epowelldesign Posted September 10, 2015 Report Share Posted September 10, 2015 Hello everyone my name is Evan I'm new here and was hoping I could get some help. I am in the process of starting up a studio. I have a bit of experience in ceramics as I have worked at a pottery studio and taken some classes through uni while I work on my industrial design degree. I have purchased several kilns and wheels. 2 small cone setter kilns and 1 large digital ramp master controlled kiln. I plan to set the studio up to be primarily for cone 6 firings. Eventually I want to get a solid product line specializing in porcelain light fixtures that would be made by casting into molds, and also offer open studio times for others needing a studio. I have put together a raw material shopping list to get me started in making my own glazes and experiment with different things and coming up with a high translucent porcelain slip recipe. I could really use everyones opinion on my list, what I should buy more of, what I have to much of, what I don't need and have listed, and what ill need that I haven't listed. I want a bit of everything so I can experiment but I don't want to waste money on things ill never use or buy too much of something I will end up hardly using. Any modification to my shopping list and advise would be greatly appreciated. Cheers- Evan ..... my list ... in pounds 10 x FRIT 3110 100 x Feldspar Custer (Potash) 100 x Feldspar, Minspar 200 (F4) 100 x Nepheline Syenite, 270 mesh 10 x FRIT 3124 50 x Whiting, 325 Calcium Carbonate 50 x Gerstley Borate 100 x EPK (Kaolin) 100 x Ball Clay, OM4 100 x Silica, 200 Mesh 10 x Talc, Pioneer 10 x Dolomite, Dolowhite 10 x Bone Ash 5 x Lithium Carbonate, Fine 5 x Strontium Carbonate 1 x Zircopax Plus/Superpax 1 x Iron Oxide, Spanish Red 1 x Silicon Carbide 400 Grit 1 x Iron Oxide, Yellow-Clean Creek 1 x Titanium Dioxide 1 x Tin Oxide (White) 1 x Zinc Oxide 1 x Copper Oxide, Black 5 x Bentonite, 325 Mesh 1 x Copper Carbonate 1 x Cobalt Carbonate 5 x Manganese Dioxide 20x40 1 x Spodumene, Australian 5 x Barium Carbonate, German 10 x FRIT 3134 10 x Wollastonite, Vanisil W-20 5 x Red Art Clay, Ceder Heights 5 x Tile 6 Georgia Kaolin 1 x Chromium Oxide by the lb. 1 x Cobalt Oxide 5 x Rutile Light Powdered 1 x Darvan 7 Pint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S. Dean Posted September 10, 2015 Report Share Posted September 10, 2015 Welcome to the forum. Since you are interested in translucent porcelain, you will probably want to add Grolleg kaolin to your list. -SD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pres Posted September 10, 2015 Report Share Posted September 10, 2015 I personally don't see much need for barium any more, but that is personal. You may want to up your tin as reds in ^6 oxidation near the pink range are had with tin/chromium. Otherwise some mason stains would be needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph Fireborn Posted September 10, 2015 Report Share Posted September 10, 2015 The only thing I can tell from your list is your going to need more of the coloring agents like, Red Iron Oxide, Tin Oxide, Copper Carbonate, Zircopax, etc. You have so much volume of the main ingredients but you will quickly be needed another shipment of the coloring chemicals if you are planning to make large batches. 1# = 453g. Which will go fast in the larger gallon size buckets. Some of the nicer and more bright glazes call for things like 10% RIO, or 10% Tin Oxide, or 10% Zircopax. If your thinking about making a 3 gallon bucket worth of glaze then all of your 1# of coloring chemicals will be gone for that single glaze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted September 10, 2015 Report Share Posted September 10, 2015 You will find many chemicals have better price breaks at larger amounts than 1#. THINK 5# AND 10 #S. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted September 10, 2015 Report Share Posted September 10, 2015 Cobalt Carb you could probably settle for 2#. You'll rarely use more than 0.5% at a time. No need to get oxide and carb IMO. Plus it's really expensive. You can likely get away with plain old cheap Red Iron Oxide rather than Spanish, but many more pounds of either are needed. I buy it in 50# bags because it's used in half of my glazes. I don't keep Yellow at all. Get 25# or more of Dolomite and Talc. Lithium and Strontium may not be necessary unless you have specific recipes that call for them. You'll need more than 1# Superpax/Zircopax. It takes about 10% to opacify a glaze. That's 2 pounds in a 5 gallon bucket. More Tin Oxide. 4% to opacify a glaze, but up to 7% or more for a chrome-tin pink glaze. Might not need both coppers. I only use carb in my studio and don't have any issues. You'll use up to 4-5%, so you might want to get 5#. I do not keep Manganese or Barium in my studio (where I have classes and such) because of safety and liability issues. I can live without both just fine. Spodumene and Redart are not needed unless you have specific recipes that call for them. You only need one soda spar if you can reformulate glazes well. I've got a bag of F4 that's been sitting for 10 years. I just use Neph Sye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavy Fire Studios Posted September 10, 2015 Report Share Posted September 10, 2015 Throwing in a few underglazes for fun might not hurt, either, but I'm biased, haha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted September 10, 2015 Report Share Posted September 10, 2015 I would follow Neils suggestions as he works in your cone 6 range. Ceramic materials are not something you can get all at once -Its best to get some of whats needed over time. Only then will you know what your are going to use-I have a bag of red art and gold art and have never used them.Same holds true with yellow iron. I am a big user and buy most everything in 50 # lots so its hard for me to downsize your needs which are yet an unknown.I'm also working in high temp range so some needs are different. I do use 2 kinds of iron oxide and two colbalts as well as both coppers but its not usual for most potters as Neil said to use both. The last point is how far you live from suppliers is another factor on what quantities to get. