claybair on tue 30 nov 04
Sam,
I use B-Mix predominately....
if you see any of my postings about it
I usually use the word "cranky" when referencing it.
I'm not complaining just stating a fact.... it's a cranky clay.
I prefer it because it has porcelainous qualities that I
like and is a nice white body that doesn't muddy colors.
Issues can and usually are with join cracking, drying, shrinkage.
So onto your problems..... you didn't state what ^ you bisque fire.
I was firing to ^05 but now go to ^04 and have had less problems
with pinholing etc.
Warping....... I am pretty careful now when transferring pieces from
the bats to ware boards...... I use Hardibacker as ware boards....
wet the hardibacker and slide the piece from the bat. The hardibacker
is absorbent which helps keep the clay moisture content even.
The clay remembers every bump, touch or knock and forget trying to
straighten
it out unless you can compress and rib it.
Cracks...... I compress inside and bottoms of all pieces. I go over it with
a
metal &/or soft rib. I haven't had any s-cracks in a long time. Pieces with
handles, spouts need to be covered with plastic. I use multiple layers
and make myself be patient.
I had 4 teapots come out very well last week.
I abandoned my cavalier attitude, carefully covered
and babied the clay. Any slight cracks
I mend with a slip made with B-Mix, magic water and Charmin toilet paper.
I have used that slip on leatherhard, greenware and bisque.....
it's indeed magic!
I can hear the snickering and question..... Why use this stuff?
After all Mel mixes boulders and rust from the
shoreline in his clay no pampering
for Mel.... no s-cracks, no warping either.
The simple answer is that I like it and it's a challenge.
Plus when I do go back to using porcelain
I'll already have the discipline in place!
My latest project is to tackle mugs with the B-Mix.....
made 6.... 3 survived... sort of...... not sale quality but hubby
now has 3 mugs to test for me the other ones will be garden art.
My first slab platters dunted....... the most recent ones have not...
some tips...... compress top and bottoms,
do not sponge bottoms,
dry evenly & slowly,
flip them over carefully,
do not pick up the piece until a dryish leatherhard.
My platters are not where I want them to be but
I'm getting better.
I use Kyanite on the shelf for glaze firing.
One last tip....... if you are rushed and want to eliminate
these problems... change your claybody to one that has been stable
for you. After the holidays go back to iron out the B-Mix issues.
Good luck,
Gayle Bair - has 2 big shows this weekend.......... oye!
Bainbridge Island, WA
http://claybair.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Sam or Mary
Yancy
I made about 35 bowels, vases on the wheel and a bunch of slab platters
using cone 5 b-mix about a month ago. Bisk fired great. Glazed them with
several comercial glazes. Fired them to cone 5. 90% came out cracked or
warped. Was for x-mas gifts. Anybody know what went wrong. Kiln had cones
and they were where they were supossed to be. I fired medium speed in a skut
1018 automatic set up kiln. Checked with instructor friend at skyline
college in SF area. He was unsure of cause but said that they had had a lot
of cracking with cone 5-B MIX this year. Note: There were no bubbles or
reconstituted clay in the mix. I think it was the clay. Anybody out ther
have the same problem??? Comments???. Suggestions?? Sam in Daly City
Sam or Mary Yancy on tue 30 nov 04
I made about 35 bowels, vases on the wheel and a bunch of slab platters using cone 5 b-mix about a month ago. Bisk fired great. Glazed them with several comercial glazes. Fired them to cone 5. 90% came out cracked or warped. Was for x-mas gifts. Anybody know what went wrong. Kiln had cones and they were where they were supossed to be. I fired medium speed in a skut 1018 automatic set up kiln. Checked with instructor friend at skyline college in SF area. He was unsure of cause but said that they had had a lot of cracking with cone 5-B MIX this year. Note: There were no bubbles or reconstituted clay in the mix. I think it was the clay. Anybody out ther have the same problem??? Comments???. Suggestions?? Sam in Daly City
pdp1@EARTHLINK.NET on tue 30 nov 04
Hi Sam,
Better heads than mine shall likely address your cracking
concerns, but I will guess they derive from stresses in how
the Clay was not homogeneous enough when made into the forms
it was made into...was allowed to dry in ways as were not
even, or, as were too fast...or, were not held long enough
to their peak of heat in the Kiln...or, were not allowed to
cool from their highest heats to their less higher heats,
with the liesure they may have prefered...
