Gray glaze - what to add to base other than a stain?

[2Relaxed]

Can anyone please suggest glaze colorants that will make a base glaze gray in ^6 oxidation fire?

I've tested Campana Gray before, with copper, cobalt and manganese. Are there any other combos I could try?

[Bill Kielb]

Try searching Glazy.org for gray glazes and capture their colorant additions for trial.

[Sorcery]

I came across a nice (to me) grey messing with a chrome tin pink on Glazy. I used a stain which was mostly chrome and tin (and a waste) so you can probably get it without it, of you have chrome and tin.

Sorce

[dhPotter]

Use you white glaze and add small increments of Mason stain 6600. I use 0.3% added to my white to get a very nice light gray liner.

 

[2Relaxed]

45 minutes ago, Sorcery said:

I came across a nice (to me) grey messing with a chrome tin pink on Glazy. I used a stain which was mostly chrome and tin (and a waste) so you can probably get it without it, of you have chrome and tin.

Sorce

Interesting. I'm fascinated by the chrome flashing the tinned glazes (when removed from the formula and fired on a test tile beside the glazed piece), it's on my list to try but really can't imagine grey coming out of this combo? But I still know next to nothing about glaze chemistry, so.... 

[2Relaxed]

35 minutes ago, dhPotter said:

Use you white glaze and add small increments of Mason stain 6600. I use 0.3% added to my white to get a very nice light gray liner.

 

I guess I should have mentioned that I look for a transparent/translucent glaze! But thanks for the tip, I love gray so much that will try adding the stain to white, too!

[2Relaxed]

2 hours ago, Bill Kielb said:

Try searching Glazy.org for gray glazes and capture their colorant additions for trial.

Yeah, I've done that. Nothing too promising...

[Min]

I'ld add nickel to the list of colourants to test. 

Have a look through the Mason Reference Guide at what oxides are in their stains, 2 of the 3 grays have nickel as do a couple of the blacks. Chrome could be useful too, just need a tiny bit of it, too much and you'll likely get the ugliest green you've ever seen.

[2Relaxed]

@Min - okay, thanks! I think I bought nickel oxide recently, gotta check my stash.

[liambesaw]

Chrome tin pinks will go kind of grayish tan when you add zinc to the glaze, I wouldn't call it gray though.

[oldlady]

you might try asking one of our members, Mea Rhee, who uses several lovely gray glazes on her work.  look for good elephant pottery online.

[Harold Roberts]

Iron chromemate  sometimes can produce semi transparent gray but it is fairly toxic.

[GEP]

One of my gray glazes is made with Black Mason Stain 6600, less than 1% in a base glaze that is a mostly opaque satin matte white.

But since than question is “other than a stain,” my other gray glaze is 0.1% Black Nickel Oxide, 0.1% Cobalt Carb, and 4% Tin Oxide, in a transparent glass base. It is semi-transparent and works best on a white clay background. 

[kristinanoel]

7 hours ago, Harold Roberts said:

Iron chromemate  sometimes can produce semi transparent gray but it is fairly toxic.

Hiya - what do you mean by "fairly", and when is it a problem?

I inherited a random stash of ingredients, and never knew what to do with Iron Chromate. 

• Is it problematic as dust, so during the measuring/mixing?
• During actual glazing, through skin exposure to wet glaze? 
• As fumes during firing - inhalation?
• Or will it leach post firing, even when it's encased in a stable glaze?

any info/sources much appreciated!

 

[Harold Roberts]

Iron chromemate is poisonous and soluble so you must use rubber gloves and a mask when using it which is a good idea when using most ingredients in the pot shop. I think in a stable glaze it is safe.

[Bill Kielb]

17 hours ago, kristinanoel said:

I inherited a random stash of ingredients, and never knew what to do with Iron Chromate. 

•  

Sounds like take it to the hazardous waste dump is the answer. It is significantly hazardous and speculating just how much is usually a giant mistake. This includes speculating about encapsulation which leads to speculating about durability which is the result of speculating how things will be used  by others in the future.

[kristinanoel]

Thanks for the info! Much appreciated. 

[Mark C.]

On 11/24/2020 at 5:57 AM, GEP said:

One of my gray glazes is made with Black Mason Stain 6600, less than 1% in a base glaze that is a mostly opaque satin matte white.

But since than question is “other than a stain,” my other gray glaze is 0.1% Black Nickel Oxide, 0.1% Cobalt Carb, and 4% Tin Oxide, in a transparent glass base. It is semi-transparent and works best on a white clay background. 

I also use that 6600 mason stain for my shark fish grey color on fish wall art with a thin clear over it.Cone 10 but cone 6 would yield say results

[2Relaxed]

On 11/24/2020 at 5:57 AM, GEP said:

One of my gray glazes is made with Black Mason Stain 6600, less than 1% in a base glaze that is a mostly opaque satin matte white.

But since than question is “other than a stain,” my other gray glaze is 0.1% Black Nickel Oxide, 0.1% Cobalt Carb, and 4% Tin Oxide, in a transparent glass base. It is semi-transparent and works best on a white clay background. 

Perfect, thank you!  Interesting that even with Tin Oxide the glaze is semi-transparent!

[Callie Beller Diesel]

Tin in small amounts can be used to clarify a glaze. It doesn't begin to opacify things until you get into the 7-10% range. Lots of cone 10 celadons will have a percent or two of tin to help clear them up.

 

[CactusPots]

I use a light dusting of wood ash on shino glazes for a nice mat grey.  Never tried it on others, like maybe a mat white.  Worth a test, in my opinion.

[2Relaxed]

8 hours ago, Callie Beller Diesel said:

Tin in small amounts can be used to clarify a glaze. It doesn't begin to opacify things until you get into the 7-10% range. Lots of cone 10 celadons will have a percent or two of tin to help clear them up.

 

Good to know! 

[2Relaxed]

3 hours ago, CactusPots said:

I use a light dusting of wood ash on shino glazes for a nice mat grey.  Never tried it on others, like maybe a mat white.  Worth a test, in my opinion.

Hmmm, interesting. I've recently got my hands on some wood ash. So what color is the glaze without wood ash?

[CactusPots]

9 hours ago, 2Relaxed said:

Hmmm, interesting. I've recently got my hands on some wood ash. So what color is the glaze without wood ash?

This is on B's Shino cone 10 reduction.  This shino by itself is anywhere from a creamy white to a deep orange, as you can see on the right side of the pot.  The left side of the pot was covered with a light dusting of wood ash.  I don't know how this technique would work on other glazes or types of firing. It would be difficult to make it super uniform, I'd think.  

[2Relaxed]

@CactusPots That looks really cool!