Jeff Lawrence on thu 26 oct 00
Hi,
It has been noted that in a reducing atmosphere the oxide reduces readily to
metal and goes up the stack when it volatilizes.
I've read somewhere that fritted zinc resists this ignominy. What about zinc
borate? I just discovered 5 pounds of dry zinc borate that I got for some
experiments several years ago and never got around to.
I procured this material -- Borflux C-13, distributed by Anzon in Laredo, TX
USA -- through a rather eccentric elderly ceramic experimentalist who
developed it as a wonder material to reduce body maturation temperatures. He
reported totally vitrified ware at cone 06 with this stuff. I can't remember
his name but do recall he (and the zinc borate) were somewhat hard to
locate.
Any experience with this material? Anybody recall the name and story of that
genial man I spoke with in 1997?
Jeff Lawrence vox: 505 753 5913
Sun Dagger Design fax: 505 753 8074
18496 US HWY 84/285 jml@sundagger.com
Espanola NM 87532 www.sundagger.com
Khaimraj Seepersad on thu 26 oct 00
Good Day to All ,
Jeff Lawrence , Hello ,
would it be - William M. Jackson the 2nd ?
I have a short article -
Unique Tile Glaze Concept -
Free of Pinholes .
Where Zinc Borate as BoroFlux , does
amazing things .
Question - How useful would zinc borate be ,
it is water insoluble , but not acid insoluble ?
This is why I stayed with Cullet for Vitreous
Bodies at 08 Orton small cone .
By the way Boroflux C-13 also contains -
14 Ca0
20.2 Zn0
53.4 B203
13.4 X [ decompositional ??] Not given .
Hope this helps ,
Khaimraj
-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff Lawrence
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Date: 26 October 2000 13:02
Subject: Zinc Borate query
>Hi,
>
>It has been noted that in a reducing atmosphere the oxide reduces readily
to
>metal and goes up the stack when it volatilizes.
>
>I've read somewhere that fritted zinc resists this ignominy. What about
zinc
>borate? I just discovered 5 pounds of dry zinc borate that I got for some
>experiments several years ago and never got around to.
>
>I procured this material -- Borflux C-13, distributed by Anzon in Laredo,
TX
>USA -- through a rather eccentric elderly ceramic experimentalist who
>developed it as a wonder material to reduce body maturation temperatures.
He
>reported totally vitrified ware at cone 06 with this stuff. I can't
remember
>his name but do recall he (and the zinc borate) were somewhat hard to
>locate.
>
>Any experience with this material? Anybody recall the name and story of
that
>genial man I spoke with in 1997?
>
>Jeff Lawrence vox: 505 753 5913
>Sun Dagger Design fax: 505 753 8074
>18496 US HWY 84/285 jml@sundagger.com
>Espanola NM 87532 www.sundagger.com
>
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___
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>
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>
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melpots@pclink.com.
>
rmalmgren on fri 27 oct 00
Dear Jeff,
Khaimraj was right. The delightful old man who promoted Boroflux was Stoney
Jackson. I've not heard from him in years.
I did a series of tests and found that 2-3% Boroflux worked well to bring my
cone 10 clay to cone 6. With my glazes I found that 5-7% was needed to
reduce them the same 4 cones. Rick Hensley called some years ago interested
in using the material to lower the temperature of his porcelain. I don't
recall his conclusion.
Since Boroflux wasn't readily available from my normal suppliers, I simply
stopped testing it. If it were to be come commercially available I know
that I would resume work with it as I found it a very useful material.
Rick Malmgren
Lothian, MD
Jeff Lawrence on sat 28 oct 00
Hello Khaimraj
Thank you mucho for the info -- "Stoney" Jackson was the man. The analysis
you provide is frosting on the cake -- I distinctly remember being unable to
get the composition when I got the material.
However, I am baffled by your comment about water-solubility vs
acid-solubility. Would you mind expanding on this? If you can explain,
please bear in mind my technical training consists solely of being an
English major who grooves on big technical words.
By the way, my interest was a zinc source that resists volatilization in
reduction. I wanted to put high-zinc crystalline glazes into regular cone 6
reduction firings, since I tend to follow a cycle that ought to work. Glazes
containing zinc oxide practically disappear off the pot in these firings.
A private email from a chemical guru suggests that zinc borate melts to zinc
oxide and then reduces to metal, etc. Do you have any experience that
confirms this relative to the Borflux?
TIA,
Jeff
Jeff Lawrence ph. 505-753-5913
Sun Dagger Design fx. 505-753-8074
18496 US HWY 285/84 jml@sundagger.com
Espanola, NM 87532 www.sundagger.com
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