Don Goodrich on sun 24 aug 03
Hi Carol,
You're right about Floating Blue. It's cantankerousness is legendary,
and ClayArt has discussed it for years. It runs, crawls, pinholes, falls
off the pot while drying, and decides seemingly arbitrarily what color it's
going to be. That said, it's a danged pretty glaze when it works, and
customers never seem to tire of it. Some even insist on it.
The problem you describe might be helped by lessening the amount of
flux. One way to do this is to mix it with excess water, let it settle for
a couple of days, then decant the clear water from the top. This will
remove a portion of dissolved boron from the mix. Works for me. Your
mileage may vary. A few minutes soak at ^6, and slow cooling using your
programmable kiln controller (200 deg/hr down to 1900=C2=B0) might help too,=
but
will probably whiten the color somewhat.
You can simply try refiring. FB can look like grey-green celadon if
refired to ^04, or turn darker blue if refired to ^5. Then again, your
batch may decide otherwise...
Good luck,
Don Goodrich
goodrichdn@aol.com
http://members.aol.com/goodrichdn/
John Rodgers on sun 24 aug 03
Hi Carol!
I use Floating Blue all the time and get what I consider "Drop Dead
Gorgeous" FB every time. Why? I crashed all my earlier firings with FB
just testing. Got all kinds of problems. FB ran off the pots onto the
shelves, FB turned not blue but green. FB pinholed all over the place.
Problems, problems, problems.
Solution? It came down to 1) bisquing to cone 06. 2) being sure the
glaze was thoroughly mixed before application. 3) being sure glaze
density was 1.5 when applied, -- I dip and count to 15, I spray and
apply 5 coats of FB. 4) being sure firing was very slow- I would candle
all night with kiln set to "Lo" then power up in the morning. 5) always
fire to a "cool" Cone 5 using a freestanding shelf cone - by " cool" I
mean cone bent horizontal, not "tip down" as recommended by Orton.
I NEVER fire FB to a Cone 6, ever!! It gets really loose at that cone
temperature and runs all over.
This is the procedure I have worked out that works for me in my kiln. I
have no doubt that for another person with a different kiln the results
may well differ. Note: I do not use a kiln sitter and the miniature
cones for cone sitters triggers. I always eyeball the big witness cones
through the peephole to determine when to turn off the kin. I believe
this to be the more accurate method for knowing when the glaze reaches
maturity.
Test, test, test.
Regards,
John Rodgers
Birmingham, AL
Carol Holmes-Kerr wrote:
>Hi All,
>
>I'm a newbie to the list and am likely asking a question about Floating Blue
>that has been asked many times before but I couldn't find anything about
>this when I read through that thread.
>
>I used FB for the first time recently and it turned out beautifully, except
>that it seemed to "spit" off a mask that was lying flat, and ran off a piece
>that was upright. I used the recipe from the Gerstley Borate website, using
>GB.
>I fire in oxidation to cone 6. I say that, but I really use the Bartlett
>control on my kiln and it "tells" me it is going to cone 6 :)) I love
>modern technology!
>
>Has anyone else had this problem with FB? And what do you think may be
>causing this? I want to mix a larger batch but will wait until I hear from
>you. I am a relatively new potter and it looks like most of you have much
>more experience than I have with glazes. I would appreciate any feedback.
>Thanks.
>
>Carol
>
>______________________________________________________________________________
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
>
>
>
Carol Holmes-Kerr on sun 24 aug 03
Hi All,
I'm a newbie to the list and am likely asking a question about Floating =
Blue
that has been asked many times before but I couldn't find anything about
this when I read through that thread.
I used FB for the first time recently and it turned out beautifully, =
except
that it seemed to "spit" off a mask that was lying flat, and ran off a =
piece
that was upright. I used the recipe from the Gerstley Borate website, =
using
GB.
I fire in oxidation to cone 6. I say that, but I really use the =
Bartlett
control on my kiln and it "tells" me it is going to cone 6 :)) I love
modern technology!
Has anyone else had this problem with FB? And what do you think may be
causing this? I want to mix a larger batch but will wait until I hear =
from
you. I am a relatively new potter and it looks like most of you have =
much
more experience than I have with glazes. I would appreciate any =
feedback.
Thanks.
Carol
Tim Frain & Garry Kugler on mon 25 aug 03
Floating Blue is not a problem glaze:
I have been on this list for some years now and have tried to not get
involved in some of these discussions, but can not hold back on this one.
I bisque to 05
I always fire FB to cone 6.
I put it on the bottom shelf or the top shelf, in the middle of the kiln,
and it comes out blue.
