Helvi Abatiell on sun 23 apr 00
Here's another dumb question for y'all:
Does anyone know why you aren't supposed to use overglaze on greenware? I
read somewhere that your pots will blow up if you do this. I tried it
(always the rebel, I am) and my pot did not blow up.
Your thoughts, almighty clayarters?
Helvi
Cindy Strnad on mon 24 apr 00
Helvi,
You can use overglaze on greenware. Who on earth told you it would make your
pots blow up??? Some people say things like that because they don't know
what will happen and they can't imagine anyone having the imagination to try
something they don't know about. For Pete's sake. Why would they blow up?
Keep trying new things, Helvi. It keeps you young.
Cindy Strnad
earthenv@gwtc.net
Earthen Vessels Pottery
RR 1, Box 51
Custer, SD 57730
Paul Lewing on mon 24 apr 00
Helvi Abatiell wrote:
>
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Here's another dumb question for y'all:
>
> Does anyone know why you aren't supposed to use overglaze on greenware? I
> read somewhere that your pots will blow up if you do this.
Boy, that's a new one! I can't imagine why anyone would think that
putting overglazes on greenware would make it blow up. The reason it's
not recommended is that underglazes are typically a VERY thin coating
that is fired to a much lower temperature than glaze. So if you want a
glossy decoration out of your overglaze, you need to fire it onto a
glossy glaze. If you just put it on unglazed greenware, it will have
the same texture as the unglazed greenware.
This all assumes that what you're talking about here is what's sold
commercially as an overglaze, also sometimes known as china paint. It
occurs to me that you might be referring to decorating with oxides over
an unfired glaze. If that's what you meant, there's no reason you
couldn't do that, as part of a single-fire glaze process, with no bisque
firing.
I tried it
> (always the rebel, I am) and my pot did not blow up.
Helvi, I really want to commend you for this attitude! One thing I
sometimes find real annoying about Clayart (much as I love it) is the
number of questions that start with, "What will happen if I....?" I
always wonder what these people do if no one answers their question. Do
they just go on wondering?
I say, whatever it is- try it! So what if you ruin a pot or two? If
you're any good at all, chances are that in two years you won't want to
look at what is now your best work anyway. Even if someone says it
won't work, try it anyway. Sometimes it really DOES work! Sometimes it
works sometimes, or it depends on some other factor that the person
didn't know about. Even if it doesn't work, knowing HOW it didn't work,
or what part of it didn't work, or what the wrong result looked like, is
very valuable.
Here's an example. A woman in one of my workshops once was putting
china paints on unglazed bisqueware and firing that to cone 6. "Won't
work" on two counts. Well, the results were unlike any china paint
you've ever seen, but they were also unlike any ceramic surface I'd ever
seen, and they were the perfect thing for what she was making.
So keep up the rebellion. I've been working that way in clay for almost
35 years now.
Paul Lewing, Seattle
Gerry Turner on tue 25 apr 00
I wonder if maybe the person who thought overglaze would make the pot blow
up maybe had a complete confusion over what "overglaze" really is. When I
supervised the hobby shop at a federal prison the inmates insisted on
referring to glaze as "overglaze". I guess they thought that since it went
on top of underglaze it must be overglaze. Over the years it didn't matter
how many times I explained it......to groups, to individuals, with signs,
posters, you name it.......they persisted in calling glaze "overglaze". I
have often seen the same confusion of terms in "hobby" ceramicists as well.
Then it's only half a step to say that putting "overglaze" (glaze) on a raw
pot and firing without letting it get bone dry would cause explosions. Just
a thought. I know that my inmates made those kinds of jumps frequently.
Interestingly I don't ever remember running into that kind of confusion
among the high school kids I taught for 20 years. But then those guys
weren't there....in prison... because they were willing to listen to
directions.
Gerry in Wisconsin enjoying the heck out of my golden daffodils and wishing
I knew more about birds so I could tell who is doing all that wonderful
singing all day every day. Spring seems finally to be here. I hope it
lasts a while before becoming summer.
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