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glaze mixing tools

updated wed 5 jan 05

 

Cindy on fri 31 dec 04


Hi, Ken

No jiffy mixer. I'm sure they're excellent, but aren't they the $60-$80
ones? If I had used one, I might feel differently, but I just pick my mixers
up at Menard's in the paint dept. The one I'm talking about has a metal rod
with a plastic double fan assembly at the end. Of course, you can get metal
ones, but I save those for thinset. A few plastic shavings don't make much
difference to a batch of thinset. ;)

Best wishes,
Cindy in SD

Janet Kaiser on tue 4 jan 05


A balloon whisk (the technical name for what Kathy McD describes)
is OK for small quantities and those without wrist problems. I am
now unable to whisk an egg with one, never mind glaze! But I
still have my Mother's hand-held whisk, which is basically two
such balloon whisks held together by a mechanism/handle that
rotates them when turning the second side handle. My Mother
originally bought it because, beating stuff like icing would
leave her so shaky, she could not continue icing a cake. That was
naturally in the days before electric appliances became standard
kitchen ware.

Being totally manual, you can naturally vary speed and they/it
will deal with quite stiff consistancies.This rotating hand-held
whisk is a life-saver in the kitchen, so it would probably be OK
out in a studio too. Stainless steel with wooden parts if they
are still available. Cannot say I have noticed them in the shops,
but they were manufactured by Tala, the same people who make
icing kits and other equipment for the domestic cook/chef, more
than the professional.

But if I really needed a serious glaze mixer beyond the single
paddle, stick or wooden spoon on a regular basis, I would adapt
that Scandinavian whisk and "magic lump killer" for studio use...
Honestly! Never have lumps in anything if you use one! There is
nothing more simple to make. Just take several straight lengths
of birch twig approx 2 mm thick. They need to be as long as the
finished whisk, but without "branches". Remove the bark and then
bind as many as you can hold hard yet comfortably in your hand
(say like a tennis racquet) tightly together with wire or string.
The length of this handle part will have to be at least the width
of the hand needed to hold it if short, but substantially more
for a longer one. I suppose a third of the total length. Now just
use like a whisk... Either one handed in the usual whole arm
beating mode, or more gently with the rolling between two hands
method -- the only way I can manage that these days and a lot
better for all the hand and arm joints.

It is amazing how efficient this birch is at beating any lumps or
sediment, such as custard. I mean the custard powder mix which
sets like concrete and is the nearest thing you get to settled
glaze you will find in the kitchen... It is also the perfect way
to describe thixotrophy to people who have not come across the
phenomena before. Our kitchen birch is now coming up for 40 years
old, so has been very hard-wearing and long-lasting and worth the
trouble of making a replacement, if there will ever be any need.
A quick rinse cleans it quickly and easily. It does need to be
washed and dried well between use, otherwise it could start to
discolour with moisture rotting the twigs from the cut ends
inward. Of course that would not matter in a studio.

It may surprise many to hear me say so, but I can get quite
concerned when I hear of anyone thinking of using electric
appliances in buckets of glaze. But then I am a klutz and always
end up dropping stuff... 220-240 Volts going into a glaze bucket
would not be my idea of fun...

Sincerely

Janet Kaiser -- "Two buttocks cannot avoid friction"
Zambian saying of the day (Tonga tribe)

*** IN REPLY TO THE FOLLOWING MAIL:
>but the other tool I find indispensible when I'm mixing glazes
>is a wire kitchen whip...the kind that have a number of
differring size
>wires within wires..........the bad part is.......the more
expensive
>stainless steel ones work best.
*** THE MAIL FROM Kathy McDonald ENDS HERE ***
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Tel: ++44 (01766) 523122 http://www.the-coa.org.uk
Contact: Janet Kaiser: The International Potters Path



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bonnie staffel on tue 4 jan 05


A stirring and mixing tool I have used for a long time is a (new) toilet
brush, the old fashioned loop kind. It picks up lumps which I shake through
the bristles or if a finger is needed, can push them through. I put my
dipping base glaze in a large plastic laundry tub and cover with plastic
between uses. Then when I need to use it, just stir with the brush until
the standing water on top blends in with the rest. With CMC as a floative
ingredient, my glaze does not settle into a hard mass in the bottom. I have
also used the commercial material called "Flocs" which works great for those
glazes that do.

Bonnie Staffel
http://webpages.charter.net/bstaffel/
http://vasefinder.com/bstaffelgallery1.html
Charter Member Potters Council