Morgan
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Posts posted by Morgan
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As far as uspigment I can’t speak overall but boy did my rare earth materials from them vary in quality.
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What’s the deal with “degussa “ inclusion stains? I cannot find any info, company info or anything about them unless I just am horrible at searching.
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That is a good idea min thanks, I will try that. I also wonder if stretching the wedged clay out on the table might be messing it up. Just in some form of common sense it seems as if I properly wedge them then elongate/stretch them by sideways slamming it would add stress to the clay? Either way will try that.
I did fix most of the crazing issues but not all. Some I just had to adjust my application and others I need to just get around to either tweaking the glaze or saying goodbye to some of them with frost. Most of the crazing should be fixable (based on the size and distance of cracks) through hopefully just some silica/epk additions. if not, such is life. Such a drastic change from 365…
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5 hours ago, Min said:
After you wedge the clay how are you prepping the mug weights of clay before throwing? Are you placing the spiral of the wedged clay face down on the wheelhead or turning the lump of clay on it's side? Or wedging a large mass then cutting pieces off and patting them into shape before throwing?
Good question and the latter. When I make mugs, or any amount of smaller weighted things, I usually weigh out and wedge about 8-10lbs at a time, or a third of a 25lb block, spiral wedge. Then I slap stretch that into longer narrow pieces I can quickly wire off and weigh a 1lb ball for my standard mug. Slap round and add to pile.
when I say the clay is hard I actually thought it was bad when delivered at first, as some of the blocks showed a visible crack in the clay block bag itself. Sure enough some concrete slamming wakes it up and it seems perfect consistency…in fact I like it better a bit stiff.
the only reason I thought about this is because I have thrown at least 50lbs of frost before, all mugs, and I don’t recall any cracks at all. The only difference is that was what I consider a “fresh” small direct order to test, much more soft than what I have now. Some of you may recall my laguna frost glaze issue thread too, ha!
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2 hours ago, neilestrick said:
IMO, burnishing the bottom after trimming likely has very little effect on preventing cracking, because the clay is already pretty well set up to crack or not at that point. Sanding after firing is going to be necessary regardless of how well you burnish.
ya I did not think so, then again I have never in my life seen perfectly circle cracks, S cracks sure, but not these. I too do very very minimal trimming. Rib quickly and angle cut corner, done.
another random thought...these came as a large bulk order so they were pretty rock hard blocks that I end up slamming on concrete to loosen up, then they are fine...is it possibly this clay needs to be wedged way way more? And just to reiterate the responses, the main fix here is more and more compression outward in? Certainly not a thickness issue, my walls and base are identical and have only had this issue with Frost and maybe decades ago in high school
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thanks, ya I believe I am so used to "compressing" by just pushing down back and forth over the bottom it is probably more of an outside inward (or lack of) compression.
Edit: are you saying you do not do much burnishing or you do? I burnish the bottoms of all of my pots with a rib...wondering if that is what prevents the cracks from going all the way through but causing on the inside bottom, just a random thought.
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Reviving this old thread since I was somewhat forced financially into using frost, which I love when it works, but oh the cracks. I never really had an issue before because I wasn’t making a ton with it but after making a hundred mugs or so I noticed quite a bit of cracking in the bottoms. Not S cracks but almost perfect circular cracks (almost never go all the way through). Is this still just a compress the heck out of it issue? I use a sponge on a stick to remove water at the end and it oddly seems like the circular cracks follow the final brush bristle lines if that makes sense. I have never had any attachment issues as I always attach and trim pretty darn wet still as to not ever have to worry about that but I am super annoyed right now and have a literal ton of this sitting here.
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On 3/25/2023 at 11:08 AM, Mark C. said:
That Brand of clay is not on the west coast at all as far as I know. Not sure how you would get it to Kauai for under an arm and a leg
As insane as it sounds the difference in bulk freight on a a pallet from the west cost vs tons of 50lb flat rate boxes is not that substantially different price wise. I have gone back and forth debating on getting 2 tons of frost at a time freight from laguna and honestly it is not even that big of a difference. I still may do it (made another thread about Frost) It is slightly cheaper, but not as much as you may think. It is still costly no matter how ya slice it and part of what makes being a potter out here hard, but it is what it is. That said, I have the luxury of endless tourists, fantastic artisan/farmers markets daily and a clientele that do not even bother looking at price tags as well, so there's that.