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Min Posted September 10, 2015 Report Share Posted September 10, 2015 +1 for what Neil and others have already said. I would add some alumina hydrate to the list for use in kiln wash. I use a fair bit of zinc, would probably get more than 1 lb of that, same with titanium diox. Is the silicone carbide for local reduction in ox and or crater glazes? Apart from those uses I don't think it's used much. Some people prefer 325 mesh silica rather than the 200. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph Fireborn Posted September 10, 2015 Report Share Posted September 10, 2015 I would add some alumina hydrate to the list for use in kiln wash. I use a fair bit of zinc, would probably get more than 1 lb of that, same with titanium diox. I agree with this, your going to need to coat your shelves with kiln wash, and the best recipe has alumina hydrate. Zinc and Titanium Diox are used in a lot of beautiful matte or semi matte recipes. So as Min said you will need more of this if you plan on doing any of that work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted September 10, 2015 Report Share Posted September 10, 2015 It's amazing what you can do with limited materials. If you've got the budget and space for everything, then great go for it. But if not, you can do an awful lot with: 1. Potash spar 2. Neph Sye. 3. Gillespie Borate or a high boron Frit like 3134 4. Dolomite 5. Whiting 6. EPK 7. Flint 8. Zinc Ox 9. Tin Ox 10. Red Iron Oxide 11. Cobalt Carb 12. Copper Carb 13. Rutile 14. Chrome Ox These ingredients entirely make up 13 of the 15 glazes used in my studio, and could keep me busy with formulating tests for the rest of my life. These ingredients will give you almost any surface and color. With the addition of a small amount of Frits 3110 and 3124 I can mix the remaining glazes we use. I'd buy the first 7 in 50# bags, the rest as needed. And get Alumina Hydrate for kiln wash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted September 10, 2015 Report Share Posted September 10, 2015 I only use 325 silica for better melt in glazes and alumina hydrate for me is must have for kiln wash. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epowelldesign Posted September 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2015 Thank you all so much! As for me casting porcelain for my lighting I still need to do a bit of research and find some recipes. That side of things will come later... but yea when Im ready for casting Grolleg is needed also I have been reading a bit about NZ halloysites but will def start with Grolleg until I know what Im doing a bit more. I wanted some barium just because I love the matt finishes that some of the glazes that I have used in the past gave which had barium. However I don’t know exactly what glazes I want to stock my studio with yet. That is why I wanted a wide variety of materials so I can experiment and have what I need to make different recipes I find until I fall in love with a handful or two. I do plan on making the glazes in 5 gallon buckets so upping the amount of colorants is great advise. Also if I can get by without cobalt oxide ill def save the money and skip that but at the same time at the moment Im just trying to discover my studio glazes and don’t want to miss out. As I get things going ill know more of what ill need on a regular basis but as mark said my needs are still unknown. I live just like 20 min away from Ohio ceramic supply who gets most of their stuff through Laguna(miller) So shipping isn’t much of an issue. Neil Thanks for that list! My budget and space is limited but I was planning on costs being high at the beginning while I figure out my needs. Thanks again everyone this really is a huge help to me! I will revise my list and repost. Also I will fill out my profile better and start adding photos of my work and studio progress. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bciskepottery Posted September 11, 2015 Report Share Posted September 11, 2015 You can make a table/spreadsheet of all your glazes and ingredients, then add them up to see how much you would need to make a 4000 g. bucket of each. That would give you the amounts needed and tell you which ingredients are used more often and in bulk. Then, buy according to your glaze needs. For test glazes, there will be core ingredients and others you can buy in small amounts to see if you like the glaze before committing to large purchases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted September 11, 2015 Report Share Posted September 11, 2015 Be really careful about having glazes in the studio that aren't food safe if other folks are using the studio, too. It's not sufficient to simply label them, as people tend to not read labels, and less experienced people may not totally understand the dangers. You'll have to keep them put away separate from the other glazes. I have a lot of newbies in my studio every month, so every glaze in here is food safe so I don't have to worry about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potterbeth Posted September 11, 2015 Report Share Posted September 11, 2015 One avenue to achieving beautiful matt glazes in a mid-range electric kiln is down firing (controlled cooling). Steven Hill offers great advice and a link to an article on the subject on his website: http://www.stevenhillpottery.com/articles/ Double ditto on Neil's advice about not giving other people in your studio access to anything that isn't food safe. If you plan to share glazes with other studio users, you might consider keeping such glazes and materials in an "off limits" area for only your use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callie Beller Diesel Posted September 12, 2015 Report Share Posted September 12, 2015 If your supplier is near by, I would buy test ingredients as needed, and buy materials in bulk once your testing is done. Otherwise, you have the additional problem of disposal of materials you won't use/don't like. Figure your recipes first, and then build your shopping list. (I am also an advocate of meal planning before getting groceries.) For brand new setup, I give a plus one to Neil's shopping list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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