Orion/Baker on thu 15 jan 98
When I started making my own glazes I zealously sieved every batch, not
once but often twice or more, because I'd been taught this was essential
for blending its constituents properly. I used a 150 mesh screen in a big
Talisman sieve, and wore out more than one set of brushes, grinding,
grinding, grinding. I'd been taught that laborious sieving was an
absolutely essential step that must never, NEVER be skipped.
Occasionally I would find a bug, bit of rust, small piece of pebble, or
other weird debris that might have caused a "surprise" or two in a glaze
finish -- and I'd feel that all that sieving was worthwhile. The big
question I used to regularly face was the matter of "what should I do with
all the "good" particles that are simply too coarse to pass through?" (you
know, that little bit of slurry -- rods of silica, probably -- that always
seemed to be left over). At first I threw the slurry out -- not thinking
about how I might be short-sheeting the recipe. Later, I would stop, dry
the slurry and pulverize it with a mortar and pestle, and add it back to
the bucket. The next step was switching to a 100 mesh screen.
Then, finally -- it dawned on me that I had probably been straining a lot
of the character out of many of my glazes for a terribly long time, and I
began to experiment with using (a) very coarse sieves and/or (b) mechanical
turbo-mixers (like a Braun hand mixer and/or drill-mounted paint mixers).
My glazes work just as fine or better than ever, and frankly glaze making
is much more fun than it's ever been.
I still religiously sieve celedons and some liners (whites and clears).
But for the majority of my color glazes, I want to see some character
there!
Enjoy!
Ellen Baker - Glacier, WA
www.telcomplus.com/~orion
Now, depending on the recipe, I often use as coarse a screen as possible --
sometimes none at all, just mixing with the (I still religiously sieve
celedons, finely, twice) I use as coarse a screen as necessary to get the
bugs and bolts out, and actually hope for a little excitement and life to
make it into the glaze. I really don't think homogenosity (is that a
word?) is all that appealing or desirable,
Mark Sweany on fri 16 jan 98
Hi Ellen,
I don't know what quantity of glaze you are working with, but if
you are doing several gallons at a time and it doesn't have to
be perfect, there is an easy and fast way to do it. The paint
stores that deal with commercial painters carry these nylon
strainer bags. They are simply nylon bags, that come in 3 mesh
sizes, that are just the right size to fit down in a 5 gal.
bucket. You put one of the bags in a bucket, mix your material
in another, then pour the material into the bucket with the bag
in it. When you lift the bag out, all the big stuff is in the
bag and you are left with 5 gal. of strained glaze. The finer
meshes clean the stuff up enough it will go through a
conventional sprayer. I have seen some that were 1 gal. size,
but those are harder to find. You can clean the bags up and
reuse them if you want, but the last ones I bought cost 65 cents
each, so I just through them away.
----
Mark Sweany
m_pswean@primenet.com
Orion/Baker wrote:
>snip
> Then, finally -- it dawned on me that I had probably been straining a lot
> of the character out of many of my glazes for a terribly long time, and I
> began to experiment with using (a) very coarse sieves and/or (b) mechanical
> turbo-mixers (like a Braun hand mixer and/or drill-mounted paint mixers).
> My glazes work just as fine or better than ever, and frankly glaze making
> is much more fun than it's ever been.
>snip
> Ellen Baker - Glacier, WA
> www.telcomplus.com/~orion
>
> Now, depending on the recipe, I often use as coarse a screen as possible --
> sometimes none at all, just mixing with the (I still religiously sieve
> celedons, finely, twice) I use as coarse a screen as necessary to get the
> bugs and bolts out, and actually hope for a little excitement and life to
> make it into the glaze. I really don't think homogenosity (is that a
> word?) is all that appealing or desirable,
Vince Pitelka on fri 16 jan 98
>Then, finally -- it dawned on me that I had probably been straining a lot
>of the character out of many of my glazes for a terribly long time, and I
>began to experiment with using (a) very coarse sieves and/or (b) mechanical
>turbo-mixers (like a Braun hand mixer and/or drill-mounted paint mixers).
>My glazes work just as fine or better than ever, and frankly glaze making
>is much more fun than it's ever been.
>I still religiously sieve celedons and some liners (whites and clears).
>But for the majority of my color glazes, I want to see some character
>there!
I agree with Ellen Baker here. Initially I was taught to screen glazes
thoroughly, but long ago I started mixing my glazes VERY thoroughly with a
drill-mounted jiffy mixer, screening them only if there were troublesome
ingredients which need to be broken up mechanically. I do not see the
advantage of homogenizing particle size by forcing the glaze through an 80
to 100 mesh screen.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka - vpitelka@DeKalb.net
Home 615/597-5376, work 615/597-6801, fax 615/597-6803
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
Stephen Mills on sat 17 jan 98
I agree absolutely, IF I sieve I never go finer than 60 for stoneware,
and 100 for earthenware. more often than not I don't sieve stoneware.
