Valerie on tue 28 jan 97
Greetings from N'zerekore, in the Guinean forest (Guinea - Conakry).
Several months ago, my family and I came here from East Africa, and I am now
beginning work with a group of ten women, village potters, helping them
build an improved, bonfire kiln. I will assist them in improving their
water pots, giving these additional strength, so they do not break on the
way to the market. And I will help them diversify into production of stove
linings as well as silver-impregnated, earthenware water filters.
An immediate experiment I want to undertake is the production of a frit, for
use as a glaze on stoneware. Because there is no feldspar here, and no
other apparent sources of flux, I want to make a frit using the local
kaolin, sand, and salt. My question is: can anyone think of a good reason
for not making this kind of frit in an electric test kiln? Could I expect
damage to my refractories or electrical elements?
I am anxious to share more details and information with the list, but cannot
sign on, since my access to Conakry entails a phone call at US$0.65 per
minute. Please respond to me directly at: attic@attic.org.gn
Thanks.
Reid Harvey
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Thank you - The First Email User's in N'Zerekore, Guinea.
Louis Katz on wed 29 jan 97
Copied to both attic@attic.org.gn and clayart@lsv.uky.edu
Yes, Salt fumes will damage your electric kiln.
Soda frit might work good in combination with limestone, but better
might be to make use of bottle glass as the frit.
There was a frit making project in Nepal a few years back, and I can't
remember the name of the guy who did it. Just slips my mind. They made
frit using Borax .
Here is a glaze I helped Nikom with in Thailand. The wood ash is some
tropical hardwood that is realtively high in Alkali fluxes.
Glaze name: Nikom Altered 1
Cone: 2 3 4 5 6
Recipe: Percent Batch
container Glass 40.97 43.3
Wood Ash 24.41 25.8
Dankwean Red Clay 7.03 7.4
Kaolin 8.09 8.5
Whiting 0.56 0.6
Silica 18.94 20.0
Totals: 100.00 % 105.6 gm
Possible Health Hazards:
Wood Ash: caustic-avoid contact with skin or eyes
Silica: free silica-wear a NIOSH approved dust mask when handling dry
material
Unity Formula for Nikom Altered 1:
0.160 K2OJ 0.122 Al2O3 1.985 SiO2J
0.122 Na2O 0.006 Fe2O3 0.002 TiO2J
0.590 CaOJ 0.013 P2O5J 16.3:1 Si:Al Ratio
0.128 MgOJ
Percentage Analysis:
60.97 % SiO2
6.34 % Al2O3
7.72 % K2O
3.89 % Na2O
16.93 % CaO
2.66 % MgO
0.51 % Fe2O3
0.92 % P2O5
0.10 % TiO2
Good luck
--
Louis Katz lkatz@falcon.tamucc.edu
Texas A&M University Corpus Christi
6300 Ocean
CCTX 78412
(512) 994-5987
http://www.tamucc.edu/~lkatz
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