liambesaw
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Posts posted by liambesaw
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5 minutes ago, Callie Beller Diesel said:
I use so very little cobalt, I'm not even sure anyone would care if I gave it up or not. I use it in increments of 1% or less, so I'm still working on the 250g package of carbonate I bought two years ago.
I don't work in oranges or reds because I don't want to expose myself to cadmium, never mind anyone else. I don't care if they're stable enough for my use, someone had to expose themselves to keep me safe. To me, it's not worth it for a few pots. I bought the smallest package of red stain I could 5 years ago, and I can't bring myself to use it much.
The yellow stain I do have is praseodymium based. Not sure how rare earth mining practices compare those of cadmium or cobalt.
Rare earth refining is where you would draw concern I think. I think all the lanthanides are mined together and separated via chemical process. Since China is the dominant (only) producer of rare earth elements I'm sure they do it all safely and ethically. But once again, the pottery world draws almost zero demand, so you aren't the driving force behind the mining and processing of the ore, you're a side concern of a side concern when it comes to praseodymium.
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1 minute ago, Min said:
I have contacted both Mason and Ferro (includes Cerdac, Degussa and Drakenfeld stains) requesting info on their stewardship practices in regards to cadmium inclusion stain manufacturing. If I hear back from them I'll post their replies here. Does anybody have any literature on the processing practices of cadmium inclusion stains? From this link at Digitalfire:
"... stain is further rendered safer-to-use by washing with water or weak acid to remove any soluble uncombined compounds (e.g. cadmium or soluble impurities). This washing process does produce toxic byproducts that can only be tolerated in certain countries (e.g. India, China)."
Considering the toxicity of Cd this is an ethical issue for me, if Mason or Ferro do corroborate what Tony Hansen is saying on Digitalfire then I will no longer be buying underglazes that use Cd stains.
I do hope you are correct Pres in that the mining practices will be changing and child labour will no longer be part of the equation. I will gladly pay more for it if I know it's ethically sourced. BTW @liambesaw, even at $50 lb that's still about 1/2 of what it costs if I buy it from my local ceramic supply place (which I don't). From my local place's catalogue
"Cobalt Carbonate .................. 500 grams 92.10
Cobalt Oxide ...............500 grams 102.00 "
Hey if you ever need me to smuggle you some I've got your back that's a lot of dough (even if it's funny money)
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44 minutes ago, Pres said:
Time to stock up??
best,
Pres
5 lbs for 110 bucks, used to be 50 a pound. Pretty good but I would never use 5lbs, I only have one blue glaze
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I don't think potters drive enough of a demand for cobalt to be worried that they're the reason for bad mining practices. I don't know the numbers but I'm going to guess that potters use less than a thousandth of a percent of the cobalt mined. We use cobalt alloys at work and I know they're the metal of choice for prosthetics and implants because they're biocompatible. Of course the electronics industry is the biggest consumer. So as far as feeling guilty, I just can't. Too far removed from the problem and not driving demand.
Speaking of which, I guess demand has plumeted because cobalt is cheaper than I've seen in long while. Last time I picked up a pound I was shocked to see it at like a quarter of it's usual price.
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1 minute ago, Denice said:
I am throwing molds for casting glass in, I need around 65 of them and I am at the half way point today. My shelves are over loaded, I need to do a bisque firing. Stuck at home my husband had colon surgery a couple of weeks ago and has two more weeks of recovery to go. We got the biopsy yesterday no cancer but has the DNA for colon cancer so he'll have to be checked every year. Modern medicine is amazing they can cut something out with a Robot, stitch it up and send you home the next day. I can't even make a pot in that amount of time. Denice
Isn't it? A family friend just had her knee replaced. They cut her bad knee out. Cemented a chrome-cobalt knee in, stitched it up and they had her walking stairs 6 hours later. Ridiculous
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Just been doing some experimenting since I have plenty of bowls, mugs, spoon rests, etc. I'm thinking about entering our local guilds call for entry, it's the annual teapot show. I had a dream about something like this so am trying to get it right. This is the second prototype and it's getting closer.
