David & Diane Chen on tue 25 may 99
Well, before I knew what I was doing (LAST YEAR), I had ordered a bunch of =
raw
materials from the local supplier. I wound up with this silica sand 65 and =
95
(mesh I think). This stuff is impossible to sieve and I am wondering what I
could use it for? Anyone have any ideas?
Thanks,
Diane
Massachusetts
Andrew Buck on wed 26 may 99
Diane,
Add the sand to a high fire claybody for use as a raku clay or sculpture
clay. Use this between your kiln shelves and your flat or larger pots to
reduce cracking during firing (works like a bunch of very small ball
bearings that do not melt and stick to the shelves). Mix this silica with
kaolin (50/50 by weight mixture) add water until it is a thin slip and use
it as kiln wash. Use the same 50/50 mixture with less water as wadding
between kiln posts and kiln shelves to level and stabilize the load in
large kilns (not used much in electric kilns).
Andy Buck
Raincreek Pottery
Port Orchard, Washington
On Tue, 25 May 1999, David & Diane Chen wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Well, before I knew what I was doing (LAST YEAR), I had ordered a bunch of raw
> materials from the local supplier. I wound up with this silica sand 65 and 95
> (mesh I think). This stuff is impossible to sieve and I am wondering what I
> could use it for? Anyone have any ideas?
> Thanks,
> Diane
> Massachusetts
>
Debby Grant on wed 26 may 99
Dear Diane,
Silica sand is not supposed to be used in glazes. It is used to spread
on a kiln shelf underneath wide flat bottomed forms so that they can
move when shrinking without cracking. Indeed I sometimes spread
a thin coating of sand on a shelf instead of kiln wash. Some potters
wedge silica sand into the clay body to open it up instead of grog.
Hope this helps
Debby Grant in NH
Pamala Browne on wed 26 may 99
I don't know what grit ours is but we have lots of it too!We use it mainly
to sprinkle under sculptures when firing to allow them movement while
shrinking. If you don't want the sand all over your shelves you can mix up a
wax/sand gloop and paint it on the bottom--this will work for wide-base hand
builts,platters( I would think)--it gives them freedom to shrink without
binding.Also, we put sand in the bottom of our reduction chambers for raku
(they're kind of old and holey).I suppose there is a glaze use for sand ,but
I don't know of it yet. If it's coarse like sandbox sand you could always
make sand castles!!
----- Original Message -----
From: David & Diane Chen
To:
Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 1999 6:24 AM
Subject: Silica Sand 65 and 95
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Well, before I knew what I was doing (LAST YEAR), I had ordered a bunch of
raw
materials from the local supplier. I wound up with this silica sand 65 and
95
(mesh I think). This stuff is impossible to sieve and I am wondering what I
could use it for? Anyone have any ideas?
Thanks,
Diane
Massachusetts
Lesley Alexander on fri 28 may 99
At cone 10, two brands of sandblasting sand (one labelled silver sand)
hardened in my kiln. Also tried it as wadding. It could be chipped, but
some stuck and had to be ground off. Alumina powder has been working on
pieces up to 18".
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