EarthToMatthew

This is a great point I've never considered that, I'll try warming my pieces up in the future and see what happens. Thank you! I'll read through this, thank you for sharing! Yeah, I would like the coloring to last as long as possible. 10 years is pretty long but permanent is ideal. I'll give the china paints and luster a shot and see what happens. Thanks for all the info and such a detailed reply!

Hey everybody! I recently discovered the technique in which color is added to the cracks in glaze post-firing by wiping the piece down with ink. I bought what I believe is a good brand of India ink and have gotten some results that I'm pretty happy with, but some of the pieces that I've seen other artists produce seem to have much bolder and brighter coloring. A few things I have considered are the size of the crazing, which I'm sure will allow for more or less ink to be deposited, as well as the color of the glaze and the clay body to provide contrast to the ink., but I don't think these factors answer all of my questions. I'm wondering if there is something other than india ink being used that can provide bolder and more vivid coloring, or maybe there is some other aspect of the technique I'm missing?

Yeah well said Rae, I'm sure this won't be the last mystery glaze I will have to mourn haha. I have just enough left to make a mug so I'll make it a special one and hopefully one of these days I'll find a glaze combo that has the same properties.

Yeah after doing a little research I feel I've come to a better theory of what may have happened, because I think you're correct about it not looking right for a recipe with so much gerstley borate. I believe I may have had a bag of material wrongly labeled gerstley borate. If this is the case then I have no chance of re-creating this very easily because I have so many raw materials. I may have put too much bentonite but your right about it being fairly noticeable. I don't remember needing to add much extra water or having any problems mixing it. Thanks for your 2 cents! I'll take any I can get haha. I figured it probably wasn't a very strong glaze, I could tell just by the surface. When applied over other glazes it changes quite a bit, and becomes more of an effect glaze, I like it for the texture it takes on when coupled with glossy glazes. I suppose it isn't too ideal for functional pieces but I wanted to experiment with it and see what would happen in other applications. It was initially an altered version of an Emerald glaze from John Britt's mid range book. I definitely messed up when I copied the recipe, as one ingredient was omitted completely. I realized that first mistake when it came out brown instead of green and doubled checked the recipe. When I tried to recreate the accident glaze I came to the realization I made and a second mistake that's harder to identify. After a little research I'm starting to think that gerstley borate I used was in a mislabeled bag that contained a mystery ingredient. Thanks for the links to those Noxema recipes! However, it's actually the brown in the first photo that I'm looking for, the second photo was just to show how it paired with other glazes. I was worried I might confuse the situation if I posted that haha. Ah yeah I suppose that is probably out of the question then, I would definitely be biting off more than I can chew if I went that route. I'll just have to let this one go I think, maybe eventually I can find a recipe that gives a similar effect. I've been saving a lot of brown recipes I found on glazy, I'm just going to mix a bunch and start testing!

I don't have a picture on hand but it turned out glossy and grey/blue. The second image is a glaze combo, it's the accident glaze applied over John's Noxzema. The second batch was done the same way except for whatever mistake I made the first time around. I know I had the specific gravity consistent both times as well as the firing. That could definitely be the case! It wouldn't be the first time I made that mistake. I'll give the extra bentonite a try and see what happens. One more thing that I forgot to mention in my initial post, I've kinda wondered if the gerstley borate I used was something else in a wrongly labeled bag. If that's the case I can't even begin to fathom what it was in that bag, I have so many ingredients.

Hey everybody, so I'm in a really frustrating predicament. I recently mixed a glaze based on a recipe I found on glazy.org and somewhere along the way I made a mistake. Not sure what the mistake was, I may have added the wrong ingredient, may have forgotten one- it could be anything really. The thing is, I REALLY like this glaze accident. It's not so great on it's own, but when mixed with other glazes it's very interesting and beautiful. I'm going to be unreasonably devastated if I can't figure out how to recreate this, or at the very least find a recipe that has similar properties. I'm hoping that if I share a photo of the glaze someone might know a similar recipe. Another option I'm considering is trying to reverse engineer the glaze, if that's even feasible. I thought if I sent the remainder of the accident glaze to a lab for testing they may be able to give me enough information to figure out what I did. I'm no glaze chemist but I wonder if an experienced one would have the capacity to reverse engineer a glaze based on the results of the test. I know this is a bit extreme but I really want to figure this out. If anyone has any experience with something like this I would appreciate your advice and opinions. I'll attach a few photos of the glaze for you all to have a look at. The first photo is the glaze on it's own, the second is the glaze applied over John's Noxzema. Thanks in advance! Edit: I thought I should add the recipe I used to make this glaze. I've tried to make a second batch but it didn't turn out like the first. RECIPE: Gerstley Borate - 50.00 Spodumene- 30.00 Wollastonite- 20.00 Bentonite- 2.00 Chrome Oxide - 2.00 Cobalt Carbonate- 1.00

