Search the Community

Super newbie to the world of glazes. I have a few recipes from a trusted source, and upon recommendation I purchased several mason stains to add to a base glaze for an inexpensive and stable option. I used the super basic 20x5 base glossy glaze and added my stains to that as a trial. Some of them are great, but most of them are homogeneous in appearance. There's no variegation, it's not very interesting to look at. I'm wondering if there's something I can add to the 20x5 recipe, or a different clear glossy base glaze that would give the stains a more variegated appearance. Any help is appreciated!

I’m lost. I used Bermuda green mason stain in my porcelain clay body and it turned dark grey. I fired to cone 6. When I mixed it I used about half pound of stain to 7 pounds of a thick slip once wedged I get about 6 pounds of clay. I mix it with a mixer and then wedge it very well. I’ve never had issues before with any other colors. I used amaco clear glaze on top. I don’t believe it’s the glaze(maybe I’m wrong) because even sections I didn’t glaze are dark grey. Someone please shed some light on this and help me achieve the right color before I lose my mind

Hi, would anyone out there know where I can buy Mason stain powders, in Australia, we can get stains, but I dont know if they are as vibrant colours as offered by Mason Thanks in advance I have tried various clay materials outlets all over Aus. and the reply is virtually, " No we cant get those" Amaco are available, but not in powder form, powders are necessary for us as we require postage living in Far Nth. edit: Hi @natalie at perth , I went in and changed the title of your post to reflect the content. Makes it easier for future searches and perhaps you'll get more replies this way. Min

Hi, I have a lot of difficulty with wedging in large amounts of clay. I want to mix stains into 5 lb. increments of porcelain. Any suggestions on type of machine. Would A dough mixer or pug mill work. I’m not looking to spend a lot. It’s just for my home studio. Thanks, Liz

*this has already been answered, I am just putting it here because Chilly wanted it to be archived for future searches, i asked a simple question in whats on your mind part of the forums, i just expected a few yes that will work answers, or no it wont, but I ended up with a lot of good information.* Original Question: Trying to figure out the fastest way to test colorant % increases. Thinking 500ML of base glaze, then suck out 50ML into cups, add % into each one and mix? Mark (Marko) Madrazo That sounds like a good plan. Joseph F. I have 3 stains that I love the color of, and I want to test 1% increases up to 5%. I can't think of a faster way to do 15 batches for test tiles. Joseph F. Except I will need 750ML instead of 500ML. Brain Overload. Marcia Selsor I just used clear cups and equally divided them into ten cups equal level. Joseph F. Then add the dry stain? High Bridge Pottery I use surface gravity 1.5 to be equal to 0.8g dry material per ml of glaze. Take 50ml you have 40g of glaze so 0.4g is 1%. Add dry into cup first then syringing in mixes mostly for you. High Bridge Pottery dry colouring oxides Joseph F. Thanks for tips Joel. GEP Your approach should work. For those tiny batches, stirring in the dry stain should be ok (no need to sieve each one). Stir fast and change directions while stirring. Joseph F. I will give it a shot tomorrow, thanks for all the quick tips everyone. High Bridge Pottery You could also do a line blend then you only have to weigh out the colouring oxide once. Marcia Selsor after during into plastic cups equally, yes, added stains and colorants. whatever you want to add. Marcia Selsor I also sieve each cup with a small talisman or comparable sieve David Woodin You are blending Cup A #1 to cup B #6, so you have 6 small containers set out A has a 300 gram batch of base, B has 300 gram batch of base plus 5% stain. # 1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 A 100 80 60 40 20 0 all in cc B 0 20 40 60 80 100 all in cc But 300 gram batch is too much material so I use 150 gram than I halve the cc amounts in the above table that is where the original post amounts came from, The results are still cup 2 1%, cup 3 2%, cup 4 3%, cup 5 4%, cup 6 5%

Hi again, CAD posted a feature on using coloured clay in coils and press moulding by Curt Benzle. He was using different clay bodies but in SA we are very limited with our clays. So I thought I'd use mason stain to colour the clay. Any suggestions as to how I do it?

Hello, my studio uses a cone 10 gas kiln and I love to do sgraffito with slips on porcelain and stoneware. All of the red and purple slips that we have turn blue in the high fire. The closest we have to a warm color is a saturn orange which turns kind of a pale peach color. Do any mason stains stay red (or failing that, a warm color) in a high fire kiln? Thanks!

Let's say you're mixing up a 20x5 clear base cone six glaze(Tony Hansen) that allows certain colorants (cobalt carb, copper carb etc)to be added in small amounts. Can you simply substitute mason stains for colorants, or do you have to reformulate the recipes. I'm pretty sure if I substitute,say, 2% Mazerine (mason stain) for 2% cobalt carb., I wouldn't get the same color. But will it alter the glaze in any other way? The recipe I'm using is: Wollastonite(20), Frit 3134(20), Custer Feldspar (20), Epk (20), Silica (20). thanks, ja

Do I have to buy mason stains online? Would any be sold at a hardware store or a home depot?