Gary Elfring on tue 30 mar 99
I have been lurking on this list for some time,
but have never responded or asked a question. I
have been taking ceramics classes at our local
community college for 3 years now.
Several of us in class would like to try our hand
at making a zinc crystal glaze and growing those
beautiful crystals. I have bought several pieces
in blue and green that used this type of glaze.
However, no one at the college has ever done this,
so we are on our own. We have all the equipment and
chemicals we could want, but need a glaze recipe
and some ideas on how to do the firing and cooling.
We typically fire things here in a gas kiln to cone
10 (reduction), but we have numerous kilns and can
also do electric, and to any cone.
Is there any source of information and/or glaze
formulas available for doing this? Any help would
be greatly appreciated.
Elfring Soft Fonts, Inc. http://www.elfring.com
http://www.barcodingfonts.com http://www.micrfonts.com
Bar Codes, MICR, Signatures, plus popular TrueType fonts and clip art.
Dave Eickholt on wed 31 mar 99
Hi Gary, just a few ideas, local library should have access to ceramics
monthly old issues, try December 1975 article by David Snair "Making and
Firing Crystalline Glazes" { after bisque just before applying glaze you
should wet sponge down the vase to remove dust and any dirt, the glaze sticks
better then, don't recall that in the article] . Also from e-mail sent to me
from Donald R. Holloway:
I have been doing
reduction
crystals in an electric Skutt kiln for some time now. I have been doing
nothing
but crystals since 1978. I love stoneware too, but you can't do
everything, and
my first love is the challenge of successfully doing crystals.
First, let me answer your questions, if I may. I have written and
published a
Book titled "The Art & Craft of Crystals" which is duly trademarked &
Copyrighted. I sell them under my trade name "Crosscraft Enterprises." It is
much
more detailed and thorough than is Diane Creber's Book, for I include over
80
successful crystalline glaze recipes. It is advertised in the April Issue
of Ceram-
ics monthly (1/6 page ad in the back). The price for this 130 page Book
(8 and
a half inches by eleven inches, in Loose-leaf format) is $39.80 plus $5.40
for
shipping. I have sold many, from the Ceramics Monthly ad, last November,
to
USA, Canada, England, and others. This Book contains a section on
Reduction
techniques. I have also fired crystals in a gas kiln, but do not anymore
because
it "clouds" the glassiness of the ware too much.
Also in the April Issue, under "Summer Workshops" you will find mine
listed
for July 12-16; a five full day workshop, where we will make pots, dry
them, bisque
and glaze fire them, and have "hands on experience in almost fail-safe
techniques.
I have never had a workshop student, in the last 10 years of annual
workshops,
go home without good crystals! (But, we know it can happen for it has
happened
to me!!!). The cost of the workshop is $200.00 and I furnish everything
except
personal clay tools.
The monthly Newsletter I also publish under its' trade-name "ISCA
Newsletter"
which is simply The "International Symposium of Crystalline Artists." It
is an exchange of data and information, monthly, so I expect and require
"input"
from my
subscribers, as to what's going on "out there." That way, we all learn
things from
each other. The Newsletter cost is $15.00 per year, which pays for my
paper, and
postage. I include color photos each time of either my latest work, or that
of the
subscribers.
I am a Pacifica dealer, Skutt dealer, North Star dealer, and a Kemper
Tools dealer
in addition, as well as a Standard Clay products dealer. I presently am
working on
publishing a catalogue and price list for that entity.
Hope this is usable info for you and your students. Tell them not to
get discour-
aged at firing failures, but to learn from them, and to avoid duplicating
the same.
Keep 'em soaking! Don Holloway, email: DonHo@compuserve.com.
Aso would like to say that the electric firing is a whole lot easier than
the gas firing, with the gas my experiance has been to run the gas kiln with
vent wide open because you want as little reduction as humanly possible other
wise you can get a whole lot of air bubbles in the glaze and your piece is
junk.
Last thought, Don also sells a great substitute for pemco 283 frit, [no
longer made] a lot of recipes that work use this frit. Good Luck Dave
Marc Kiessling on wed 31 mar 99
Hi Gary:
The following list of references should keep you buried
in the stacks of you local library for awhile.
"The Studio Potter", Dec. '96,Vol. #25, number 1, pg. 39-49.
"Ceramics Technical", Nov. '96, #3 (new sister publication to
Ceramics Art and Perception).