Certainly any insipient cracks from their 'dry' or bisque
stage ( if there was one), can come back to haunt...later...
But what caught my eye more, if of no use to you, was your
mention of 'Skyline College'.
I was taking some Night School classes there in the very
early 1970s.
I lived really only a very few bloks away, that is, just on
the other side of Skyline Drive from where it turned to go
up to the college. I was just over that little hill's ridge
by a hundred feet or so...on the other side of Skyline
Drive.
The San Andreas Fault you know, IS that little
next-to-nothing of a 'creek' as runs along the West side
ditch of Skyline Drive...
Among which classes anyway, was a Sculpting Class whose
instructor was a Mr. Raymond Sells.
He made wonderful Sculptures of
laminated-into-varied-thicknesses of Plywood, and did many
local commissions of fairly large pieces. Organic forms
mostly, and mysterious quiet ones too. He was one of the
most quiet, present, kind and lovely people I have ever met.
In his classes, as was not so uncommon then, anyone who
wanted to, smoked and drank Coffee in class all they
liked...
In the night school class I was in, I used to go over to the
little turn table and put on the the album 'Electric Music
for Mind and Body' by Country Joe and the Fish, with the
songs 'The Masked Marauder' and...'Not so Sweet Martha
Lorane' and 'Porpoise Mouth' finding unusual favor for being
played over and over while we all worked on our things.
That was all so fun and gentle and nice...that class.
Wow...had not thought of it in years...
Golly...
Phil
(now of course, in)
el ve
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sam or Mary Yancy"
> I made about 35 bowels, vases on the wheel and a bunch of
slab platters using cone 5 b-mix about a month ago. Bisk
fired great. Glazed them with several comercial glazes.
Fired them to cone 5. 90% came out cracked or warped. Was
for x-mas gifts. Anybody know what went wrong. Kiln had
cones and they were where they were supossed to be. I fired
medium speed in a skut 1018 automatic set up kiln. Checked
with instructor friend at skyline college in SF area. He was
unsure of cause but said that they had had a lot of cracking
with cone 5-B MIX this year. Note: There were no bubbles or
reconstituted clay in the mix. I think it was the clay.
Anybody out ther have the same problem??? Comments???.
Suggestions?? Sam in Daly City
>
>
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Mike Gordon on wed 1 dec 04
Sam,
My thoughts are with the drying of B-mix, it has to be real slow, flip
the bowls over to dry upside down, even thickness, etc. It's almost as
bad as porcelain in my opinion, dislike them both. But I like the glaze
effects but use B-mix on small stuff. So... I switched to Soldate 60,
and put B-mix slip on after trimming, not the same but close without
the hassle. Mike Gordon
On Nov 30, 2004, at 7:54 AM, Sam or Mary Yancy wrote:
> I made about 35 bowels, vases on the wheel and a bunch of slab
> platters using cone 5 b-mix about a month ago. Bisk fired great.
> Glazed them with several comercial glazes. Fired them to cone 5. 90%
> came out cracked or warped. Was for x-mas gifts. Anybody know what
> went wrong. Kiln had cones and they were where they were supossed to
> be. I fired medium speed in a skut 1018 automatic set up kiln. Checked
> with instructor friend at skyline college in SF area. He was unsure of
> cause but said that they had had a lot of cracking with cone 5-B MIX
> this year. Note: There were no bubbles or reconstituted clay in the
> mix. I think it was the clay. Anybody out ther have the same
> problem??? Comments???. Suggestions?? Sam in Daly City
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> _______
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>
Jon Pacini on fri 3 dec 04
Greetings All---Hi Sam
It s not that I ve been ignoring this thread----- But Mike, Gayle and Carol
have done as good a job addressing the peculiarities of B-mix as I could
ever have done.
Clayart is a great forum where you can hear from your peers how they cope
with the difficulties of our craft.
If I can be of any specific assistance to you Sam, please contact me off
list.
Best regards
Jon Pacini
Clay Manager
Laguna Clay Co.
jpacini@lagunaclay.com
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