Jon Singer on tue 9 nov 99
Hi, all!
Once again, I'm with Jeff (and with Susan Ford,
) -- both Robert
Tichane's book and Phil Rogers's book (same title,
"Ash Glazes", if I recall correctly) are great.
I let my current brick clay & wood ash glaze settle for
a little while, and stuck a pool-testing strip into the
liquid on the top. It is considerably more alkaline
than 8.2, which is as far as the test strip can usefully
go, and the total alkalinity was also off the scale.
Definitely caustic, all right!
I typically do dip pieces in it, because I don't have a
spray booth yet & I don't mind the dipped effect,
but I use tongs. I must confess that I majored in
chemistry, lo these many years agone, and I've had
plenty of things on my hands that are much more
caustic than wood ash, so I'm not scared of this stuff
... but by the same token, I try not to be too stupid.
Get it on skin or clothing? Wash it off, promptly.
-----------------
I really like Jeff's 75 ash/25 rutile idea. I've been
using a brushed 50-50 rutile & gerstley wash that I
learned at Seward Park Art Studio. That makes trails
of golden to burnt gold crystals on appropriate glazes
(and trails of ucky grayish brown on inappropriate
ones, and trails of bizarre bubbles if you get it on too
thick, and...). On a righteous tenmoku, though, it's
very pretty. Here's about my best effort so far (67 KB
if you're concerned about the file size) --
http://www.bazilians.org/pictures/redtenm1c1.jpeg
(Yes, it's a sort of red tenmoku. Yes, I really like it
that way. No, I'm not yet sure why it's red -- probably
has something to do with the very high quality
brick clay I'm using, or with the particular wood ash,
or the combination...)
Cheers!
jon
Vera Rankovic on wed 10 nov 99
I think you Americans have gone overboard with your precautions.
Wood ash, for example.
Since the dawn of time, women have used it, precisely for its caustic
qualities for making soap. They did all the washing
with it (without rubber gloves).
I remember when I was little, there were no washing mashines then,
washing woman would come in and her hands would be in the basin whole day
long. For detergent - she used lye soap.
Compared to that, wood ash is mild - when you touch it, it's just barely
soapy.
I never use any precautionary measures - gogles, gloves, masks, etc. I
like the "hands on "approach.
You will think me crazy. But then, we Europeans also smoke, eat fatty
foods, and do a lot of other unhealthy things.
I think it's a cultural thing.
By the way, when you wash ash, you wash away the best parts.
Vera Rankovic
vrankovic@sezampro.yu
http://www.geocities.com/verasart/
----- Original Message -----
From: Jon Singer
To:
Sent: Tuesday, November 09, 1999 18:46
Subject: The Great Unwashed (more wood ash comments)
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Hi, all!
>
> Once again, I'm with Jeff (and with Susan Ford,
> ) -- both Robert
> Tichane's book and Phil Rogers's book (same title,
> "Ash Glazes", if I recall correctly) are great.
>
> I let my current brick clay & wood ash glaze settle for
> a little while, and stuck a pool-testing strip into the
> liquid on the top. It is considerably more alkaline
> than 8.2, which is as far as the test strip can usefully
> go, and the total alkalinity was also off the scale.
> Definitely caustic, all right!
>
> I typically do dip pieces in it, because I don't have a
> spray booth yet & I don't mind the dipped effect,
> but I use tongs. I must confess that I majored in
> chemistry, lo these many years agone, and I've had
> plenty of things on my hands that are much more
> caustic than wood ash, so I'm not scared of this stuff
> .... but by the same token, I try not to be too stupid.
> Get it on skin or clothing? Wash it off, promptly.
>
> -----------------
>
> I really like Jeff's 75 ash/25 rutile idea. I've been
> using a brushed 50-50 rutile & gerstley wash that I
> learned at Seward Park Art Studio. That makes trails
> of golden to burnt gold crystals on appropriate glazes
> (and trails of ucky grayish brown on inappropriate
> ones, and trails of bizarre bubbles if you get it on too
> thick, and...). On a righteous tenmoku, though, it's
> very pretty. Here's about my best effort so far (67 KB
> if you're concerned about the file size) --
>
> http://www.bazilians.org/pictures/redtenm1c1.jpeg
>
> (Yes, it's a sort of red tenmoku. Yes, I really like it
> that way. No, I'm not yet sure why it's red -- probably
> has something to do with the very high quality
> brick clay I'm using, or with the particular wood ash,
> or the combination...)