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You have to also add in the type of potter you are when talking success I think. You could be a high level production potter cranking out stuff with one glaze, or a more gallery type selling vases for 50k, etc. I have been doing pottery for over two decades but the type of pottery I like to do, sell, etc there is just no way I could ever make it a production level business. I do make a living and am happy though. What I mean is, for example, I would have to change the way I glaze things big time, I would have to change so many aspects of my pots to be more efficient and so on to sell/make that many to ever make 6 figures….BUT those things I do that prevent me are what sells my pots. My point is if I reeeeaaally wanted to I could flip my entire business on its head and probably make a hell of a lot more money but it would change everything I enjoy out it and frankly become something I don’t even like making or doing.
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Oh totally, I report all transactions properly and I didn’t mean to imply it any other way…in fact people are somewhat surprised when they want to pay Venmo and I charge them tax on top and I explain why. I guess I should clarify why I made the topic.
One, to point out how many people I see doing this and that Venmo/PayPal are not stupid and they have adjusted themselves properly and will now send anything over $600 to the IRS (or something small). This is also why they push for you to use their business version to collect transaction fees. Secondly, I guess it was just to see if others see this behavior to the extent I do? All these people are going to have a very rude awakening come tax time or later the way that they use apps like Venmo, so more of a PSA I suppose. And lastly just curious as to all the other payment methods folks use in general.
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The markets I do are fairly "high end" clientele (wealthy tourists) and almost every other person asks if you accept Venmo. The bulk, if not all, produce/fruit vendors are cash only (or Venmo) so most people come in with an expectation that you do not accept cards and act surprised when you do. Venmo transactions are free to some extent, but it depends, which is why I brought it up. Most of these farmers take it and treat is as cash, which will be a massive wake up call eventually come tax time. Shocks me how much money they accept via Venmo without caring about tax implications. I do accept it but use business venmo which is essentially a fee based way and add the proper taxes. The other problem is the buyers too, think, and treat it as cash. From a security standpoint I am not really concerned as I have a QR code they scan and I can confirm receipt right there.
I guess I am more curious to the amount of people that think and treat it like its cash without a care in the world. Maybe years ago but not now... -
I too use Square chip tap reader and I have nothing but good things to say about it.
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Just curious. Do you use Venmo or Venmo business or just add your own sales tax (or no tax). I work weekly farmers/artisan markets and the majority of it is cash or Venmo and was curious how others use Venmo best for tax time.
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On 3/6/2023 at 7:59 AM, GEP said:
These are the most “successful Instagram users.” Not to be confused with “successful potters.” You can’t deposit instagram likes in the bank. What looks shiny and pretty on social media can be 100% a facade.
I know successful potters from my real life, because doing lots of high-level shows allows you to meet the real deals. Some of them are great with social media, some are bad at it, and some of them don’t do social media at all. There is no correlation.
My advice to anyone who wants to be a serious pro: don’t place any value on social media popularity. Do it for fun, if you want, but that’s all.
I disagree with your response regarding the high profile Instagram people, or frankly just people that are really good at online marketing. The large majority of these folks open up their online store…you know what I am talking about “shop opens in 2days get ready!”, and sell out instantly because they have a 100k+ followers. It drives me mad really because a good deal of them are not even that great, but what they are good at is photos, videos and using the medium well. And of coarse there are successful potters that do not even own or know how to turn on a computer, but that is besides the point.
we live in a world where you can sell absolute garbage if you know how to engage people online well and that is just a reality.
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17 hours ago, neilestrick said:
@Morgan I noticed the color change in 365, too. It's a little more orange in raw form. It reminds me of a porcelain body I used to mix that had VeeGum-T in it which made it orange. I asked if there were any changes and they said no, so it's probably just a change in one of the raw materials. It still fires out the same color.
Ok it wasn’t my eyes going bad
thanks @neilestrick!
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2 hours ago, Mark C. said:
Once you find your choosen body you could have them order it for you drop shipping by barge to Kauai via Young Brothers via Honolulu
That is what I was thinking...
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There is a laguna distributer on the big island but they only carry a few bodies and the porcelain they carry is Hagi which I really did not like.
Min I will actually try that, good call.
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Sorry for the late response Min. Ya, I am not sure I want to bother with the trouble of trying to get glazes to fit (at least not ALL of them ha), but seems like it almost has to be a batch issue. I have reached out to Laguna numerous times playing phone tag with no answer yet on the batch. I would like it to work out, but if it does not it is not the end of the world.
I touched on it above but does anyone have any suggestions on how to try and find a better freight option for a few tons (however much can fit on say a palette) standard clay? Especially given that there are no distributers west of basically Kentucky that I can find. The quotes I get from them direct are astronomical compared to Laguna which makes sense but I feel there has to be some sort of option to at least look into.Thanks all!