Also been making taller two part vases, but the problem is my kiln is only 18 inches deep and 23 inches wide so i can't go too big. This vase is 20 inches tall wet, hoping it fits and fires on its side ok.
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26 minutes ago, Benzine said:
I've got a pile of rocks, that I am "decomposing", to create some new clay. I am a patient person...
I'm going camping this weekend and plan to bring back a bunch of decomposing bedrock. I do some gold prospecting and so I always have granular magnetite but as I was washing a bunch of bedrock clay down the stream last time I thought hey I bet this would melt in a kiln!
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I follow the rabbit holes as I go. If something interests me further I pursue it until it doesn't interest me anymore. So recently my pursuit of DIY lustres came with a lot of research. I figured there had to be a cheaper option out there that I could make myself. There is and there isn't, but I'm still on it and still making them, mainly because I like the way the bright oil-like sheen looks on my pots. It's subtle so I doubt anyone would really notice until I pointed it out, but they're cool!
Anyway, I don't mix my own clay for several reasons, the main one being there's very little cost savings and I have local access to beautiful pugged clays for dirt cheap. I do mix my own glazes and make my own tools, but that's out of cost savings and control and not about returning to the roots or honoring my ancestors or whatnot.
I like this hobby because you CAN go down these rabbit holes and come out understanding just a weeeee bit more about the different processes and how they interact. But it's also awesome because everything is now set up to where you don't even NEED to know anything so just about anyone can hop on into the hobby with just a few hours of reading.
- Pres, Marcia Selsor and Hulk
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Yah just this months PMI has an article featuring bleeding underglaze, complete with a clear glaze recipe. But it's cone 04-6.
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49 minutes ago, Min said:
@preeta brought something up that I've been pondering for years. In this thread she asks "i wonder are potters now going to treat cobalt blue like blood diamonds? Whole ‘nother Subject."
I realize as potters theres a strong probability that the cobalt we use is from the DRC and child labour plus health and safety concerns is a very valid concern in the mining practices there. We are not the reason for the mining, battery market seems to be the big driver now, but how do we feel about using cobalt or for that matter do we look into the mining practices of any of the materials we use? Cadmium inclusion stains to my knowledge are only being made in China and India, now why is that? (rhetorical question)
Good question, though after the cobalt crash it doesn't seem like much of anyone is producing it now. Buy it while it's cheap, China's surplus won't last forever
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7 minutes ago, Magnolia Mud Research said:
Try making 8 lbs. lidded Jars for the farmers.
I have one I've been bringing, no bites yet, maybe people are intimidated by it's largeness
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Been making a bunch of these 8lb vases instead of making things that will actually sell. Cant help myself, I just love making them.
I made a handful of little lidded jars last night to replenish the ones I sold though, so I still did something.
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4 minutes ago, Pres said:
Liam
Getting behind on documentation is one of my worst bads! Seems like there is never enough time.
best,
Pres
Well I usually take kiln opening pictures but for some reason this load fired a little hot and I had a lot of pluckers but the shelf of lidded jars was fine. So I was a little demotivated and then I had the farmers market the next day so I just went about getting ready for that and totally spaced the pictures. Oh well!
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Did the farmers market again this week, my big seller this time was small lidded jars. I made a bunch last week and sold them all. Forgot to take pictures whoops.
Guess I'll go ahead and make a bunch more of those!
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@Callie Beller DieselI got a good one today...
At my booth of 99% functional ware: "Is it safe to eat off this stuff?" I said yes, and she picked up a large vase and said "Even this one?" Which was a weird question but I just said, "if you wanted to!"
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Well I did my farmers market today, got out in the sun and got a lot of sketching done :/
Made 55 dollars, which was more than i was expecting since this was a 20 tent market and I was one of two Craftsmen there.
luckily the booth fee was only 10 dollars!
man there are some really weird people out there...
Guy to the left of me was selling bleach water (FOR DRINKING!!!) and the booth across from me was selling essential oils... Don't these people know how dangerous those things are!?
