Alice Smrcka on thu 21 jan 99
In a school studio situation, I mix glazes in 10 to 20 gallon batches.
Northern Equipt. has a blue and white folding cart --300 lb capacity--
that I use for moving clay, buckets of glaze and etc. The model I bought
is smaller-- $30-$40. They have a larger one in their catalog.
Weighing out dry materials--- I place the bucket on the cart and
dump the dry ingredients in the bucket as I weigh them. (Wear a dust
mask!)
To mix glaze----I place another bucket on the cart. Pour water
into the bucket-about 3/4 of the total amount of water I'll need
to mix the glaze. I scoup dry materials into bucket containing water
a little at a time and stir with 3/8" drill with a mixing blade
attached. Keep scouping until all dry materials are mixed with the
water. Yes, it should be thicker than you want your finished glaze.
I then wheel this newly mixed bucket of glaze over to the low glaze
bucket table. I place an empty bucket on the glaze table and put
the Talisman sieve on top and start decanting the mixed glaze--a pitcher
at a time into the final glaze bucket running the glaze through the
sieve at the same time. It may take a little longer and a little more
bending but it saves my back-- not having to lift those heavy full
buckets of glaze. When I rinse out the buckets and sieve, I use a small
amount of water and add this to the final glaze to thin it to the
desired consistency. Yes, I sieve this water also-- to get rid of any
debris. This works great for me especially if I'm mixing 5-6 or more
batches of glaze at one time.
A Talisman sieve is well worth its cost if you are mixing glazes in
great quantities.
If you do'nt have a short glaze table-- put glaze buckets on wheels.
Alice
MZ
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