. At the local cannery they used a heavy flat faced tool instead of the nut style cracker. Smack the top edge of the leg sections with it and the shell splits so it’s fairly quick to get all the meat out. Still have the “crab basher” as my kids would call it.
 
 
 

Katys fish house is still there-and some still call them Humboldt Crabs
These crabs came from one of my diver friends who dove on a small commercial boat in Trinadad harbor-crabs where given to him then 4 to us.Small world

Pop (an' Grampa, Gramma, uncles...) called 'em "Humboldt" crabs; seems they are same Dungeness (aka Market) crab that we see further south.
Grampa used to pull his friend's pot and replace a few crabs with tall Coors cans.
Grandma would bring home a dozen from Katy's sometimes (she and Katy were close friends); my brother and I picked.
Cal Poly, heh, my Pop came here (San Luis Obispo, on the GI bill) for the course of study he wanted; back then, it was a loong drive back to Crannell to visit the folks. 

We're having some unusually warm weather here this week; a typical year may see a few days over 80F, however, typically in August to October.
I've been watering some in the yard (gray water system), wearing summer clothes, and enjoying shorter cycles in the studio.
Throwing, hrrrm, needle tool, sponges (I'm a count that as one*), metal rib, wooden knife, wooden rib.
Trimming, hrrrm II, needle tool, small two ended loop, bladed tool*, metal rib, chattering tool(s).
     Forgot calipers - use them a lot, to determine where the clay ends when trimming feet; I'd trade the loop tool for the calipers to keep it at five...
*From one large sponge, I've cut two small purpose-shapes for wetting and drying, leaving a large (large!!) chunk for clean ups.
I'll credit Bill van Gilder for sponge cutting idea; later, had seen that several folk do the same thing...
**repurposed hack saw blade
A towel-y rag is handy as well, for drying hands, cradling work to be handled, etc.  - change out if/when any clay gets on there, afore it starts puffing dust.

I have been thinking about getting back into the shop. . . . that is really hard to get into now as the garage door had a large snow pile in front of it, that was soaked with ice that melted under the door and refroze all over the floor. No damage, as everything is on shelves, but really not good to walk on yet. However, I was thinking of what tools to get together for working in the house. This brings me to ask, , , ,what tools are essential?
So QotW: What 5 tools are essential for throwers? For handbuilders?
I'm not going to put my two cents in yet, why spoil the fun, besides it will be interesting to see what folks think are "essential".
 
best,
Pres

A diver friend called with 4 fresh crabs for us a few days ago-ate them same day they came to surface,
Live backed them and slipped and really cut my palm badly--some antibiotic cream and super glue I was able to center and throw pots the next day. These guys are tasty served hot out of the steamer with hot melted butter
Last night it was tamales another treat. Potters need to eat well.

i have a three inch binder with recipes filed under colored tabs for the glaze recipes people have given me or i have asked for at studios.   went through it last year and found that many of them are duplicates from various sources.  they have the same recipe but a different name.   some work and some do not.  some are very dangerous for the potter to use.  i have tried many and others have just been sitting there untested.
min has given me the base recipe that i use for lots of colors.  all of the mason stains i own and the carbonates work in it beautifully.  she gave me the recipe that fits my particular clay so i thank her very much every time i use it.   
hulk....... vanGilder does not fire to cone 6.   he got the recipes from Phil Berneburg  who established Washington Street Studios about 6 miles from my house.   the rutile green recipe works with lots of colors as well.   the one called Oribe green does NOT pass the vinegar test.

@Chilly have it, like it, has alternative information not in some others. As to resources on Cone 6, I have most of them, and find good material in all of them.
 
best,
Pres

Glazes Cone 6 - book by Michael Bailey - it's written by a Brit, using British obtainable ingredients. 
Much as I like the other 2 classics, they use ingredients that we don't always have access to. 

My glaze book from collage will keep me busy for whole life and then some- most from my glaze and clay body class-then 4 years of school in glaze room
I have added a few from friends-traded for some
as well as a few from magazines-its always the same test to see what it does/looks like in my kiln atmosphere .