Steve
Bath
UK
In message , Vince Pitelka writes
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>>Then, finally -- it dawned on me that I had probably been straining a lot
>>of the character out of many of my glazes for a terribly long time, and I
>>began to experiment with using (a) very coarse sieves and/or (b) mechanical
>>turbo-mixers (like a Braun hand mixer and/or drill-mounted paint mixers).
>>My glazes work just as fine or better than ever, and frankly glaze making
>>is much more fun than it's ever been.
>>I still religiously sieve celedons and some liners (whites and clears).
>>But for the majority of my color glazes, I want to see some character
>>there!
>
>I agree with Ellen Baker here. Initially I was taught to screen glazes
>thoroughly, but long ago I started mixing my glazes VERY thoroughly with a
>drill-mounted jiffy mixer, screening them only if there were troublesome
>ingredients which need to be broken up mechanically. I do not see the
>advantage of homogenizing particle size by forcing the glaze through an 80
>to 100 mesh screen.
>- Vince
>
>Vince Pitelka - vpitelka@DeKalb.net
>Home 615/597-5376, work 615/597-6801, fax 615/597-6803
>Appalachian Center for Crafts
>Tennessee Technological University
>1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
>
--
Steve Mills
Bath
UK
home e-mail: stevemills@mudslinger.demon.co.uk
work e-mail: stevemills@bathpotters.demon.co.uk
Lili Krakowski on thu 22 dec 05
Michael--if one worries about rust then one might consider using big PVC =
pipe...
I use whatever I can cadge from plumbers, and holding the cloth tight =
with hose clamps smear epoxy all around the edge. Once that is set the =
clamps can go.
I have seen some nice sieves made by cutting out the center of a plastic =
bowl and gluing cloth over the hole. This is a bit trickier but works =
fine...
All good wishes
Lili Krakowski
Be of good courage
Patrick Cross on fri 23 dec 05
Y'Know I haven't tried this PVC sieve idea...I guess you're talking about
3-4" diameter pipe sections or larger...but, if I were making one of these
set-ups, rather than using epoxy to hold the screen/cloth I would try just
using the appropriate PVC pipe coupling...dry fitted. I'm talking about th=
e
fitting used to connect two pipes of the same diameter end to end.
Lay the screen over the end of the pipe section(standing on end) then tap
the coupling over that with a soft-face or rubber mallet...sandwiching the
screen in between the two pieces. This way when the screen wears out you
can just rebuild the set up later with the same PVC parts. Also using a
coupling would provide a 1 1/2-2" contained space between the screen and
whatever surface you'd be sieving onto which might cut down on particles
floating around. Hmmmm, guess I'll have to go try this idea out.
Patrick Cross
cone10soda@gmail.com
On 12/22/05, Lili Krakowski wrote:
>
> Michael--if one worries about rust then one might consider using big PVC
> pipe...
>
> I use whatever I can cadge from plumbers, and holding the cloth tight wit=
h
> hose clamps smear epoxy all around the edge. Once that is set the clamps
> can go.
>
> I have seen some nice sieves made by cutting out the center of a plastic
> bowl and gluing cloth over the hole. This is a bit trickier but works
> fine...
>
> All good wishes
>
> Lili Krakowski
>
> Be of good courage
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________________=
_____
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>
Patrick Cross on fri 23 dec 05
I just had one more small thought about making a PVC sieve...It would be
very easy to attach a handle on the side...like a larger screen door handle
maybe.
Also, once material is put in the sieve you could put a PVC end cap on the
other end and vigorously tap and shake the material until it all goes
through. The whole sieve set-up could be a rather tall cylinder...12-14" o=
r
so...and handle a good bit of material at one go.
Patrick Cross
cone10soda@gmail.com
On 12/23/05, Patrick Cross wrote:
>
> Y'Know I haven't tried this PVC sieve idea...I guess you're talking about
> 3-4" diameter pipe sections or larger...but, if I were making one of thes=
e
> set-ups, rather than using epoxy to hold the screen/cloth I would try jus=
t
> using the appropriate PVC pipe coupling...dry fitted. I'm talking about =
the
> fitting used to connect two pipes of the same diameter end to end.
>
> Lay the screen over the end of the pipe section(standing on end) then tap
> the coupling over that with a soft-face or rubber mallet...sandwiching th=
e
> screen in between the two pieces. This way when the screen wears out you
> can just rebuild the set up later with the same PVC parts. Also using a
> coupling would provide a 1 1/2-2" contained space between the screen and
> whatever surface you'd be sieving onto which might cut down on particles
> floating around. Hmmmm, guess I'll have to go try this idea out.