>
> Cheers!
> jon
Gavin Stairs on thu 11 nov 99
Recipe for lye soap: I'm just winging this: there are far better recipes
on the web smewhere.
Take the ash from a week of cookstove and fireplace fires, and boil it in a
large iron caldron. Decant the liqour through muslin into another large
iron pot. Keep hot. Add the renderings from a week's cooking fat (or
substitute your favorite vegetable oil). Cook for a bit, and reduce to a
soupy consistency. Decant into soap moulds.
It is the fat which uses up the lye and saved grandmother's hands from
being cooked along with the bacon grease. Lye soap is called that because
it has a bit of excess lye, so it is caustic. Hand soap has a bit of
excess oil. I don't know how Grandmother could tell when she had just the
right mixture. Probably something like the right feel, or the right
appearance. Anybody know? I know there are soap makers out there.
Gavin
At 12:08 PM 11/10/99 -0500, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>I think you Americans have gone overboard with your precautions.
> Wood ash, for example.
> Since the dawn of time, women have used it, precisely for its caustic
>qualities for making soap. They did all the washing
>with it (without rubber gloves).
> I remember when I was little, there were no washing mashines then,
>washing woman would come in and her hands would be in the basin whole day
>long. For detergent - she used lye soap.
Cindy Strnad, Earthen Vessels Pottery on thu 11 nov 99
Vera,
I'm sure you're right in that some of us are over cautious. On the other
hand, mixing lye with fat in the proper proportions and under the correct
conditions, and curing it in the right manner, effectively negates the
caustic properties of lye. One reason old-fashioned lye soap is sometimes
hard on the hands is that it hasn't been adequately cured, or the proportion
of lye to fat was skewed too heavily toward the lye.
Detergents are made with phosphates, but true soaps are all made with lye so
far as I know--even today.
As for never using gloves/goggles/masks, and etc., I have to say it's as
unwise as smoking and over-eating unhealthy foods. I have had glaze chips
hit my goggles which would very likely have otherwise hit my eye. I've
ground gashes in leather gloves which might otherwise have found bone. And
while I might be able to breathe silica, manganese, and chrome for many
years before noticing any ill effects, I do realize I have only one body.
I change the oil in my vehicle every 3,000 miles. Should I neglect this, I'm
sure it would be many miles before I saw any ill effects. Nevertheless, I do
this because I know that, while one can neglect a new car with no visible
harm done, the old car will show how the new was treated. I can buy another
car. I cannot buy another body.
A bit of over-kill, I suppose, since I, too, would tend to use unwashed ash.
But I would also not touch the wet glaze.
SAM YANCY on sat 13 nov 99
RECIPE FOR LYE Soap. When I was a little tike about 50 years ago, and lived on
"Grammies" farm near Lexington VA, my grandma used to make soap this way. P.S.
This was a farm with no running water, electricity, oil/gas or telephone but
we had a wekk and a wood cook stove. (We used to take showers in the outhouse
and swim in the rain barrel which was used for wash water). Anyway, she used
to make soap this way:
In the fall (at the time the Hogs were killed and smoked) , and in a very big
outdoors kettle (about 25+ gallons) she used to stoke up a fire and start with
some wash water and with about a gallon in size - weight unknown - of white
wood ash. After bringing it to a boil and steering it (my job to stoke the
fire and steer the pot), she would start adding "renderings (fat/skin., etc.)
from the killed hogs. As the renderings melted down the water evaporated.
After a while, she would add, in one can of "drano' to the mix. Additional
renderings were added and the skins strained out and the fire stocked and
steered until the pot was full to the top. Then she would spoon off about
three/four gallons and mix in a few drops of rose oil for fragrance - this
soap/oil mix was placed in cast iron forms to be used for personal use when
hardened. The rest of the soap was left in the pot to cook. On wash day
(mondays) my grandma would chop out enough to do the clothes, and some for the
weeks dishes, etc. it was made once a year, and seemed to last for a year. Was
a very very poor existence, but a wonderful way to live. Both my grandma and
gramps lived till over 90/ P.S. The Soap was great (color about straw or a
little darker)! Sam Yancy
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