Using Mason Stains in a transparent cone 6 glaze

[Sue Carter]

Hi All. I'm looking to create some transparent glazes to use over a white bodied cone 6 porcelain. I plan to apply it to bisqued pieces and then fire to cone 6. I'd like to start with a store bought transparent clear glaze and just add mason stains to it. I'm planning to use amaco HF 9 zinc free clear, wet not dry. I'm looking for a muted pastel color. To give you a visual, I found this picture online http://cone6pots.ning.com/photo/stains-in-a-cone-low-expansion-transparent-glaze?commentId=2103784:Comment:70497&xg_source=activity I like the tiles labeled 6139, 6364, 6020 and 6007. I know the amount of stain you need to add varies depending on how strong the color is; like cobalt blue versus yellow. But, I'd love some advice on a nice general starting point, I'd like to err on the light side and then add more stain as needed.

 

So ... My question:

 

If you had a cup of clear glaze and wanted to add mason stain to it to get a pastel shade similar to the referenced photo, how much stain would you start with, a teaspoon, a tablespoon???

 

Thx so much for your help!

Sue

[Benzine]

A lot of people here are going to recommend you, "Test, test, test", and I'll agree. There's really no way to know how a glaze mixture will turn out, unless you make some test tiles.

 

Also, if you are not aware, stains can change color when mixed with clear, or even if clear is applied over the top. I've used a black iron oxide stain, that gave a nice, tarnished black, aged look, with hints of a rust color to low fire white clay. But when clear was applied over the top, it turned dark green.

[Min]

Hi Sue, I've never added stains to a commercial wet glaze but if I did I would probably do it like this-

 

Use a scale and weigh out 100 grams of wet glaze, assume that the premixed wet glaze is 50% water by weight. If you are going by Tony Hansen's percentages of stains, from your link, then just add 1/2 that amount by weight per 100 grams wet glaze. I think this will get you in the ballpark, then adjust from there the stain amounts to work with your glaze, hopefully they are all compatable. I would not measure by tsp for the stains or cups for the glaze, weighing is more accurate, especially for the small amount of stains you will be working with.

 

Min

[Sue Carter]

Hi Sue, I've never added stains to a commercial wet glaze but if I did I would probably do it like this-

 

Use a scale and weigh out 100 grams of wet glaze, assume that the premixed wet glaze is 50% water by weight. If you are going by Tony Hansen's percentages of stains, from your link, then just add 1/2 that amount by weight per 100 grams wet glaze. I think this will get you in the ballpark, then adjust from there the stain amounts to work with your glaze, hopefully they are all compatable. I would not measure by tsp for the stains or cups for the glaze, weighing is more accurate, especially for the small amount of stains you will be working with.

 

Min

 

 

Thx Min. That's a huge help!