Looking To Start Mixing My Own Glazes

[Guest]

 

You doing the different coe fit tests?

 

Still trying to understand it, might was well start from the beginning.

 

This ain't like making cornbread

[dhPotter]

RonSa - Use 3 ounces of water per 100 gr of dry material. This gives you a starting point.

 

Nope cornbread is not near as picky about carefully weighed ingredients.

 

Good Luck!

[Joseph Fireborn]

So I might be a bit different here. But when testing someone else's recipe: I start with half the water compared to the recipe. So say a 200g batch would start with 100ml of water. I also don't measure SG until I have used the glaze a lot and I know the consistency I want to use it at. I find it's a waste of time to measure it before you know how you want it and if your even going to use it in the future. A lot of test come out awful.

 

After I have mixed up the glaze batch into 100ml of water, I slowly add more small amounts of water to the mix until I feel it is a really thick but mixed consistency. I stick my finger in the test batch to see if it is nice and blended. If it isn't I continue mixing until it is. Usually I run my stick blender for a good minute in a 200g batch, sometimes more.

 

Once the glaze is mixed up to a smooth thick consistency I put the lid on and let the the glaze sit over night, I find that the glaze will thicken over night as the clay absorbs the water. It is too thick to use at this point. The next day I get some water and the stick blender and I start adding water and blending it as I add the water slowly. Eventually I will get the glaze to the consistency I think is right for the test dip. I usually still leave it slightly thicker. A lot of the times I will test multiple thicknesses with a single dip on multiple tiles, because that is usually how you dip pieces. So I will dip the tile in a pretty thick glaze mix for 3 seconds. Then I will thin the glaze slightly more with a little more water, and dip a different tile. Continue until the glaze is what most would consider a normal dipping consistency, I go with what Neil says, a chocolate milk consistency. So sometimes I will have 2-4 tiles of the same glaze all dipped for 3 seconds with different thicknesses. You could measure the SG's of each consistency at this step, but if you hate the glaze you just spent a lot of time measuring SG's that you might not even use. 

 

I then fire those tiles. If I like the results of one of the tiles enough I will glaze the inside and outside of a small cup that fits in the 200g batch container. Depending on which application you liked the most, thickest or thinnest you can hold the piece in longer to sort of get the same results. Fire this 2nd piece. 

 

If you like the results of the 2nd piece then make a batch large enough to dip a full mug or small bottle. Somewhere around 1500g depending on the glaze, let sit overnight and add water next day.

 

Mix to the consistency that you liked, but leave it on the slightly thicker side. Measure SG. Glaze and fire a pot. After this you can compare this result to the tiles and 1st cup you fired, thin to the consistency you think you need. Measure SG, glaze pot, fire pot. If happy, note SG on the bucket and your good to go for the rest of your life with this glaze. You know the SG it should be for a production batch and you can manipulate it in the bucket to get the SG you need if the glaze changes over time in the bucket. 

 

I don't do any of this anymore since I spray all my glazes now, but this is how I used to do it. I found just adding water until it a set SG was hit caused a lot of problems for me. Also SG varies immensely for each glaze depending on the clay in the recipe. So just picking some random SG to shoot for didn't really work well for me. That is why fired so many test before I started measuring SG. Because I didn't want to just think the SG was right the first time, and mix a large batch and it be too watery or something. 

 

I don't know if this is a complicated way to do things or not, but when you just mix a glaze to an ideal consistency the first time you could be missing a lot of great information about a thick application of that glaze on a tile. Maybe it has bubbles suspended in the glaze that you might want on a piece. Maybe in a thick application it forms spots or drips in a really pretty manner. Maybe it becomes glossier. Maybe it becomes opaque. Who knows!, but it is interesting to see the differences when making a new glaze of all the different thicknesses. If your already going through the trouble to test a glaze, at least test it in as many ways as you can quickly test.

 

Some people might say to just dip the thin glaze multiple times, but I find that sometimes that can be different than a big juicy dip for 3 seconds. 

 

Anyways. Just my two cents. The reading of this method is probably longer than the actual method itself. 

 

Also, if you have different firing profiles. It is worth glazing double the set of tiles and then firing the second in your slow cooling profile later, glazes can be drastically different between slow cool and fast cool.

[glazenerd]

Too bad you guys and gals won't be around Saturday in St. Louis for the Stephen Hill glazing course. I will be passing out a few samples of Nerd's Glaze Suspend. I am not attending, just going over for lunch.