I am of the find a base and adjust it so it does what I want school of thought. Since I use Plainsman clays, if I get my recipes from Digitalfire, more than half my work is already done. That said, I’ve been poking around Glazy a bit, especially because I’ve been looking at Joe Thompson’s work. He’s left some very generous information in his glaze notes. (That’s @OldForgeCreations)

I have tons of recipes on file, but when my students request a glaze color/type that I don't already have a recipe for, I usually look online, usually Pinterest. It's an easy way to find a specific glaze color with links to recipes. I rarely use a recipe as I find it, but it's a good starting point. I'll tweak it for fit, melt, and color. There are so many recipes available online that it's not necessary to make a glaze from scratch.

Last QotW I asked about types of glazers. I have been thinking lately about the abundance of resources for the wide variety of firing temps and atmospheres. When I first started doing cone 6 there were few formulations available for the temperature. Internet was not there, it was before the M^6 by John Hesselberth, Ron Roy . It was also before the Bill Van Gilder Wheel Thrown Pottery book. However one could carefully peruse issues of CM, PMI, and others to find some of the cone 6 glazes being used by potters. I started a small notebook of hand written glaze formulas in college, and kept with it off and on, but I was not very religious about it until I started setting up a spread sheet with all of the recipes/formulas that I used or might use. Now with the internet out there with Pinterest, Glazy and so many others, there is little reason not to mix your own glazes. My personal spread sheet has become more extensive as I put in formulas from books and these other resources, and yet even now I have gotten behind. I guess at times when you find a set up that works you stay with it not making changes unless you have to or force yourself to. 
QotW: Mixers: where do you get your recipes/formulas for glazing? 
 
best,
Pres
 

Just for fun try alter the G2926B recipe you mentioned in your other thread by replacing the Ferro 3134 frit with your Gillespie Borate and see how close to the original formula you can get by increasing or decreasing amounts. I'ld start with balancing the boron then fluxes then the alumina then silica.  It will probably take going back and forth a bit bumping amounts up and down. When the formula is as close as you can get it then retotal the altered recipe to 100. If you aren't sure what each material contributes to the glaze just click on it from the page you linked and it will tell you what it's comprised of. You might not get it an exact formula match but you should get pretty close.
Using glaze chem software or not, if you do some reading on what the materials that are used in glazes contribute to the glaze is going to be very helpful. Otherwise it's a bit like diving into the deep end to try and use software without knowing what to alter to increase or decrease a quality of the glaze.  Example would be in the above glaze where is the calcium coming from? Main source of sodium and potassium? And so forth.
I'ld also strongly suggest just mixing up small test amounts of glazes before full buckets.  

I can't /don't want to do production/retail and took a 30 year detour from my original ceramics education/experience/intentions (returned to clay  after retirement & installed a small studio in my trailer) so I am essentially just a member of the audience  on this site. I enjoy what I get from reading what others have to say. Most of my real ceramics work was "back in the day" except for a brief foray, courtesy of John Baymore, into anagama firing, which was a major thrill & lots of learning, plus did some raku courtesy of Andy Hampton. (also NH), and have some placements in local small shops.  Today I only use commercial bodies & glazes. The modest sales I had going have mostly dried up due to how the pandemic hit the rural small independent shops near me. (I rarely do shows/fairs). All that aside, when I was truly into it, I loved mixing/formulating glazes "from scratch", learning the chemistry/dry & raw materials,  as well as tweaking recipes from some of the core masters in the field. Due to some cognitive issues I couldn't do the science/chemistry/math now even if I had the motivation-even effective "work arounds" are just too exhausting these days (I'll take some aged cheese with that whine, thank you very much). I've done some experimenting with the commercial glazes in my electric kiln but haven't come up with anything particularly interesting/meaningful, like some on here have done (think Joseph Fireborn).  I have been poking around with multi-refires for my Hidden Mask series, which I need to get on with.

