vince pitelka on fri 5 jul 02
Jeff -
In most slips for application to wet clay, or in engobes for application to
bone-dry or bisque-fired clay, the borax is a very important ingredient to
ensure adhesion through the early stages of firing. It must be regular old
borax. It will not do what it is suppose to do if you use a borax frit. I
learned about the use of 5% borax in slips and engobes from a small but
valuable chart in the old standby, Daniel Rhodes's "Clay and Glazes for the
Potter" - the text most of us used back in the 60s. The chart gives recipes
for slips and engobes for application to damp, bone-dry, and bisque-fired
wares for a number of different glaze-firing temperatures. Proportions of
plastics to non-plastics, and presence of other fluxes fluctuates through
the recipes, but every one contains 5% borax.
Best wishes -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
Home - vpitelka@worldnet.att.net
615/597-5376
Work - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 ext. 111, fax 615/597-6803
http://www.craftcenter.tntech.edu/
Jeff Tsai on fri 5 jul 02
Hi Carol,
Can't help you much, but I can suggest that you not try to substitute a borax
frit directly as most of the borax containing frits also contain a wide
variety of other ingredients too.
-jeff
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