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Was there any changes to 365 (did not seem like it per their site)? My latest bags of it are almost a tan color when next to the older batch. Feels pretty similar as far as I can tell does not seem as stiff in holding its form when throwing but maybe its in my head.
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I agree with everything you said and totally expected not all glazes to fit with a new clay body. Not that it is a barometer for anything but I have tried all these glazes with a dozen other porcelains (with similar COE) and other clay bodies with zero issues. Again, I know that does not mean much for Frost, but it just seems strange. That said, I find it pretty unusual that every single glaze (15!) did not play well with Frost. Especially given the glazes I tested which, are all for the most part, very much in a good range and known for their stability. I feel like I would have heard or seen more people discussing Frost glaze fit issues, but maybe I have not been paying attention. Lastly, a lot of these glazes have years of pictures and reports on Frost with no issues for others poking around Glazy etc (Opal for example).
Anyway, I appreciate the comments, and agree, just still find it odd. Not a big deal, I will stick with works, but I would love to hear from folks that actually use Frost too to see if they are having/had such issues with such a broad spectrum of glazes that seemingly work fine for most people using the same clay body.
I appreciate the thoughtful and detailed response! -
Sorry, disregard the "strange" comment, this morning every piece ended up crazing, nothing strange, just normal crazing, apologies for that confusing comment. This was 15 different glazes I tested which makes me think something is up with with the batch or something I am doing Frost does not like. Maybe my natural cool is too fast? I can list out every glaze I used if that helps but a few that come to mind:
Studio White
VC Soft satin glossy white
MCG1
John Brits Floating Blue
Midnight Surf
Old Forge Sunset
Opal
Pinnel Stony Matte
Heath Ivory
Variegated Slate Blue
I will contact Laguna tomorrow and ask.
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Aloha all,
So I use standard 365 primarily (which I am just in love with and think its one of the best) but it *would* be way more cost effective for me to use Frost $/lb since I can get it very reasonable in bulk from laguna to HI. Anyway, I have been putting it off and finally got around to getting a few bags and threw about 20 mugs with it. I have zero problems that a lot do with Frost, s cracks, attachments etc, that said I was very very shocked when I opened the kiln today and just about every piece I made in Frost had some form of crazing. Strange crazing, like a single almost stress looking crack down the side and others just normal crazing. What is strange to me is I purposefully glazed each piece with intent to test my glaze fits with it. I have an absurd amount of glazes that I am trying to hone in but that is another topic for another day.
I guess my question and bewilderment is the majority of these glazes are tried and true super stable glazes and they still crazed, in fact a lot of these glazes I have never even heard of crazing on any clay bodies ever. I did not expect every glaze to fit but was not anticipating every single glaze to have fit issues.
I fire a slightly modified version of the digital fire drop/soak to a fairly perfect cone 6 bend and a natural cool. I let the kiln cool to well under 200 degrees and bisque fire slow to ^04. Really annoyed with it because as much as I prefer to throw 365, I have to admit the glazes look incredible on Frost, if not better, crazing aside.PS - If anyone knows any secret bulk freight for standard clay on the west coast that I do not know about I would die to know
Mahalo! -
Frankly I would not waste any money on a 3rd party for simply setting up an LLC, which is super simple (not sure why some above says its difficult, but maybe it is in some states?). Your county/state should have some form of a small business site/portal where you can do it online in a matter of minutes.
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Yes, almost all of my glazes I do not even mess with floc/defloc, in fact I try NOT to even go there but glazes that seem to gel like crazy even with a ton of water you need to. Some glazes are also a lot more picky about showing drip lines etc where thixotropic adjustment will help tremendously.
A big factor touched on above is how you prefer to do application. Long dips, multiple dips, short quick dips, spraying, brushing etc. I frankly do not like it much (or think its a tad misleading) when people put up a SG for a given glaze as it makes it seem like that is the exact SG you need. I get its a ballpark for most but I think it is misleading. For example I have some glazes that always get layered and so I tend to have that have a lower SG so my combined glazes do not get too too thick and crawl or flake off.Long and short of it is test and you will come to understand your glazes best SG, application etc and it will become second nature. I do not even really measure my SG I just know by the consistency and the results where to be. Of coarse you need SG if you plan on tweaking with floc/defloc.
Once other tip: If you get a glaze where you want it after mixing up a batch, check it again every other day or so as some will gel up over time. I can tell by ingredients that I will get it roughly where I want it but by the next day it will need more tweaking.
US Pigments vs Mason Stains
in Clay and Glaze Chemistry
Posted
Super interesting, thanks for the digging!