Carole Fox on sat 13 mar 04
I tried a new recipe for terra sig using soda ash only. (Usually I use
Vince's recipe, but I am going to workshop and was given another recipe to
try.) It did not separate, so I tried adding a smidge of sodium silicate and
some water, remixed and waited another 20 hours.
The mixture now has a series of vertical "stripes" on the top inch (under a
thin layer of water). Should I add keep adding more water or start again?
What is the deal with the stripes?
Carole Fox
Silver Fox Pottery
Elkton, MD
thesilverfox@dol.net
Vince Pitelka on sat 13 mar 04
> I tried a new recipe for terra sig using soda ash only. (Usually I use
> Vince's recipe, but I am going to workshop and was given another recipe to
> try.) It did not separate, so I tried adding a smidge of sodium silicate
and
> some water, remixed and waited another 20 hours.
> The mixture now has a series of vertical "stripes" on the top inch (under
a
> thin layer of water). Should I add keep adding more water or start again?
> What is the deal with the stripes?
Carole -
I have never heard of "vertical stripes." Who knows what sort of alien life
forms have evolved in your terra sig.
This all depends on what you mean by "separate." Many clays do not separate
into clearly-identifiable layers when you are making terra sig. One of the
very best clays for making terra sig is Redart. It is easy - it never
develops a clear layer at the top, but all the heavy sedmiments settle into
a hard, easily identifiable layer about 3/4 of the way down. On the other
hand, ball clays do not form layers, so the best approach is to just siphon
down about 2/3 of the way and discard the lower portion.
Because clay is cheap, if a terra sig is behaving strangely, the best thing
is usually to just discard it and start again.
Good luck -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
Home - vpitelka@dtccom.net
615/597-5376
Office - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 x111, FAX 615/597-6803
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/
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