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oxide question

updated tue 8 may 01

 

Hudson Mackenzie on sun 6 may 01


from Boo Gardo (MeBoo2@aol.com) via hudson@potters.org

Could someone please explain to me the proper way to use oxides. I have an electric kiln and use commercial glazes...but love the way oxides look on pottery. Any help would be appreciated!

Karen Sullivan on mon 7 may 01


I keep seeing the hudson@potters.org
postings with a variety of names associated with
the questions....
Just curious...are you a group/school?
Are the questions class assignments of the
group?
bamboo karen




on 5/6/01 2:06 PM, Hudson Mackenzie at hudson@POTTERS.ORG wrote:

> from Boo Gardo (MeBoo2@aol.com) via hudson@potters.org
>
> Could someone please explain to me the proper way to use oxides. I have an
> electric kiln and use commercial glazes...but love the way oxides look on
> pottery. Any help would be appreciated!
>
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Martin Howard on mon 7 may 01


Boo Gardo, if you buy the clear glaze from your favourite supplier, checking
that it fits your clay body and slips, you can then alter it by simply
adding oxides and playing about with them until you have the range of
colours you want.

Various books will give you the proportions to add, as potters percentages.
That is you take the dry matter of the original glaze as 100%. Then add say
1-3% CuO, copper oxide, to it. Stir, sieve and you have a new glaze.

A mid way stage is to buy the stains from the same supplier, which will take
out the trial and error phase of adding oxides. The stains are mixtures of
oxides which usually give a colour to the glaze which is the same or similar
to that of the dry powder itself. Adding oxides does not necessary do that
:-)

The final stage is to produce your own clear glaze and add your own
researched and tested set of oxides to produce glazes that are unique to
you. But don't feel that there is any bar amongst craft potters in using the
stains or the manufactured base glazes to achieve your dreams.

Martin Howard
Webb's Cottage Pottery
Woolpits Road, Great Saling
BRAINTREE, Essex CM7 5DZ
England

martin@webbscottage.co.uk
http://www.webbscottage.co.uk