 

Ron:

You have already done the hard part in mixing your own glazes: you dove in.

[Min]

Please correct me if I'm wrong but I think this is Ron's very first glaze mix. Just trying to give a ballpark idea of how much water to add and if he added too much. I think you get a feel for how much water to use after doing testing for a while. 

[Guest]

Yup, first batch mix Min

 

Good info Joesph, I'm going to have to read it a few times to absorb it all. Thanks.

[Joseph Fireborn]

 I'm going to have to read it a few times to absorb it all. Thanks.

 

I might have made it more complicated then it seems.

 

For each glaze test. Make 2-3 tiles. Then as your mixing the glaze, get it to a thick consistency, but not as thick as a brushing glaze. Then dip a tile. Then water it down a bit and mix it, dip another tile. Repeat until its chocolate milk consistency. Fire all the tiles and compare!

 

Then if you like any of those you know the consistency to shoot for the next test, which should be on a larger piece so you can see if you really like the glaze when its covering more of an actual pot. Once you figure out the thickness you like and you want to use the glaze, mix up a new small bucket to the consistency right before what you think you want. Measure SG and dip a tile/pot and fire. Compare to what you want, if too thick water down, repeat process until you know the exact SG. Then you have everything you need about that glaze in the future. 

 

It is a few extra firings, but I wouldn't ever recommend going from a tile to a production batch without testing the glaze a few more times. This will lead to a lot of frustration.

 

Congrats on mixing your first glazes. Welcome to the club of cheap glazes. It is astounding how expensive commercial glazes are once you go to mixing your own.

[Guest]

Thanks again Joseph, and yes, I've noticed the price difference.

[Guest]

Well my kiln is loaded and ready. Tomorrow I'll be glaze firing some pots along with 5 test glaze tiles (ok 6 if you count the one I know I goofed up). Keeping my fingers crossed. (I'm excited, can't you tell)

[Joseph Fireborn]

Well my kiln is loaded and ready. Tomorrow I'll be glaze firing some pots along with 5 test glaze tiles (ok 6 if you count the one I know I goofed up). Keeping my fingers crossed. (I'm excited, can't you tell)

 

 

Wooo! it is really exciting to start doing this. Enjoy the fun. 

[Magnolia Mud Research]

My bet is on  the (... one I know I goofed up).  

 

LT

[oldlady]

congrats on getting this far.  can't wait to see the results.  do not forget that the pieces may come out beautifully, so do not set your expectations too high and be disappointed if they do not match the ideal in your mind's eye.

[Guest]

so do not set your expectations too high and be disappointed if they do not match the ideal in your mind's eye.

 

Sage advice, if it comes out green instead of blue it may even be a happy surprise

[ZAN Ceramics]

One way to simplify making glazes for a beginner is to start out by formulating two "base glazes" starting with a white glaze and one that you have tested and that you like in a matte (maybe a satin matte) and in a gloss surface. The ingredients in the base glaze should add up to 100. There are many good recipes for these and the ingredients for the base glaze would be the only materials you may need for this "starter" kit. Be sure you buy small amounts of ingredients to start out and then test them by making a small amount of each and firing them on the clay(s)  that you will be using and firing in the kiln/firing schedule you will be using. Once you are happy with how the test tiles turn out for the base glaze "finishes", you will be ready for the next step, to customize the colors that you want.

 

Then you can buy Mason stains to color the matte and the gloss glazes. The color possibilities are endless and you may enjoy testing with 2%, 5%, 8% and 10% of the a Mason stain colorant added to the glaze formula. (so this would be in addition to the 100 number for the total ingredients in the base glaze). Mason stains are very stable and so you won't have as many issues with glaze defects that you may have by using metal oxides which have several properties (such as bubbling, crazing or running off the pot) besides color. 

 

This way you can very easily have a bunch of glaze colors in several surface finishes. Then you start experimenting with combining and overlapping the glazes. For instance if you have a glossy dark brown glaze covering a bowl (like a Temmoku) and you add a white matte overlaying it, it will give you an interesting 2-tone looks that is different than both glazes when not combined. Be sure to experiment on the "inside" of a bowl rather than the outside in case the glaze or combination of glazes are too runny and could spoil your kiln shelves. Then after you can see how they behave, you are FREE to have FUN!

[Guest]

Hi Zan, welcome to CAD and thanks for your input.