Hey Tom, thanks for your insight, I definitely have a lot of research to do on this topic. I fire in an electric kiln to cone 6. I'll start looking into your suggestions I appreciate you giving me a good place to start. Thanks to the other folks who suggested 200 mesh Kyanite, it's definitely much cheaper than the wood ash I've been looking at. Time to start experimenting!

Yes that's correct, I'm making sculptures so I need a really smooth clay that can facilitate fine details. The clay body I've been buying from a supplier has no tooth or grit to it at all, and I'm hoping to replicate it. You're also correct about my usage of the term temper. I need a non plastic material that will prevent cracking and shrinkage but doesn't ruin the smooth consistency. My final sieve is done with an 80 mesh. Thanks for sharing that article, I'll read through it right now!

Hey everybody, I've recently ventured into processing my own clay. I've been digging it up from a water bank, running it through a sieve and letting it drip dry from a pillowcase. Afterwards I add some bentonite to increase plasticity. My aim is a really smooth clay. I've experimented using diatomaceous earth as a temper but it ruins the texture for me. I know that some people use wood ash/volcanic ash as a temper- I figure this would be the best bet for my desired texture. Does anyone here have any input on the subject? Do you use ash as a temper? Do you have a better suggestion? Thanks!

Hey guys, just wanted to give you an update. I did my first bisque fire to cone 06 last night, and everything seems to be in order. I really appreciate you making yourselves available to newbies like me. This kiln was difficult to research, so it was really nice to come here with my questions. Thanks!

Hey Neil, thank you sir that sounds pretty straight forward I'll give it a shot.

From my understanding the switch I have is a 4 way. It's called a 3 heat switch but it has four positions like the switch on the KIln- Low, Medium, High and Off.

Hey Bill, thanks again for your time and information. You're probably right about the red switch being in good shape- I figured that as well but got 2 just in case. The black switch was my main problem, when I removed it something was rattling around inside and it fell out with a little shaking. It was a metal pin that I imagine connected something in there, the heating element that didn't work was the second from the top so it was connected to that switch. That pin is probably what used to connect the element to the switch in some capacity. That's my uninformed speculation anyway haha. My Dad confirmed that it does have neutral grounding as well as 2 120v circuits. I haven't checked the resistance of the elements but I can later this evening. I took some photos of the switches, the black one is the Arc-Les switch that was broken. The hole in the top left of the photo looks like it used to have a pin, I think that's what fell out. Based on other switches I've seen I think it was labeled N. Although I could be completely wrong and nothing was there before. In the second photo, there are 4 pins: top left is 1, top right is COM, bottom left is PL and bottom right 2. The red one is the new Gottak switch. The top 4 pins are A, B, C, and D. The bottom pins are labeled 1-4, however the 3 slot is empty.

Hey folks, so I've determined that the switches are definitely the issue, I took them off and found that they were very corroded. I've been told this switch would be compatible and have ordered two of them. https://www.theceramicshop.com/product/26821/skutt-new-3-position-switch/ I found this diagram of the switch on the manufacturer's website if it can be helpful in any way. https://gottak.com/en/conmutadores.html?id=4RH This is the conversion chart that came with the switches: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0272/1968/9606/files/New_Style_3-Heat_Switch_Conversion_Instructions.pdf?v=1593277799 My problem now is that I've looked at conversion charts and nothing lines up quite right. Can anyone here confirm if these switches are in fact compatible? If so, how do I determine where on the switches I should connect each component of my kiln? Here is a wiring diagram for my kiln: https://eadn-wc05-4586769.nxedge.io/wp-content/uploads/A82WD.pdf Here is another diagram I've been looking at for a switch wiring refrence: https://eadn-wc05-4586769.nxedge.io/wp-content/uploads/4way_Switch_Conversion-Ver3-Sept2017OCR.pdf Thanks to anyone who takes the time to have a look at this!

Yeah you're right haha I could have done better with the photos. I'll get some better ones of the elements. Phone photos vary depending on how you hold your phone while taking the picture (vertical or horizontal). I think a lot of people don't adjust the photos because we are all used to browsing the internet on our phones, so you can just turn your phone sideways to see the photo right side up.