Janet Kaiser on wed 4 jun 03
Funnily enough Lili, I have just been talking to a maker who has found that
the frit she used for years completely changed. Same name, number,
packaging, maker, etc, but it is nothing like what it used to be and after
badgering her own supplier and having analyses done, the manufacturer
finally admitted that they had changed the contents!
So the moral of the story: do not rely on frits to be consistent either.
(Talking UK here)
No, I don't know which, but it was a low-fired alkaline glaze which
actually changed character from matt to glossy as well as different
reaction(s) to oxide additives.
Sincerely
Janet Kaiser
>the wonderful Mr Isaacs of Hammill and Gillespie years ago taught me that
>many feldpars sold under trade names are actually blends made to conform
to
>certain formulae. The advantage of frits is that they are controlled to
>remain the same. Fine.
*** THE MAIL FROM Lily Krakowski ENDS HERE ***
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TRUTH is too precious to tell every fool who asks for it...
****** This post was sent to you today by Janet Kaiser *******
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Janet Kaiser on sat 7 jun 03
>Perry, the glaze tech at my local clay supplier, Clay Art Center in
Tacoma,
>WA, has told me the same thing. He's been working for quite some time to
>develop a line of crystal glazes, and was having trouble getting them to
>work consistently. He finally narrowed it down to changes in the
>composition of frits from batch to batch. He didn't say which frits, but
I
>was floored. I, like you, had always assumed that the composition of
frits
>was consistent.
*** THE MAIL FROM Paul Lewing ENDS HERE ***
Isn't it interesting to hear yet again, that one is always at the mercy of
the materials one works and battles with as a potter? For all the
assurances that products always meet the manufacturer's and supplier's
"standardised norms" and have the analyses to "prove" it. Ha! Frits once
heralded as the answer to avoiding all the impurities and variations in
more "natural" products, yet there is nothing "constant" or "consistent"
and no matter how much we dream of it happening, it just ain't going to!
But on the other hand... Isn't this constant battle just one of the very
reasons potters get hooked?
Sincerely
Janet Kaiser
**********************************************************************
TRUTH is too precious to tell every fool who asks for it...
****** This post was sent to you today by Janet Kaiser *******
The Chapel of Art / Capel Celfyddyd
8 Marine Crescent, Criccieth LL52 0EA, Wales, UK
Tel: ++44 (01766) 523570 URL: http://www.the-coa.org.uk
**********************************************************************
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