Lili Krakowski on fri 15 apr 05
Most suppliers catalogs include a page on Mason stains that lists with a
series of small numbers what the stain "needs" to work. You MUST read those
details if you want your stains to work. So if something fades at c. 6
either it is a very weak stain and you are not using enough, or it has needs
you have not met. DO read up on colorants and what they can/cannot do, and
you will be infinitely happier.
CRAZING is considered a glaze defect, except when it is intentional, in
which case it is called "crackling" and admired. When a body is at all at
all porous the glaze atop it will craze over time. I have some very old
Ironstone plates that have crazed...I have some old majolica that has
crazed.
I do not know about shinos and celadons except that I have read that their
composition--the source of their beauty--will allow crazing over time.
I do not think we should concern ourselves with other people's personal
habits. Lots of people neglect to wash their hands before eating, and while
they may balk at a crazed mug, will happily spread the germs on their paws
onto their sandwich. I PERSONALLY think I am likelier to get ill from
eating at a restaurant whose kitchen staff has dubious cleanliness habits
than from drinking out of a crazed mug in my own home. I hear all the time
TV alerts that whoever ate at X restaurant between Tuesday a week ago and
this Monday should report for gamma globulin shots.....
WHAT SHOULD CONCERN US is selling food related pots that craze. As said
above, porous pottery will craze over time. But a well built glaze is
pretty craze resistant and of course we have no control over what people do
with our pots. It seems to me to be a question each one of us has to
answer: do I want to let a less than perfect glaze out of my shop?
I was given a Shimpo RK2 some years ago. It needed a new bearing under the
wheel head. After a while I really needed to fix that. Well! The S people
came up with a drawing that showed where everything was, but no idea in what
order and how to take the thing apart. So gradually I had to disassemble
more and more--and then, having used language I do not normally use--I
carried all the parts to a corner of my studio thinking some day, some
day.... Lesson Learned: Always get wheels that come with/whose
manufacturer will supply clear directions for replacing each and every part.
As to the nasty wheelhead. May: just put a bat on it and leave the bat
there. Use the bat AS your wheelhead. Works fine.
DAWGS: I was most impressed by the posters who say they live with dogs who
defend them against all comers. Just remember this. If you ever need EMPS,
the ambulance, or similar because you are incapacitated, the dawgs may keep
help at bay.
Lili Krakowski
Be of good courage
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