Vik Posted February 27 Report Share Posted February 27 Hi everyone! I'm currently in the process of learning how to glaze while working in a pottery studio, and I've received some great advice from this forum in the past. I really appreciate everyone's insights and kindness! I have a question regarding our studio's glaze mixing process. We use pre-packaged 10lbs bags of dry glaze, mixed with a 1:1 ratio of water and glaze. Currently, my process involves using two buckets: one with 10lbs of water, into which I pour the dry glaze (while wearing proper PPE equipment). I then mix it, sift it through a fine mesh sieve into a new bucket, mix it again, sift it again, mix it once more, and finally sift it into the original bucket of low glaze before mixing again. I'm wondering if it's possible to streamline this process by adding the 10lbs of water directly into the original bucket of low glaze and starting the mixing and sifting process from there. I hope this explanation makes sense, and I would greatly appreciate any insights or advice on this matter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Min Posted February 27 Report Share Posted February 27 5 hours ago, Vik said: I'm wondering if it's possible to streamline this process by adding the 10lbs of water directly into the original bucket of low glaze and starting the mixing and sifting process from there. Yes. Most glazes are just fine with running through an 80 mesh screen once, some run it through twice. I hold a bit of the water back to rinse the sieve out at the end of sieving to try and get as much out of it as possible. Pres and Callie Beller Diesel 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly in AK Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 A thought I’ll share: As soon as I get the powder into the water bucket I put the lid on and go do something else for a while. It lets things get hydrated before mixing, but mostly I do it to reduce dust in the air. Bill Kielb, Babs, Pres and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rae Reich Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 (edited) Generally, pouring all the water over all the dry can result in a lump of dry stuck to the bottom of the bucket which is a bit harder to mix in - @Kelly in AK’s solution is another instance of patience doing the work while we do something else. Edited February 28 by Rae Reich Kelly in AK and Hulk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Bridge Pottery Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 No reason you can't put the water into the old glaze bucket to start with. I agree with sieving once unless you have a specific reason for doing that. Rae Reich, Babs, Pres and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callie Beller Diesel Posted February 29 Report Share Posted February 29 While I add dry ingredients directly to my old batch at my personal studio all the time with no ill effects, if you’re in a teaching studio, you might want to mix the new batch separate and test it to verify everything went as expected before adding it to the old batch. And depending on how well the studio members/students are mixing the batches, you might want to let it run out as far as possible before adding new. If incomplete mixing is a habit, it can mess with the glaze. Rae Reich and Kelly in AK 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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