Jon Brinley on fri 1 oct 04
Nic,
I am a lithographer by trade. And a clay junkie
by night. I have several press blankets in use around=20
my studio. Both print side up and print side down. For=20
wedging I use the backside(canvas). For shelf liners=20
I use the print side (rubber). Be careful as to which side=20
you use in which process. The rubber side may have chemical
residue from the printing process, that can be hazardous.
As for using the rubber side with moist clay, I have only had=20
success with stiff or not really moist clay. It will have
the tendency to stick as you describe. If you dry your clay=20
more it will get better.
I have found several things around the printshop that work=20
great in the clay environment. Especially the ink end of the shop.=20
We have an in-house ink man that stays with our company even=20
though he works for the ink company. I have used several different =
dryers
in my work. One contains a good amount of cobalt(get it cheaper than the =
supply house).
Another is a manganese dryer. Both fire out fine in either reduction=20
or oxidation, and can be calcined down to remove the oil base they=20
are suspended in. Which has one effect on finished work.=20
It only acts as an accelerator to the bottom of the pot, and kiln =
shelves.=20
Also get silica in large quantities (next to nothing...$$..). Colorants =
like ocher, copper, cobalt, manganese, aluminum oxide, rutile and the =
list can go on.
I use cutter sticks for my glaze mixing. They are 3/4" x3/4" x 41" hard =
plastic sticks
that work great for mixing the glaze bucket.
By the way those blankets run around $90.00 new. Depending on supplier=20
it could go for $135.00.=20
Jon in Midland
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