Marcia Kindlmann on tue 19 jan 99
Subject: porcelain sticks to kiln shelves
Owen -- alumina hydrate in my kiln wash has kept my porcelain plates
from sticking, at cone 10. ( on silicon carbide shelves --
Miller/Laguna 550 porcelain, which gets pretty vitrified at that temp.)
This kiln wash is measured by volume, 2 parts alumina hydrate to one
part Georgia kaolin. (I just keep a coffee-scoop in each ingred, saves
time not weighing.) Add the ingreds. to a little water, al. hydrate
first, then mix & thin to the consistency of light cream. Brush on with
one of those inexp. stiff fiber-brushes you can find in a paint store;
smooth off any high spots by skimming with a broad taping knife. (I
like the grooves idea with a saw-edge trowel from Richard's friend in
CM, gotta get one of those, would make that smoothing step faster.)
Don't know how this wash would work on shelves already washed with
something else -- this has been the first and only wash my shelves have
ever seen. It makes a thin film of fine particles on which the plates
can slide as they shrink, never sticking. No airborne particles from
sifting dry materials onto shelves, don't have to be super-careful to
not tilt shelves while loading/unloading, 'cause this wash stays put
unless scrubbed off.
Marcia in Guilford CT
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