QotW: When it comes to glazing, are you a User, Mixer, Re-formulator, or a true Formulator?

[Pres]

Hi folks, no new questions in the pool, so I'll pose another.

Over the years, I have evolved in my use of glazes. In the beginning, college years, I was a user of glazes in the studio. I used what was there, and learned how to combine/overlap/decorate with what was mixed. When I graduated and got the job at the HS in Altoona, I did much the same. Ceramics had been started by another teacher using an old electric kiln and buying clay and glazes from Amaco firing at ^06. Its what he knew. Over the next few years I took over the classes, and started building a program by developing a better list of suppliers than the one the district used for all things, and buying better materials at better prices and moving to ^6. We still used Amaco liquid glazes, but  on SC clays. Then I realized that I could get the glazes cheaper if I bought bulk and dry as the shipping also came out of our budgets. I searched for a year and found Minnesota clay, and A. R. T.. I purchased some glazes that seemed to be good fits and started to build up a selection of glazes that would replace the old amaco liquid and dry. I had moved from being a user to a mixer.

This worked for quite a few years, and then they froze our budgets for several years, using up my inventory, and making the budget very tight all around. So I moved on putting all of the glaze budget into materials after reading M^6 several times That and other things made me a me more of a raw mixer. Mixing up the  chemical compounds with the addition of some additives to have 2 & 5 gallon buckets of glaze for the students. This usually was 15-20 glazes for the class, along with some commercial underglazes. As time went on though, I have become more of a re-formulator where I use existing recipes of glazes, and modify them for either color or surface by manipulating the raw compounds within the glazes by changing the clays, fluxes opacifiers and other oxides. I still start with a base recipe, put it into a glaze program to tweak the glaze, do testing, and go from there. Glazes at home now are around 6-7 in number, with the use of oxide washes as inglaze.

QotW: When it comes to glazing, are you a User, Mixer, Re-formulator, or a true Formulator?    Please excuse my choice of terminology, but I am trying to keep terms simple.

 

best,

Pres

[Bill Kielb]

I think all the above actually. In the beginning premixed production style glazes till one gets tired of paying for water, then mixing dry, then frustration with fit and finish led to learning about mixing which led  to more glaze research which led to the realization raw materials are cheap which led to corrections which led to develop your own. Ultimately it led to never wanting to go back to premixed production style glazes. So now for me correct as needed, design when there is a need. Test / experiment as inspired.

Edited January 30, 2022 by Bill Kielb

[Min]

I'm definitely and firmly in the modify / tweak / alter or start from scratch camp as far as glazes go. It's a bit like how I cook, recipes are okay but knowing what the ingredients do then tweaking or substituting them to get the results you are looking for is what I prefer to do. I think part of this comes down to a couple things, firstly if you are one of those people who needs to know the why of things and secondly for economic reasons it makes sense for me to formulate and mix my own glazes. I enjoy glaze formulation, to me it's like doing a crossword puzzle, lots of fun. 

[GEP]

I’m a re-formulator.

[Roberta12]

started out as a user, then a mixer, and then wanted to have more control over what I was putting on my clay and knowing the ingredients I became a "recipe follower" and now, dip my toe (or pot as it were)   into reformulating.  I think this might be the year I learn more about glaze software.....

 

[Mark C.]

Most of my life in clay I have been  a start from scratch camp as far as glazes go. I have also been a re-formulator to some extent as well to others recipes .

I guess if I recall back in high school I used what they had for a less than a  year (low fire) then same deal in 1st quarter at a JC  (high fire) but it was during the next quarter I make my own scale (balance beam) and started making my own from that point on within a year I had a glaze calc class at Humboldt State (just changed their name last week To: Cal Poly Humboldt-big news for or small community here) its only the 3rd Cal Poly in state now

Never looked back-of course most of that is lost in my brain these days-I have more ideas than time these days

I got lazy a few decades ago and have Laguna clay make my rutile base  by the ton in 50# bags-I make about 14 other working glazes year around.That glaze is one of my most popular glazes with customers -not with me but I'm ok with that.

I have an order in right now with them for more glaze.

I just got the quote -it used to be $45 a 50# bag now its $72 a bag-just like everything these days its costs more.

 

 

Edited February 1, 2022 by Mark C.

[Callie Beller Diesel]

I was initially taught to use other people’s recipes, and was given vague information about what the ingredients and their components did. Even in high school my art teacher mixed glazes from other people’s recipes, so I figured that was the only way people did it. I didn’t even realize you could buy premade stuff for a long time! That said, I did buy my clear base as dry mix for a few years there, because the recipe was open source and I could tweak it if I needed, and because it fit my chosen clay body very, very well. They discontinued it because a couple of ingredients were harder to get, so now I’m reformulating to try and find something with the same fit and colour response. I’m not moving really fast on the project, but it is underway.

But yeah, everything that Min said. I like knowing how things work. Some people do sudoku, some of us poke around to solve chemistry problems in Glazy for fun on a Saturday afternoon. I like knowing how the pieces fit together, and that glazes are a really funky combination of mineralogy, physics, and 2 or more kinds of chemistry.

[LeeU]

I can't /don't want to do production/retail and took a 30 year detour from my original ceramics education/experience/intentions (returned to clay  after retirement & installed a small studio in my trailer) so I am essentially just a member of the audience  on this site. I enjoy what I get from reading what others have to say. Most of my real ceramics work was "back in the day" except for a brief foray, courtesy of John Baymore, into anagama firing, which was a major thrill & lots of learning, plus did some raku courtesy of Andy Hampton. (also NH), and have some placements in local small shops.  Today I only use commercial bodies & glazes. The modest sales I had going have mostly dried up due to how the pandemic hit the rural small independent shops near me. (I rarely do shows/fairs). All that aside, when I was truly into it, I loved mixing/formulating glazes "from scratch", learning the chemistry/dry & raw materials,  as well as tweaking recipes from some of the core masters in the field. Due to some cognitive issues I couldn't do the science/chemistry/math now even if I had the motivation-even effective "work arounds" are just too exhausting these days (I'll take some aged cheese with that whine, thank you very much). I've done some experimenting with the commercial glazes in my electric kiln but haven't come up with anything particularly interesting/meaningful, like some on here have done (think Joseph Fireborn).  I have been poking around with multi-refires for my Hidden Mask series, which I need to get on with.

Edited January 31, 2022 by LeeU

[Hulk]

Mixer, then some re-formulating later on.

Once decided on putting together a home studio, acquiring material and tools for glaze mixing won out over prepared glazes, several reasons - cost per unit and formula control being near the top o' that list.

From a stack of recipes - those used by the local JC ceramic lab (thanks to my instructor for access to the notebook!!) and several dozen from books - I chose some to try; the rest, that's history, and the present reality as well. My suggestion for that moment would be to choose fewer to start with, ooh well.

Several of those first experiments are in my regular rotation today, coming up on four years later.

Adjusting recipes came up on account of liner glaze crazing. I tried a few different recipes, then narrowed in on adjusting one to fit, abandoned that choice, chose another, and tweaked it down to fit over several iterations. I had some help with and encouragement in the first steps into re-formulating.

I may never try to invent a new glaze.