Chris Schafale on fri 28 jan 00
Thanks for your thoughts on dry-mixing glazes. The summary is
as follows, with my comments:
Lots of people, like me, don't dry mix and find that it works fine.
For those who do dry mix, their reasons are:
1. Because I was taught to do it that way. (unconvincing)
2. Because if you dry mix well, you don't have to sieve, and dry-
mixing is easier than sieving. (? Not if you use a Talisman sieve,
but maybe otherwise)
3. Because it disperses clumpy ingredients (so does sieving)
4. Because bentonite can't be added directly to a wet mix or it
turns into gooey globs (convincing if you use bentonite, although
you can also just dry-mix the bentonite with the EPK, silica, or any
other major ingredient, and add that way, or make up a batch of
wet bentonite in the blender, as mel suggests)
5. Because some coloring oxides (copper oxide in particular??)
are "hydrophobic" -- don't wet easily if added to a wet mix. (not a
problem with anything I use, but I'll keep this in mind)
If you do dry mix, using a tightly closed container (plastic bag,
bucket, etc) is recommended to keep down the dust. Let it settle
before opening and adding water. If pouring from a bag into water,
make sure the opening of the bag is in the water to reduce dust in
the air.
One tip for newbies:
If adding materials to water one at a time, always start with the
clay or the clay mixed with the bentonite. This way, the clay will
help all the other ingredients stay suspended. If you put in the
feldspar or frit first, it will sink like a rock and be a major pain to get
stirred up again.
And another tip:
If adding an additional ingredient (such as a colorant) to a batch of
wet glaze, I've found that it works well to let the glaze settle
overnight, add the new ingredient to the water on the top, let it
slake, and then mix it in. Works much better than adding the
ingredient to the mixed-up glaze.
Thanks again for your help. I didn't want to steer my "class" wrong.
Chris
Light One Candle Pottery
Fuquay-Varina, NC
candle@intrex.net
http://www.angelfire.com/nc2/candle (work in progress)
stan irvin on mon 31 jan 00
For years I've added dry glaze ingredients to a couple of gallons of water
in a five gallon bucket then mixed the batch with a propeller mixer on a
stainless steel shaft attached to a one third horsepower motor. Usually
about five to ten minutes of mixing is enough. As far as I know I've never
had a problem using this process. No hassle and no sieving. Any reason
why I shouldn't be doing it this way?
Cindy Strnad on tue 1 feb 00
Stan,
Sounds like it'd work to me. I get the idea you may be a Tim Allen kind of
guy, though. ("More power! Uuuh! Uuuh!") A sieve and a little power drill
seem to do the trick for me, but hey! Why mess with something that works?
Cindy Strnad
earthenv@gwtc.net
Earthen Vessels Pottery
RR 1, Box 51
Custer, SD 57730
Vince Pitelka on tue 1 feb 00
At 02:35 PM 1/31/00 EST, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>For years I've added dry glaze ingredients to a couple of gallons of water
>in a five gallon bucket then mixed the batch with a propeller mixer on a
>stainless steel shaft attached to a one third horsepower motor. Usually
>about five to ten minutes of mixing is enough. As far as I know I've never
>had a problem using this process. No hassle and no sieving. Any reason
>why I shouldn't be doing it this way?
I have been doing exactly the same thing for almost thirty years, and have
no reason to think I should be doing it another way. If there is a material
prone to clumping, I will screen the glaze. But normally I do not.
Best wishes -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Home - vpitelka@DeKalb.net
615/597-5376
Work - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 ext. 111, fax 615/597-6803
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
Earl Brunner on tue 1 feb 00
Hey, you've been doing it that way for years. Do you want to change?
I'm sure someone out there will tell you you should do it different.
If it works, don't fix it.
stan irvin wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> For years I've added dry glaze ingredients to a couple of gallons of water
> in a five gallon bucket then mixed the batch with a propeller mixer on a
> stainless steel shaft attached to a one third horsepower motor. Usually
> about five to ten minutes of mixing is enough. As far as I know I've never
> had a problem using this process. No hassle and no sieving. Any reason
> why I shouldn't be doing it this way?
--
Earl Brunner
http://coyote.accessnv.com/bruec
mailto:bruec@anv.net
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