James Freeman on wed 27 jan 10
..
On Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 2:33 AM, Paul Borian wrote=
:
>
> anyway, i put some of the handles on using the "magic" water with a few
> tablespoons of sodium silicate and a teaspoon or so of soda ash added to =
a
> gallon of water.
> Two questions about this mix: since it is so much more fluid than slip, i=
t
> immediately drips down the pots and covers sections of the clay other tha=
n
> just where the handles stick on. Could this cause those parts of the
> bisqued pots to be harder to glaze? i am thinking it could melt a bit ove=
r
> the ware and seal off the surface in the bisque kiln. Anyone know?
>
> Also, there are a number of cats living in my garage studio, a family plu=
s
> a couple drifters, and they all prefer to drink from my clay buckets rath=
er
> than the water i put out for them, and they especially like the water fro=
m
> my throwing bucket. That bucket will eventually get some of the magic wat=
er
> in it, just small amounts but does anyone know if the sodium silicate cou=
ld
> be bad for the cats?
>
Paul...
I use undiluted 37% sodium silicate solution on pots quite frequently,
leaving a fairly thick film of it right on the surface (see the crackled
wood-fired jar on my flickr page). Even in this concentration, there is no
discernible effect on glaze application, nor anything else. If the silicat=
e
drips down the pot unnoticed and dries there, one can sometimes see and fee=
l
a slightly raised area of bisque where the drip was. Glaze covers this jus=
t
fine when it does happen. With your extremely dilute mixture, I highly
doubt you will see any effects, adverse or otherwise.
Sodium silicate is fairly nasty when ingested. Here is a link to an MSDS:
http://www.pqcorp.com/msds/n_sodium_silicate.pdf . You will notice under
first aid that the recommended course of action is to drink a cup of water
to dilute the silicate. Since your silicate is already tremendously dilute=
d
in your magic water, and since only a tiny amount of this magic water will
again be further diluted in your slop bucket, I doubt there will be enough
left to cause a problem. Likewise with the soda ash:
http://incleso.com/docs/Soda_Ash_MSDS.pdf . We should perhaps recall the
famed words of Paracelsus, "All things are poison and nothing is without
poison, only the dose permits something not to be poisonous.", or as it is
often abbreviated, "the dose makes the poison". I might suggest an
experiment, but the cat lovers would scream at me! If you are really
worried, why not keep an old plate atop your slop bucket when not in use, o=
r
use a different bucket for your handle pulling, then toss out that water?
Have fun.
...James
James Freeman
"All I say is by way of discourse, and nothing by way of advice. I should
not speak so boldly if it were my due to be believed."
-Michel de Montaigne
http://www.jamesfreemanstudio.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesfreemanstudio/
http://www.jamesfreemanstudio.com/clayart/
Jeff Gieringer on wed 27 jan 10
..
Paul,
My "studio cat" also would rather drink from the clay buckets than her
clean drinking bowl. I don't know what the attraction is unless it's the
minerals in the clay or something. The dog is the same way. I agree with
James about the magic water though. I don't think it would be real healthy
for them. I would keep them away from any buckets that may have it in them=
.
Just a side note, went in the studio this morning and four of my quiche
plates had these lovely little paw prints across the inside of each where
she had walked across all four of them. These were on the very top shelf
too. Aren't studio cats grand at times?
Jeff Gieringer
Berea, Kentucky
> On Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 2:33 AM, Paul Borian
> wrote:
>
>>
>> anyway, i put some of the handles on using the "magic" water with a few
>> tablespoons of sodium silicate and a teaspoon or so of soda ash added to
>> a
>> gallon of water.
>> Two questions about this mix: since it is so much more fluid than slip,
>> it
>> immediately drips down the pots and covers sections of the clay other
>> than
>> just where the handles stick on. Could this cause those parts of the
>> bisqued pots to be harder to glaze? i am thinking it could melt a bit
>> over
>> the ware and seal off the surface in the bisque kiln. Anyone know?
>>
>> Also, there are a number of cats living in my garage studio, a family
>> plus
>> a couple drifters, and they all prefer to drink from my clay buckets
>> rather
>> than the water i put out for them, and they especially like the water
>> from
>> my throwing bucket. That bucket will eventually get some of the magic
>> water
>> in it, just small amounts but does anyone know if the sodium silicate
>> could
>> be bad for the cats?
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