The most important thing that has made a difference is the clay, I use Moon
White from High Water and in the past a similar clay from a company in
Wisconsin.....it has been too many years to remember the name of that clay,
but it is similar to Moon White. All of the other clays I have tried FB on
had problems. So trying different clays might make a difference with the
glaze.
I do not use bentonite as stated in the older formulas, there are at least
5 difference formulas for FB, I have substituted veegum at 2% and mix by
sight and feel and flow.
I have never had it flow off the pot, spit onto other pots, pin hole, peel
or any other problem stated in some of the other replies.
Since Carol did not post the formula she is using we can not be sure of a
lot of these issues. She did not tell us how thick her walls were on her
pots and the clay she is using. If they are very thin she should lower
her bisque temperature.
If any of you wish to do your normal backlash to this posting you may do so
off-list and I will send you pictures of the consistent results I have with
this glaze. We are all unique in our methods and the way we do our pottery
and glazes, this is what works very well for me. I got the Cone 6 book when
it came out and have tried some of the glazes they listed and have some very
beautiful glazes, but they look nothing like the glazes in the book. Again,
if the glaze gurus in Canada would like to see my results of their glaze and
want to email me off line I would be glad to send them photos of their
glazes MY VERSION........and I think this is very important to
remember......we all have our own version of a finished product.
----- Original Message -----
From: John Rodgers
To:
Sent: Sunday, August 24, 2003 10:04 PM
Subject: Re: Problem with Floating Blue
> Hi Carol!
>
> I use Floating Blue all the time and get what I consider "Drop Dead
> Gorgeous" FB every time. Why? I crashed all my earlier firings with FB
> just testing. Got all kinds of problems. FB ran off the pots onto the
> shelves, FB turned not blue but green. FB pinholed all over the place.
> Problems, problems, problems.
>
> Solution? It came down to 1) bisquing to cone 06. 2) being sure the
> glaze was thoroughly mixed before application. 3) being sure glaze
> density was 1.5 when applied, -- I dip and count to 15, I spray and
> apply 5 coats of FB. 4) being sure firing was very slow- I would candle
> all night with kiln set to "Lo" then power up in the morning. 5) always
> fire to a "cool" Cone 5 using a freestanding shelf cone - by " cool" I
> mean cone bent horizontal, not "tip down" as recommended by Orton.
>
> I NEVER fire FB to a Cone 6, ever!! It gets really loose at that cone
> temperature and runs all over.
>
> This is the procedure I have worked out that works for me in my kiln. I
> have no doubt that for another person with a different kiln the results
> may well differ. Note: I do not use a kiln sitter and the miniature
> cones for cone sitters triggers. I always eyeball the big witness cones
> through the peephole to determine when to turn off the kin. I believe
> this to be the more accurate method for knowing when the glaze reaches
> maturity.
>
> Test, test, test.
>
> Regards,
>
> John Rodgers
> Birmingham, AL
>
> Carol Holmes-Kerr wrote:
>
> >Hi All,
> >
> >I'm a newbie to the list and am likely asking a question about Floating
Blue
> >that has been asked many times before but I couldn't find anything about
> >this when I read through that thread.
> >
> >I used FB for the first time recently and it turned out beautifully,
except
> >that it seemed to "spit" off a mask that was lying flat, and ran off a
piece
> >that was upright. I used the recipe from the Gerstley Borate website,
using
> >GB.
> >I fire in oxidation to cone 6. I say that, but I really use the Bartlett
> >control on my kiln and it "tells" me it is going to cone 6 :)) I love
> >modern technology!
> >
> >Has anyone else had this problem with FB? And what do you think may be
> >causing this? I want to mix a larger batch but will wait until I hear
from
> >you. I am a relatively new potter and it looks like most of you have
much
> >more experience than I have with glazes. I would appreciate any
feedback.
> >Thanks.
> >
> >Carol
> >
>
>___________________________________________________________________________
___
> >Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
> >
> >You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> >settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
> >
> >Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
> >
> >
> >
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
E.G. Yarnetsky on mon 25 aug 03
Hi Carol!
The spitting of the glaze off of a piece is a common problem with
glazes containing gerstley borate. Letting the glaze dry for 24 hours
helps, but does not always solve the problem. If the glaze is very
fluid, you can try putting it on thinner on the bottom half of the
piece, or putting a very dry glaze on the bottom of the piece to slow
down the running. Your best bet may be to try one of Ron Roy's
variations of this glaze using a boron frit, which should be in the
archives.
Good luck!
Darlene
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