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Caroline E

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Posts posted by Caroline E

  1. Strontium Crystal Magic Cool- Food Safe?

    in Clay and Glaze Chemistry

    Posted

    @Callie Beller Diesel and @Min Thank you very much for your responses! I have some follow up questions. 

    Would the glaze be food safe if it was only applied on the outside? From what I can gather from your response, it is not food safe because it does not properly melt at ^6? I also wanted to ask you about the inclusion of lithium carbonate. I realize lithium carbonate is a toxic material. Does any ingredient labeled "toxic" mean that it can not be included in a food safe glaze? When any material is "toxic", is the concern in the powdered form or the fired form?

    Also, can you please expand on your mention of the glaze not including silica and what that does to the nature of the glaze? 

     

    Thank you very much 

     

    Caroline

  5. Extreme Cracking/Shrinkage in Tiles

    in Clay and Glaze Chemistry

    Posted

    Hi everyone, 

    I am hoping to get some advice regarding a students tile work. Her large tiles had severe cracking/shrinkage from the glaze ^6 oxid. firing (standard ^6 medium speed firing). Please see photo. The student was using commercial clay without grog and used Mayco glazes. For her next set of tiles, I advised the student to use clay with grog and to compress the front/back of tiles. In the firing, we plan to use sand and/or waste slabs underneath the tiles. Is there anything else we should do? Should I be using a firing schedule that has a cooling ramp? 

    Thank you in advance for any help.

     

    Caroline

    Tiles1.jpg

  7. Pottery Wheel Recommendations

    in Equipment Use and Repair

    Posted

    Hello all, 

    I need to purchase 2 new pottery wheel for our ceramics studio classroom. We currently have all Brent pottery wheels, but I would like to see if I can purchase one that is more cost efficient but will not lose quality. I know there are several other companies to choose from other than Brent, but I do not have experience with any others. Can anyone please share their recommendations for a regular studio size pottery wheel that is a good investment but less expensive than Brent? Can anyone speak on their experience with Shimpo, Pacifica, or Speedball wheels? 

    Thanks so much for any help in advance!

    Caroline

  10. Advice for setting a hold at top temp for ^6 firing

    in Studio Operations and Making Work

    Posted

    Hi All, 

    Like always thank you so much for the generous knowledge you share. I have attached a picture of my cones from the firing. I cannot get a good picture of the blistering on the pot because they are really small, but they are a few scattered around and they are sharp. 

    To answer your questions, I have one thermocouple. I wasn't aware of the term "offsetting the thermocouple", but earlier this year, I did program my skutt kiln to fire a little cooler with the help of Skutt customer service. At the time, my kiln was firing a cone too hot and the blistering on the pots were worse than they are now. I thought that blistering on the glaze was a result of the kiln being too hot, now I have learned that blistering can happen when the kiln is too cool. Can someone please explain what temperature blistering happens? Please also  let me know what you think about my cones. 

    I am starting to think it may be a good option for me to try a hold at top temp instead of messing with offsetting again. 

    thanks,

    Caroline

    cones.jpg

  11. Advice for setting a hold at top temp for ^6 firing

    in Studio Operations and Making Work

    Posted

    Hello all, 

    I am experiencing some small blistering on glaze ware that were on the top shelf. I put 3 cones bottom, medium, and top shelves in the kiln. It turns out that my top shelf was firing at a slightly lower temperature, and the pots on the top shelf were the only ones with blistering. I was recommended to put a hold at the top temp of my Skutt kiln to try to level out the glaze. One person told me to put a hold at top temp for 10-12 minutes and another said 1-2 minutes. Which hold time is better? My initial question was that the longer I hold at top temp, I may run a chance of overheating? I am using Opulence Glazes from Mid-South ceramics. 

     

    Thanks for any advice,

    Caroline

  14. Cone 6 Studio Glazes for High School Classroom

    in Clay and Glaze Chemistry

    Posted

    7 hours ago, Kelly in AK said:

    I use cone 6 glazes at my school, but I buy them already dry mixed. It’s tougher on the budget, but I can barely get everything done as it is so mixing my own for school happens rarely. I have tried Tony Hansen’s 20 x 5 base with both cobalt+black stain and copper carb, both came out great. 