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1 hour ago, Mark C. said:
My workbench /wheel is now empty after a two week production run that may have been one of my largest output periods ever. The last two kilns are firing now and the van is about 2/3 full for an upcoming big show. This last two kiln loads has my wall fish and odds and ends in them. I plan on a small ceramic break after the show and do some diving before returning to my remodel for a few weeks in August. I'll get back to clay near end of month for fall shows .
Now packing for a huge show and a dive trip all in same vehicle .
Can't wait!
Did another test last night, trying to make an iridescent copper lustre. So close! Came out a little too red for my taste but wow the depth it adds to the glaze is so beautiful!! This recipe was bismuth and iron salts, I think an addition of silver salt will tone down the red and add silver bringing it closer to copper. Hard to capture in photos
This weekend I'll be bisquing and glazing lidded jars and sponge holders, last load before farmers market on Wednesday.
- LeeU, Hulk and Callie Beller Diesel
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36 minutes ago, oldlady said:
liam, do not know what your goal is but if you want a recipe for a simple Luster glaze, try this. 20 g each of frit 3134, dolomite, spodumene, ball clay and silica. the one i have is written for green so add copper carb 6 and zircopax 10. really good looking green but it flattens out texture. makes lots of colors also.
Resinous lustres are like the bright gold Duncan lustre you can buy for a zillion dollars. They don't require a reducing atmosphere so can be fired in an electric kiln. I'm just screwing around but figured they couldn't be too hard to DIY. I've got the flux and carbon, just need some good metal salts. I have silver nitrate coming Monday, palladium chloride, iron chloride, copper chloride, copper sulfate, cobalt chloride, etc. Probably will pick up stannous chloride, zinc acetate and cobalt nitrate next time I'm at the pottery supply place.
Just another thing to experiment with, I can't help but tinker.
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1 hour ago, Benzine said:
Best of luck Liam!
Thanks benzine!
I got a response from a holiday art and crafts show I applied to last month, they said my work was a little too fancy for their show, which is a bummer because it's just down the street from me and on a weekend im not busy. I'm guessing it's more of a popsicle stick and yarn type of show or something.
Having issues finding holiday shows that I can apply to, besides zapplication what else do you guys use to find shows to do?
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So my first resinous lustre test was a success! It was kind of Jerry rigged because I just used stuff I had laying around. I have actual pine resin on its way, along with silver nitrate and some other metal salts to experiment with. All I had was bismuth oxynitrate which is the flux, but it gives a grayish sparkly lustre on its own. Not much to write home about but it fluxed, reduced and bonded to the surface, which is more than I was expecting. I used frankincense resin, turpentine and lavender essential oil and knew right away it was less than ideal because the frankincense wouldn't melt completely, probably from being a little too old and unrefined. Next round should be gooder!
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This week has been fairly frenetic, I'm prepping for a farmers market next Wednesday, and at the same time researching resinous lustres and experimenting with them. Made my first batch of straight bismuth lustre yesterday after months of dissecting trade secrets and obfuscated SDS's, reading research papers and books, etc. There's just not a ton of information available on the science of them. Will be doing my first tests probably tonight to see how close I am, we will see!
As far as throwing, I made a bunch of thrown sponge holders, a bunch of succulent platters, and a bunch of small lidded containers, and need to trim them all and bisque them so I can get a glaze firing in this weekend before the market!
I finally got all of my ducks in a row, formed a business, established marketing materials and bought a canopy and tables. Only time will tell if it ever pays off!
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27 minutes ago, Bill Kielb said:
Isn’t that what the S stands for?
It does now!
I'm still trying to save up enough to make a big bottle of gold lustre, will let you know if I've got enough in 20 years hah. It's just for fun 
Need Help Pricing A Sitter Kiln Model Lt-3K
in Equipment Use and Repair
Posted
You'll need to make sure the wiring and circuit can handle the amperage it's going to draw. You should be able to find a nameplate on it with the specifications of the kiln. After that you should be able to type in "how to fire a manual kiln with kilnsitter" in YouTube and get a bunch of videos showing the process.