Dinah Snipes Steveni on tue 12 oct 10
I've just looked out my ash glaze recipe which I began to use in 1994. I th=
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ink it's from Cooper's Book of Glaze Recipes, but I had a quick shufti thro=
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ugh and can't spot it. Perhaps one of you sharp-eyed ash aficionados can gi=
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ve me chapter, line and verse on it?=3D20
I've got some cryptic notes in my journal from that period next to ash glaz=
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e, saying I've done conversion to grams because the electronic read out was=
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too dim to read the oz scale. God knows what that means. But the important=
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thing is I make this recipe to this day and it works whether you use oz or=
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grammes. I x20 the following numbers for a useful amount in a 5 gal. bucke=
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t for dipping and pouring. I don't spray anymore. No longer have the pressu=
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re of stack 'em high, sell 'em cheap. My original ash was hawthorn from a =
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farmer over in Welford nearby me in Stratford-upon-Avon. Then, when that ra=
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n out I used willow the following year as I spotted a pile of willow being =
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burnt when I was on a Ramblers hike and asked permission to come back when =
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ash cooled and please would they not toss soil onto the coals which they su=
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rprisingly agreed to! Willow traditionally planted adjacent to streams/rive=
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rs to help keep the wetness under control as willow's a greedy feeder. Good=
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tip for you homesteaders on a burn/stream/creek. Back in the USA I've used=
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fireplace ash of a mongrel sort. I also tried coal ash in the UK, smokeles=
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s fuel for our little tiny early Victorian fireplaces, but not pleased wit=
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h initial results which I think were on David Leach porcelain body and very=
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strange results, so I abandoned that thread. I know that some Real Ash gur=
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us will be posting the merits of bamboo harvested in the spring vs merits h=
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arvested in the autumn, and rice husks, and so forth. All quite valid and w=
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ell worth a Ceramics & Glass MA at Alfred U. or Wolverhampton Poly, or Univ=
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ersity of Central England. :)
Ash Glaze Steveni
Soda feldspar 104
Wood ash 58.1
Standard Borax Frit (aka F3134) 28
Dolomite 70
Ball Clay 42
Redart clay 35
Tin Ox. 10
Bentonite 3
Add raw materials to a large bucket nearly 1/2 filled with water, [NOTE: ad=
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d bentonite to the ball clay, fold in then add to the bucket] then sieve a =
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couple of times. Let contents slake overnight. Siphon off excess water at t=
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he top. Use studio hand whirrer to disperse bentonite which may have formed=
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islands if you've not been able to mix it in adequately. If you use raw ma=
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terials you know what to do. These extra notes are for those of you out the=
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re curious about making your own glazes and breaking the shackles of commer=
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cial glazes which rather do scream "commercial surface" to those of us who =
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make our own glazes. Sorry and slightly elitist, but it's a given.=3D20
Dinah=3D20
http://www.dinahsnipessteveni.com
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