I was initially taught to use other people’s recipes, and was given vague information about what the ingredients and their components did. Even in high school my art teacher mixed glazes from other people’s recipes, so I figured that was the only way people did it. I didn’t even realize you could buy premade stuff for a long time! That said, I did buy my clear base as dry mix for a few years there, because the recipe was open source and I could tweak it if I needed, and because it fit my chosen clay body very, very well. They discontinued it because a couple of ingredients were harder to get, so now I’m reformulating to try and find something with the same fit and colour response. I’m not moving really fast on the project, but it is underway.
But yeah, everything that Min said. I like knowing how things work. Some people do sudoku, some of us poke around to solve chemistry problems in Glazy for fun on a Saturday afternoon. I like knowing how the pieces fit together, and that glazes are a really funky combination of mineralogy, physics, and 2 or more kinds of chemistry.

I reformulated your recipe using Gillespie Borate. Instead of using a hypothetical analysis for the China clay I used Grolleg for both the reformulated recipe and in the original. Let me know if you use a different kaolin / china clay and I can redo it. I used the chem analysis from Glazy for the original recipe using Calcium Borate frit from the link @Magnolia Mud Research provided above.  This looks okay on paper but if you try it please make sure and do a small test batch before using it on actual pots.
Linda Bloomfield ^6 Clear with Gillespie Borate - untested  No dolomite needed, its getting enough magnesium from the Gillespie.
Potash Feldspar 22.2
Silica 24.4
Gillespie Borate 27.1
Grolleg Kaolin 18.2
Whiting 8.1
total 100
 
 
 
 

Luv it when threads rejuvenate. I have no table-just a prep counter, a rolling tray table in the LR, and my computer desk. This is what's on my desk: cut-up egg "cups" w/vegetables, over Spanish rice, with some cheddar cheese mixed in. Add a bit of hot sauce and enjoy. Not shown, a nice mug of Death Wish's dark coffee, hot & straight up.

Hope you're recovering well and quickly Denise!

We had some oven toasted tacos (grain mixture and shredded cheese) topped with chopped parsley (farmers market) and just made guacamole (lemon and lime juice, local avocado, minced onion, minced cherry tomato from our ludicrously surviving volunteer out in the flower bed, and salt), pan seared greens, and leftover broccoli (and other veg) frittata from the day afore.
 

Hope you're recovering well and quickly Denise!

We had some oven toasted tacos (grain mixture and shredded cheese) topped with chopped parsley (farmers market) and just made guacamole (lemon and lime juice, local avocado, minced onion, minced cherry tomato from our ludicrously surviving volunteer out in the flower bed, and salt), pan seared greens, and leftover broccoli (and other veg) frittata from the day afore.
 

Hope you're recovering well and quickly Denise!

We had some oven toasted tacos (grain mixture and shredded cheese) topped with chopped parsley (farmers market) and just made guacamole (lemon and lime juice, local avocado, minced onion, minced cherry tomato from our ludicrously surviving volunteer out in the flower bed, and salt), pan seared greens, and leftover broccoli (and other veg) frittata from the day afore.
 

Looks yummy @Hulk. I usually add pepper mash and tomatillo to my guac. The Tomatillo brings out the lime, and adds another layer of flavor. The pepper mash. . . . . Yeah I love spicy. Usually made with wide range of peppers from green bell to habanero all peeled, with garlic, onion, and a little olive oil. Freeze in ice cube tray and add to anything that you want to add a little heat to. Great for chili and soups also.
 
best,
Pres

Hope you're recovering well and quickly Denise!

We had some oven toasted tacos (grain mixture and shredded cheese) topped with chopped parsley (farmers market) and just made guacamole (lemon and lime juice, local avocado, minced onion, minced cherry tomato from our ludicrously surviving volunteer out in the flower bed, and salt), pan seared greens, and leftover broccoli (and other veg) frittata from the day afore.
 

They have a number of different calcium borate frits on the market. I know Ferro has had production issues in the last year and they’re still sorting some things out, but there should be a number of alternatives in the UK. Worst case scenario, you can use Ulexite or Colemanite, but I believe common practice is to calcine it first, or it’ll cause glaze spitting.
If you have any familiarity with glaze calculation software, you can use glazy.com to substitute in another frit and maintain the chemistry.
If you don’t have any familiarity, post the recipe here and let us know which alternative frits your supplier has available, and one of us here can do the reformulation for you.