Lili Krakowski on wed 3 nov 04
Mason stains are no more than normal glaze colorants, premixed and =
calcined. I do not know if Mason adds anything. Maybe some fluxes. =
The point of stains is: that it makes mixes of colorants available in =
very small quantities, saving the potter the business of mixing a fair =
amount, wet blending it, drying and storing so that a tiny amount--a =
demi-tasse spoon-can be taken out at a time. As some colorants are =
never used by the fistful but only by the pinch as it were the stains =
also prevent a lot of errors and variations, Furthermore as we all know =
to our chagrin not all oxides and carbonates are identical though the =
label says Cobalt or Rutile and so forth. =20
If you know your colorants and their effect you can mix stains if you =
know their ingredients to be compatible. A relatively easy way to check =
this is to look at the circled number in the catalog or chart and see if =
these particular stains BOTH can tolerate zinc in the glaze, BOTH need =
high calcium etc.
NB I am talking about regular stains, not this encapsulated stuff about =
which I know nothing.
As to silicon carbide. Having fooled around with it for local reduction =
of copper, I decided to test silicon carbide in a slip with a tidge of =
copper in my transparent. Got bored before I got any results--may try =
it again one of these years.
Lili Krakowski
Be of good courage
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