Hank Murrow on tue 26 sep 00
Fran wrote;
>Does anyone have a good recipe for cone 6 basalt body?
>
Dear Fran;
I dig(no really) a highly weathered Andesite(one step 'cleaner' than
Basalt) from the Middle Fork of the Santiam River near Sweethome, OR. This
material makes a C/6 mahogany-colored body that rings like a bell when
electric fired. To the body I add 20% limestone to get a lovely rich
mottled glaze. There is no recipe, just dig, wet, dry to plastic state, and
throw. when I was in school 35 years ago, we all bemoaned the volcanic
geology which prevails in western Oregon. Now I know enough to praise our
eruptive mother earth!
Hank in Eugene
Fran Benton on tue 26 sep 00
Does anyone have a good recipe for cone 6 basalt body?
Stephani Stephenson on wed 27 sep 00
Hank
I read with interest your comments on basalt body.
You mentioned that your andesite laden body 'rings like a bell" when
fired
Years ago I was the ranger/caretaker at the Painted Hills unit of the
John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in Central Oregon.
A beautiful and fascinating area. The painted hills themselves are
basically montmorillite/bentonite (excuse me,if my memory lapses on the
spelling).
You could almost watch them 'swell' up after a rain.
In one part of the park was an large outcropping of older andesite. You
could knock the rocks together and they too would ring. a very nice
clear ring.
I love the fact that you can take the mother rock and crush it, weather
it, grind it, mix it ,twist it and re melt it and voila...it still
rings! Something amazing about that, though I'm sure there is a
molecular sized explanation for it!
Also, deep in the dark recesses of my memories from grad school, I
remember stories from the U of O about David Stannard and his position
that if you simply grind ANYTHING to a small enough particle size , you
can throw with it ( loosely paraphrased). I remember seeing some pure
basalt bowls someone had thrown. They weren't very high and the basalt
'clay' was not even close to plastic, but they were so charming. When
fired they looked exactly like basalt, of course, fresh from mama
earth's oven.
I bet your andesite body is lovely.
cheers
Stephani Stephenson
Leucadia CA
http://home.earthlink.net/~mudmistress/
http://www.alchemiestudio.com
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