>
> Patrick Cross
> cone10soda@gmail.com
>
>
> On 12/22/05, Lili Krakowski wrote:
> >
> > Michael--if one worries about rust then one might consider using big PV=
C
> > pipe...
> >
> > I use whatever I can cadge from plumbers, and holding the cloth tight
> > with hose clamps smear epoxy all around the edge. Once that is set the
> > clamps can go.
> >
> > I have seen some nice sieves made by cutting out the center of a plasti=
c
> > bowl and gluing cloth over the hole. This is a bit trickier but works
> > fine...
> >
> > All good wishes
> >
> > Lili Krakowski
> >
> > Be of good courage
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________________________________=
_______
> > Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
> >
> > You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> > settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
> >
> > Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> > melpots@pclink.com .
> >
>
>
Steve Mills on tue 27 dec 05
Plastic Sieve making is really easy; heat bonding mesh to pieces of
plastic pipe using an electric frying pan at about 350F with an
interface of foil to stop it sticking to the pan.
I've been making them like that for a long time now, up to 8 ins in
diameter.
A large stainless steel washer helps the material to go through and is
less hard work than brushing, just shake it. The handle idea would help
that a lot!
Steve
Bath
UK
In message , Patrick Cross writes
>I just had one more small thought about making a PVC sieve...It would be
>very easy to attach a handle on the side...like a larger screen door hand=
>le
>maybe.
>
>Also, once material is put in the sieve you could put a PVC end cap on th=
>e
>other end and vigorously tap and shake the material until it all goes
>through. The whole sieve set-up could be a rather tall cylinder...12-14"=
> o=3D
>r
>so...and handle a good bit of material at one go.
>
>Patrick Cross
>cone10soda@gmail.com
>
>
>On 12/23/05, Patrick Cross wrote:
>>
>> Y'Know I haven't tried this PVC sieve idea...I guess you're talking abo=
>ut
>> 3-4" diameter pipe sections or larger...but, if I were making one of th=
>es=3D
>e
>> set-ups, rather than using epoxy to hold the screen/cloth I would try j=
>us=3D
>t
>> using the appropriate PVC pipe coupling...dry fitted. I'm talking abou=
>t =3D
>the
>> fitting used to connect two pipes of the same diameter end to end.
>>
>> Lay the screen over the end of the pipe section(standing on end) then t=
>ap
>> the coupling over that with a soft-face or rubber mallet...sandwiching =
>th=3D
>e
>> screen in between the two pieces. This way when the screen wears out y=
>ou
>> can just rebuild the set up later with the same PVC parts. Also using =
>a
>> coupling would provide a 1 1/2-2" contained space between the screen an=
>d
>> whatever surface you'd be sieving onto which might cut down on particle=
>s
>> floating around. Hmmmm, guess I'll have to go try this idea out.
>>
>> Patrick Cross
>> cone10soda@gmail.com
>>
>>
>> On 12/22/05, Lili Krakowski wrote:
>> >
>> > Michael--if one worries about rust then one might consider using big =
>PV=3D
>C
>> > pipe...
>> >
>> > I use whatever I can cadge from plumbers, and holding the cloth tight
>> > with hose clamps smear epoxy all around the edge. Once that is set t=
>he
>> > clamps can go.
>> >
>> > I have seen some nice sieves made by cutting out the center of a plas=
>ti=3D
>c
>> > bowl and gluing cloth over the hole. This is a bit trickier but work=
>s
>> > fine...
>> >
>> > All good wishes
>> >
>> > Lili Krakowski
>> >
>> > Be of good courage
>> >
>> >
>> > _____________________________________________________________________=
>__=3D
>_______
>> > Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>> >
>> > You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>> > settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>> >
>> > Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
>> > melpots@pclink.com .
>> >
>>
>>
--
Steve Mills
Bath
UK
Geoffrey Barst on wed 28 dec 05
I have made a number of sieves by cutting out the bottom of plastic bowls
& using a trigger activated soldering gun to weld brass mesh in place. The
bowls were chosen for their ability to sit nicely inside the rim of my 5
gallon glaze buckets. I use a plastic floor scrubbing brush to coax glaze
through quickly.
Linda Mccaleb on fri 4 sep 09
=3DA0 Hello ClayFolk,=3D0A=3DA0 Does any one know the web site that is Cana=
dian, =3D
It has pottery tools and odds and ends. It also has sieves 60-80 and 100 me=
=3D
sh all three for 39 dollars. I lost the catalog and I need the sieves. Can =
=3D
anyone help me?=3D0A=3DA0 Thank you,=3D0A=3DA0 Linda=3D0A=3D0A=3D0A
firedup@pobox.com on sat 5 sep 09
I think the sieves you are looking for are at=3D20
http://www.pshcanada.com/sieves2.htm
their Williams alluminum trimming tools are great for the price and hold =
=3D
up well
psh.ca is Pottery Supply House in Toronto
Bev
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