"Ceramic Review", Nos. 49, 71, 80, 88, 128, 137
"Glazes for Special Effects" by Herbert Sanders (1974) -book
"Ceramics Monthly", Nos. Dec. '75, Nov. '88, Mar. '91, Sept. '91, Mar. '92,
May '93.
An article was advertised in the back of C.M. some time ago that sells
for around $12.00 U.S. The potters name is Dan Turnidge. He can be reached
at River Rock Clay Co., P.O. Box 3183, Salem, Oregon, 97302,Phone (503)
581-3606.
It is a great little paper. He seems to know his stuff. He covers the whole
firing of crystals; ie. recipes, chemicals, firing schedules, etc.
There is a list of recipes covering the temperature range from cone 6-10.
" http://www.barra.se/stoneware/english/engelsketta.htm "
-wonderful site from Sweden
Regards, Marc
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>I have been lurking on this list for some time,
>but have never responded or asked a question. I
>have been taking ceramics classes at our local
>community college for 3 years now.
>
>Several of us in class would like to try our hand
>at making a zinc crystal glaze and growing those
>beautiful crystals. I have bought several pieces
>in blue and green that used this type of glaze.
>
>However, no one at the college has ever done this,
>so we are on our own. We have all the equipment and
>chemicals we could want, but need a glaze recipe
>and some ideas on how to do the firing and cooling.
>
>We typically fire things here in a gas kiln to cone
>10 (reduction), but we have numerous kilns and can
>also do electric, and to any cone.
>
>Is there any source of information and/or glaze
>formulas available for doing this? Any help would
>be greatly appreciated.
>
>
>Elfring Soft Fonts, Inc. http://www.elfring.com
>http://www.barcodingfonts.com http://www.micrfonts.com
>Bar Codes, MICR, Signatures, plus popular TrueType fonts and clip art.
>
>
David Jenkins on wed 31 mar 99
Dear Gary, I just had a student finish an independent study on
crystalline glazes. Her main references were the Diane Creber book
called Crystalline Glazes, and Studio Potter from December 1996 which
contained articles from nine different people.
We tried 3 or 4 glazes from these sources with some success, but the
most success we had was from a glaze recipe given to me fifteen years
ago by Charles Abbott.
At the time I knew nothing about crystal and when he told me it was a
runny glaze I thought he meant you have to wax up a little higher and
apply carefully near the base. What he actually meant was that this and
all crystalline glazes will run off of the pot and form a large puddle
underneath. For every pot you make you must also throw a pedestal with
a saucer to catch the glaze. After the firing the pot is broken off the
pedestal and the bottom has to be ground.
This is all explained quite clearly in the Creber book. If this seems
like a lot of work it is compounded by the very low success rate of the
glazed themselves. But when it works you can can see why some people
get hooked.
Abbot Crystal Glaze
Frit 3110 50
Zinc oxide 25
Neph Sy 10
flint 10
EPK 5
Good Luck! David Jenkins
>From: Gary Elfring
>Reply-To: Ceramic Arts Discussion List
>To: CLAYART@LSV.UKY.EDU
>Subject: Zinc crystal glaze help??
>Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 07:47:32 EST
>
>----------------------------Original
message----------------------------
>I have been lurking on this list for some time,
>but have never responded or asked a question. I
>have been taking ceramics classes at our local
>community college for 3 years now.
>
>Several of us in class would like to try our hand
>at making a zinc crystal glaze and growing those
>beautiful crystals. I have bought several pieces
>in blue and green that used this type of glaze.
>
>However, no one at the college has ever done this,
>so we are on our own. We have all the equipment and
>chemicals we could want, but need a glaze recipe
>and some ideas on how to do the firing and cooling.
>
>We typically fire things here in a gas kiln to cone
>10 (reduction), but we have numerous kilns and can
>also do electric, and to any cone.
>
>Is there any source of information and/or glaze
>formulas available for doing this? Any help would
>be greatly appreciated.
>
>
>Elfring Soft Fonts, Inc. http://www.elfring.com
>http://www.barcodingfonts.com http://www.micrfonts.com
>Bar Codes, MICR, Signatures, plus popular TrueType fonts and clip art.
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
Joy Holdread on tue 6 apr 99
Most zinc crystal glazes run & are fired on little extra foot rings for
grinding off. Being new to this in 88 I used the glaze on the insides of
several little lidded jars fired lids in place. They sit in my yard their
wee lids sealed tight, waiting for me to use my dremmel to see what treasures
their geode interiors hold.
Joy in Tucson
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