Linda Pahl on thu 15 jan 04
Thanks to the many clayarters who responded, both onlist and offlist,
to this new member's query (Blending Glazes/New Recipe).
It seems there are quite a number of useful approaches, some simple,
other's rather complex. I opted to try the following three approaches
and each version is now firing away in my kiln:
1. An early e-mail response strongly suggested that I retrieve my
HyperGlaze program from my offline storage and use it for this purpose
since the process is completely automatic and very intuitive. I simply
chose the two recipes from the database, designated one as Glaze A, the
second as Glaze B, used my mouse to move a pointer on a a scale to
choose the proportions of each glaze and in the blink of an eye there
was the new recipe. So my first version (I call it Weathered
Bronze/White Matte Blend) is courtesy of HyperGlaze.
2. John Hesselberth, knowing that I recently purchased his GlazeMaster
informed me via e-mail that the next update to his program (version
2.0) contains a new feature that does Line, Triaxial and Currie Grid or
Quadraxial Blends. He allowed me to download the new version a bit
early (will be released some time mid-February as some things are still
being worked on). This version allowed me to participate in the
creation of the new blended recipe and I must say it was surprisingly
easy for a beginner like myself. I absolutely *love* this program as
it is, by far, very easy to comprehend and to use and is the *perfect*
companion to his and Ron Roy's book "Mastering Cone 6 Glazes". So, my
second version is courtesy of GlazeMaster. (This recipe was created
from the oxide level as I chose the materials that would satisfy the
oxide requirements of the blended recipes. For me to be able to do
this is nothing short of shocking but I consider it a testament to how
well presented the book, the program and the accompanying user's manual
all worked together to turn on the light bulbs in my brain.)
3. Another e-mail responder who also uses GlazeMaster and who was not
yet aware of the new feature described above came up with a logical
approach that was very easy to do:
a) Multiplying each ingredient in Weathered Bronze by 75% to get the
new percentage.
b) Doing the same for Satin Matte by 25%
c) Create a new glaze, give it a new name and add the materials in the
new amounts.
d) Click the "recalc" button to get a 100 gram batch.
e) Bingo! New recipe.
So, both my second and third versions are courtesy of GlazeMaster.
(This recipe was created from the material level as I simply used the
same materials in each recipe but in different amounts. The HyperGlaze
recipe is similar in nature.)
A number of requests came through for me to post the results and I will
do so next week. I have been forewarned by a few that the results of
blending the glazes into a single recipe will very likely look vastly
different from overlapping one glaze over another (they didn't want me
to be too disappointed). I appreciate the heads up but it doesn't
matter to me so much as what I am really after is a greater
understanding of the materials and what they do when mixed together.
Ron and John have done their part by providing me with the foundation
(the book) and the tools (the program) to understand glazes and the
rest is up to me.
Again, thanks very much for the many helpful responses to my query.
ClayArt is wonderful!
Regards,
Linda
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