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How much dry material to buy


Claythrow

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Hello all,

 

I'm in the northeastern USA and I've been throwing on the wheel for some time but only ever had access to a low fire kiln. The clay and glazes I could use for that weren't very attractive or durable (at least at the time).

I just got mildly used Kiln that can do cone 6 and have been throwing up a storm.  The interior dimensions of the kiln are 17"W x 22"H

I've read some articles and found some glazes I would like to try...so it's time to buy dry glaze material and I have a list but I'm not sure how much to buy.  And places like the ceramic  shop  often don't list the quantity or units y ou are buying?  I don't need to buy tons of the stuff but I would like enough to glaze 5 kiln loads or so.

Can anyone look at this list and give me a ballpark of how much I want?  If you see anything important I'm lacking or something that should be a diff mesh that would be helpful too.  Should I pick up some mason stains as well or is what I have here sufficient to get my feet wet?  TIA

 

Nepheline syenite 270 mesh

Calcium Carbonate 325 mesh

Frit 3134

EPK (Kaolin)

Silica

Titanium Dioxide

Cobalt Carbonate

Copper carbonate

Iron oxide (Spanish Red)

Chromium oxide

Tin Oxide

Bentonite 325

 

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Hi Claythrow, Welcome to the Forum!

You might price compare including nearby ceramic supply shops* - shipping costs against your time and travel.
I've found it well worthwhile to stop in to get clay and glaze supplies, particularly wet clay and larger amounts of material, where I save on shipping and get discount price for larger amounts...

If your kiln is rated cone 6 maximum, it may struggle to reach cone 5/6with worn elements. A cone 10 kiln should reach cone 6 for a long while before the elements need replacing.

On materials, If you pick a few recipes, then get what's required?
For quantity, somewhere between enough to mix a batch** and where the price break is.
epk and silica are in everything, I get fifty-pound bags.
The colorants, buy when the price is down. The copper and cobalt will go quicker than the chrome (chrome is powerful - read up on that one).
I've been using rutile for titanium; I don't mind the bit of color that comes with.
Your boron source is frit; you'll be using lots of that. You might end up using a few other frits, depending.
Silica, recommended you don't repeat my mistake! Get the finer mesh, 325
 

*looks like there are several near Worchester
There is a supplier in our town, and within a hundred miles there's a clay company that carries pottery supplies as well.
Clay ends up costing almost double with shipping.

**I do two-gallon buckets. I don't remember how many grams that takes; I'll look and double back later today...

added: 4-5,000 grams more than fills a 2 gallon bucket at ~1.4 specific gravity with room to dip medium wares without overflow.

Last batch I made was 6k grams, ended up with almost two quarts over ...

Edited by Hulk
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