    Those are some beautiful looking glazes Neil! I may have to change my ways. 

     

    Dear @Kelly in AK

    If you have been buying Amaco's dry glazes, they are being discontinued. That's why I am looking for other recipes :) If you're not using Amaco, do you mind sharing which brand you are using? 

    Thanks!

    Caroline

  15. Cone 6 Studio Glazes for High School Classroom

    in Clay and Glaze Chemistry

    Posted

    23 hours ago, neilestrick said:

    Here are a few glazes that we use in my studio that are very stable and consistent.

    Butter is great on top of other glazes, and also looks good alone on brown speckled clay.

    Harris Red is a great iron red glaze, tends to be the most red on brown bodies.

    Runny White is quite stable on its own, but flows a bit on other glazes. Looks great by itself on speckled brown bodies or on top of just about anything.

    S-4 Blue looks a lot like denim, has nice surface variation, and looks good on both white and brown clays, especially on speckled brown.

    Spearmint is a nice green with good surface variation.

    Nutmeg is a fake shino, which I normally hate, but this one's not bad. Goes lighter as it gets thicker.

    *edit- These tiles all show double dips. They are not runny with a single dip.

    Glazes.jpg.a6a3f263c4a19ceb897312080548ba5a.jpg

    Nutmeg.pdf 66.44 kB · 9 downloads Spearmint.pdf 67.11 kB · 7 downloads S-4 Blue.pdf 62.53 kB · 6 downloads Runny White.pdf 66.67 kB · 4 downloads Harris Red.pdf 61.28 kB · 5 downloads Butter.pdf 66.23 kB · 4 downloads

    Dear @neilestrick,

    Wow! This is GREAT! I very much appreciate you taking the time to send the recipes and test tiles. These look like they will work wonderfully in our studio. I am going to make some tests. 

    Again, thanks so much!

    Caroline 

  16. Cone 6 Studio Glazes for High School Classroom

    in Clay and Glaze Chemistry

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Pres said:

    Welcome to the forum, @Caroline Ennis, I hope you enjoy your time here and find some useful answers. I used a combination of glazes from the M^6 book, and from Bill Van Gilder, along with some glazes that were commercial from Minnesota clay and ART. The Van Gilder glazes played well with the glazes from M^6 and I still use some of these today. My liner glaze that I use is a transparent liner glaze that I added some opacifiers to for a white over darker clay bodies. Mixing your own should stretch your budget if you have been using commercials up to this point. However, the first year of buying materials and equipment can be expensive. 

     

    best,

    Pres

    Dear @Pres, 

    Thank you so much for your recommendations! This is all very helpful.  Is the Van Gilder book you are talking about titled, "Wheel Thrown Pottery"? And is the M^6 book you are referring to called, "Mastering Cone 6 Glazes: Improving durability, fit and aesthetics" by, John Hesselberth?

     

    Caroline

  17. Cone 6 Studio Glazes for High School Classroom

    in Clay and Glaze Chemistry

    Posted · Edited by Caroline Ennis

    Hello everyone!

    I am a high school ceramics teacher and I am looking to mix a range of ^6 glazes for my high school ceramics studio. I am looking for glazes that are stable, consistent, and most importantly, do not run easily (to keep those kiln shelves clean!). I would like to have a range of glossy, matte, opaque, and translucent glazes. I am hoping to have around six-eight glazes that I can have in dipping buckets in my high school studio. We do not have a sprayer, so I would like to use glazes that look good brushed or dipped. I would like for the glazes to look good when layered together and also by themselves.

    I have a background of mixing glazes, but am newer to using ^6 glazes and do not have a personal selection that I have tested.  I have been researching trusted sources such as Glazy.org and Digitalfire.com and have found some interesting recipes but it would be very helpful to hear from some people that already have a good range of glazes that work well together in a beginner ceramics environment. 

     

    Would anyone be willing to share some ^6 studio glazes that meet what I mentioned above? I have read through many of these community posts and they have always been so helpful. 

     

    Thanks in advance for any help or advice that can be offered. 

    Caroline Ennis

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