 

That is what I did,

 

1 white gloss

1 white matte

1 clear

 

Then I couldn't help myself, I made the nutmeg glaze that Joseph F showed me, It had a white matte in there too so it wasn't a big leap.

A blue glaze my wife wanted, which I messed up using the wrong colorant. I'm guessing it might be green instead

Then I redid the blue glaze

 

I've been thinking about mason stains. At Lowe's they have a cement stain that uses synthetic oxides and was wondering if they would work too.

 

Thanks for the tip about the shelf

[ZAN Ceramics]

Hmmmm.... I have never tried any glaze ingredients from the hardware store. I suggest sticking with the tried and true Mason Stains made for ceramics. Here is the link to the site where you can see all the colors, they have ceramic tech support too. http://www.masoncolor.com/ceramic_stains.asp

 

Your favorite ceramics supply store should stack these Mason stains, when you are ready to order. Good luck!

[Guest]

I'm sure you are right

 

Here's one of the products

http://www.homedepot.com/p/NewLook-1-lb-Green-Fade-Resistant-Cement-Color-CC1LB106/203858658?MERCH=REC-_-PIPHorizontal1_rr-_-203814514-_-203858658-_-N

 

According to the SAS

Chemical Name                                 CAS Number    Weight
Chrome (III) Oxide                              1308-38-9        98 – 100%
Chromic Acid & Chromate (as Cr+6) 13530-68-2      < 500 ppm

 

CAS Number 1308-38-9 is Cr2O3

 

[Joseph Fireborn]

Are you going to post your results for us to look at!?

 

I assume your kiln is cooling right now?

 

Also, I agree with LT. 95% chance the one you are not sure about is the best result. This always happens! 

[Guest]

Yes, the kiln is cooling and will open it when I'm back in the studio tomorrow.

 

I can't wait and yes, good or bad, I'll post pictures.

[Guest]

So here is my first foray into mixing glazes

 

#1 Nutmeg/White Matte Joseph F provided me with

#2 White Liner

#3 White Matte

#4 Clear

#5 Floating Blue -  the color was a bit tough to capture until I hand held it by a window

 

I'm pretty happy with this first run. Next up is trying them on a couple of pots and test a couple of more colors.

 

 

In case you are wondering what happened to #6 the goof up, I forgot to place it in the kiln and I'm looking for it in thinking the kiln god took it away from me until I found the darn thing where I keep my glazes .

 

 

[Joseph Fireborn]

I have never used floating blue before, but it looks like it needs a thicker coat. The nutmeg glaze came out pretty decent comparison to that commercial glaze. The whites and stuff look as per usual. 

 

Remember to test them again on a larger pot. I am making little .5# bud vases to test my glazes. They are about 2-3 inches tall and have a lot of different surfaces. 

 

I attached an example. Basically its just a throw away pot but creating them is fun, and they have a lot of surface variety going on to see all the changes of a glaze or two layered together. The rough base catches(hopefully) any runs. 

 

Keep up the good work, welcome to the rabbit hole. Hopefully you don't go to far down. 

[Min]

I have never used floating blue before, but it looks like it needs a thicker coat. The nutmeg glaze came out pretty decent comparison to that commercial glaze. The whites and stuff look as per usual. 

 

Remember to test them again on a larger pot. I am making little .5# bud vases to test my glazes. They are about 2-3 inches tall and have a lot of different surfaces. 

 

I attached an example. Basically its just a throw away pot but creating them is fun, and they have a lot of surface variety going on to see all the changes of a glaze or two layered together. The rough base catches(hopefully) any runs. 

 

Keep up the good work, welcome to the rabbit hole. Hopefully you don't go to far down. 

 

Yes, yes, yes on making larger test pieces before committing real pots. Then craze test those before putting on real pots.

 "welcome to the rabbit hole. Hopefully you don't go to far down" said the man half way to China 

[Callie Beller Diesel]

You may also find that for the clear glaze, you want it thinner than the others. I find somewhere in the 1.3 range is what I've been having good luck with (over a dark clay where bubbles are super obvious). And floating blue does want to be thicker. This is where glaze chemistry starts to move beyond the test tile and onto a real pot.

Congratulations on your experiments!

[High Bridge Pottery]

Test tiles are real pots too

[Guest]

Thanks for the thumbs up everyone.

 

I'm still in the learning stage so all my pots are really tests for throwing and now glazing. Kind of like a 2 for 1 deal