dreamsinclay on thu 18 mar 04
Hi Sharon:
Funny you should bring this up.
This had been happening to me for about a year.
I was unable to use the remaining glazes since from
the testing I did the glaze had dramatically
changed...but the great part was that I used the
crystals.
I placed the crystals on glazed pieces and man what a
beautiful result.
Now I only mix what I need for the current pieces.
So my advice is save those babies and use them.
I'll leave the explaination as to why it happens and
what you can do to the geru's
Have a beautiful day
Denise
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Nanci Bishof on fri 19 mar 04
My solution to the problem of lithium crystals in large batches of glaze is
to spread the remaining glaze onto a sheet of plastic and let it dry out. I
store that glaze dry and rehydrate when I need it. That way I don't measure out
all the ingredients repeatedly and have a large batch to use.
nanci
Reed Bakken on sat 20 mar 04
I've been dealing with this problem for a few years,
Earl K said,
Just curious. Will these crystals dissolve in plain water?
If so could you dissolve them in a little water and then add that back
to the glaze. That way you wouldn't lose anything. Except your time,
of course.
Another interesting experiment would be to see if they dissolve in a
little vinegar. That might help in determining what they are.
Earl K...
Bothell, WA, USA
Some how it's a reaction between the lithium and sodium,
we had the science dept. look at it , said he couldn't get past
the sodium. The crystals are highly sodium.
They dissolve in hot, real hot, water.
Haven't tried vinegar yet.
The problem is the crystals form again once they
hit the cold glaze in the bucket.
The warmer you keep your glazes the better, to a point.
What we need are glaze heaters. This would stop the
crystallization process,
For our glazes, it happens in the glazes which set near
an outside door, coldest spot, move them to a warm
spot and they should go back into solution.
Hope this helps.
Reed Bakken
Pottery Instructor
Highland Community College
Freeport, Il
rbakken@highland.edu
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