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misc: clay bodies, little holes, albany slip,

updated tue 13 jan 04

 

lili krakowski on mon 12 jan 04

linseed oil for wooden tools

Chris: It is not clear to me whether you want clay body recipes--of =
which there are so many, and in almost all the "serious' books--or =
whether you want material about the whys and wherefores. If it is the =
latter, Cardew has much interesting material in "Pioneer Pottery", there =
is Rbt. Tichane's "Clay Bodies", and useful information in "Out of the =
Earth, Into the Fire" by Mimi Obstler.

Who ever wanted to keep little holes clear. A round mascara brush of =
the newer type, the one one gets with those tubes of mascara (lipstick =
shaped) as distinguished from the flat boxes. (Do they still exist?) =
These are marvelous for cleaning up the holes, also little details full =
of debris in sculptures, and such. Those of you who do not use mascara, =
and are too shy to ask: some of the dear little brushes used to clean =
electric razors--not all--are very good too. BUT to prevent little =
holes clogging in the glazing; spend an afternoon with a few knitting =
needles from the thrift shop, a few chopsticks, a few bamboo skewers, =
plastic drinking straws and stirrers, and some dowels. Using whatever =
tool is needed (!) and protecting hands and eyes (if you use a saw, or =
cut-off blade) cut these into one inch pieces. Sort them by size into =
a tackle box tray or the like, and voila (!) you have sets of hole =
plugs to put in the holes when you glaze the pot. I prefer to coat the =
wooden guys in these sets with wax otherwise they can stick and pry off =
some glaze when removed.

In my albeit limited experience, and although I worked out my own =
"recipes" for a substitute Albany, when I worked on "Twice Fired =
Glazes" I honestly and truly no longer see the point. I find that using =
Red Art and "tweaking" the recipe a bit here and there, brings me just =
as good results with less trouble. AND I see no difference between all =
that and what one got from varying batches of Albany. But what I have =
found--and I question myself for differing from Ron --is this: I find =
that using a natural ferruginous clay works better in replacing Albany =
than using ball clay and Fe2O3. It seems to be that something in =
natural God-given clay gives a more satisfactory result than plain clay =
and iron.


Plain wooden tools benefit hugely from being soaked in boiled linseed =
oil. If you are unfamiliar with that DO NOT get linseed oil and boil =
it! NO NO NO. You buy it AS "boiled linseed oil" at the =
hardware/paint store. FYI I keep a gallon jug of it in the studio, all =
wooden tools go into it when new, all wooden tools, well cleaned, return =
to it for a vacation every six months or so. Ultimately a thick varnish =
like coat builds up, if it gets nasty I scrape it off, but my wooden =
tools, ribs that live in the slurry bucket included, last and last and =
last. If your wooden paddle is too big to fit a jug, paint it with oil, =
let it dry, repaint, till the oil no longer is absorbed..


Lili

Be of good courage