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raw glazes/ slip glazes revisited

updated mon 2 dec 02

 

Lily Krakowski on sun 1 dec 02


By coincidence a potter friend asked yesterday about raw glazing.

I am no expert on this because, while I do apply glaze to leatherhard pots,
do it on the wheel, with brush, right after trimming, I do bisque. The
true blue experts once-fire. My reasons for bisquing is that for my needs
the extra cost of bisquing is worth it, as a number of pots get trashed
after bisque often enough to compensate for the cost in the glaze fire.

I have tried the following methods of creating and or adapting glazes to raw
glazing. Carl Judson suggested (where?) all raw glazes should have 40%-50%
ball clay. When that cannot be 8-13% of bentonite should be introduced
replacing even all of the kaolin. Bill Creitz-- and I hope I spelled that
right-- speaks of 12% ball clay and/or bentonite, for a total of 24%.
Replace spar with bentonite. And CM said 3% of bentonite makes most glazes
work for greenware and that one should use a fairly open body.

For raw glazing the glaze is used thicker than "normal" about like yoghurt.

As can be seen slips--as in Albany slip, etc-- made of surface clays-- lend
themselves perfectly to all this--and Nigel Wood in Oriental Galzes says
some interesting stuff about Albany. Certainly those who like temmoku,
hare's fur etc. should try this route.



Lili Krakowski
P.O. Box #1
Constableville, N.Y.
(315) 942-5916/ 397-2389

Be of good courage....