June Kinsinger on tue 1 nov 05
Steve, Thanks so much for the info-now for the dumb question....
I have only been mixing my own glazes for a short time and not familiar with the substitute chemicals...could you please tell me what I might use in place of the zircopax/superpax? I have alot of chemicals that i use in limited glazes and hate to keep adding to my stock and it just sets there.
Will adding this chemical make the burgandy washed out or more pink? will i have to increase the stain, pretty expensive.
Thanks again,
June
-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Slatin
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Sent: Mon, 31 Oct 2005 21:25:49 -0800
Subject: Re: burgandy glaze test tiles
June --
10 % superpax/zircopax or whatever zirconium silicate
opacifier you have lying around will turn 5x20 into a
pretty good white glaze. I find under 5% doesn't do
too good a job of opacification by itself, but if the
colorants are strong the combination can be pretty
good.
A white base with stain should give you a good strong
color and coverage both. If you use a slow cool
cycle, the Hesselberth/Roy Raspberry glaze is a good
place to start and pretty opaque, but I'd recommend
against sticking with exactly their tin/chrome mix. I
did and am now stuck with some regular buyers who
expect what I make to match what is rapidly becoming
what more sophisticated buyers immediately recognize
as a glaze other potters use. (Change that mix a bit
and you can get a different and distinctive mix that
will be 'yours.')
My notes are incomplete, but it appears that Zirconium
oxide also lowers the expansion of the glaze it's in,
which may be helpful or not, depending on how your fit
is.
Best wishes -- Steve Slatin
--- June Kinsinger wrote:
> Helo group,
>
> I just unlaoded my kiln with my test tiles of the
> 5X20 base recipe with 5,6,7,8 & 10% burgandy stain
> added, as suggested by many of the responses from my
> earlier question. the 10% is the best but is
> transparent. How would I make this and opaque
> glaze? Different base recipe? Any help would be
> greatly appreciated. Love the results of my test
> tiles but I want to use it as an over glaze
> decorative stroke also.
>
> June Kinsinger
> Richmond
>
Steve Slatin --
Drove downtown in the rain
9:30 on a Tuesday night
Just to check out the
Late night record shop
__________________________________
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Steve Slatin on tue 1 nov 05
June --
There are quite a few zirconium silicate opacifiers.
(or, perhaps, it's better to say it's sold under lots
of names.) Ultrox, Zircopax, Superpax, Zirox, Opax ...
there may be others. If you don't want to use one of
these, 1/2 as much by weight of tin oxide will give
similar but not identical opacification results with
most glazes -- the tin gives more of an ivory cast to
the reflectiveness of the glaze; zirconium gives more
of a blue cast.
Do not use tin, though, if your glaze depends on
something that reacts with tin (as some red colorants
do). Zirconium is a stiffener as well as an
opacifier, at least it seems to act as such at ^6 ...
so experimentation is required.
As to whether it'll wash out the color or pastel-ize
it or whatever, only experimentation will tell. We're
all interested in your results, don't let your being
new to this keep you from letting us know what you
find out.
BTW, have you read Lili Krakowski's postings on the
subject of glazes? A few months back she did a 3-part
series that summed up very well how glazes work, it's
highly recommended. If you want to get in deeper on
glazes, John and Ron's Mastering Cone 6 Glazes is
highly recommended. It's a really good reference book
as well as a primer, and it begins to deal with the
incredible variety of options. Remember that there
are only so many variables -- peak temperature,
'soak', slow or fast cool; that's just three things
for firing in electric kilns. Then silica (and/or
other glass formers) concentration, Alumina (and/or
other stiffeners) concentration, then total melters,
divided into high-temp melters, low-temp melters, and
alkali, alkaline and neutrals and so on and add your
colorants and pretty soon you have identified all of
the possible variabilities in a glaze -- but you
haven't scratched the surface.
Each of these variables influences the reaction
(surface smoothness, expansion, color response,
turbidity of the glaze, internal refraction, it just
goes on and on) within a glaze. And because
concentration of each is an issue, you don't have a
simple range of either-or options for 5 variables,
within 5 groups of variables you have multiple
substitution possibilities AND ranges of
concentrations) the total number of outcomes is
effectively infinite.*
That's why rule #2** of glaze experimentation is KEEP
GOOD RECORDS.
Best wishes -- Steve S
*In 1969 I made the 'effectively infinite' argument to
Tom Cech in a dormitory stairwell regarding decoding
RNA. By 1982 he'd nailed it.
**Rule #1 is USE SENSIBLE SAFETY PRECAUTIONS
--- June Kinsinger wrote:
> Steve, Thanks so much for the info-now for the dumb
> question....
>
> I have only been mixing my own glazes for a short
> time and not familiar with the substitute
> chemicals...could you please tell me what I might
> use in place of the zircopax/superpax? I have alot
> of chemicals that i use in limited glazes and hate
> to keep adding to my stock and it just sets there.
>
> Will adding this chemical make the burgandy washed
> out or more pink? will i have to increase the stain,
> pretty expensive.
Steve Slatin --
Drove downtown in the rain
9:30 on a Tuesday night
Just to check out the
Late night record shop
__________________________________
Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005
http://mail.yahoo.com
June Kinsinger on wed 2 nov 05
Steve, Thanks again, I am printing all your info and I do have the "mastering cone 6", i carry it with me back and forth to work and read it alot, over and over. I am convicted to figuring this one out, gotta have this glaze.
Keep the info coming gang, I am trying to soak it all up, though be it slow in my aging mush for brains head.
June
-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Slatin
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Sent: Tue, 1 Nov 2005 14:44:16 -0800
Subject: Re: Steve-burgandy glaze test tiles
June --
There are quite a few zirconium silicate opacifiers.
(or, perhaps, it's better to say it's sold under lots
of names.) Ultrox, Zircopax, Superpax, Zirox, Opax ...
there may be others. If you don't want to use one of
these, 1/2 as much by weight of tin oxide will give
similar but not identical opacification results with
most glazes -- the tin gives more of an ivory cast to
the reflectiveness of the glaze; zirconium gives more
of a blue cast.
Do not use tin, though, if your glaze depends on
something that reacts with tin (as some red colorants
do). Zirconium is a stiffener as well as an
opacifier, at least it seems to act as such at ^6 ...
so experimentation is required.
As to whether it'll wash out the color or pastel-ize
it or whatever, only experimentation will tell. We're
all interested in your results, don't let your being
new to this keep you from letting us know what you
find out.
BTW, have you read Lili Krakowski's postings on the
subject of glazes? A few months back she did a 3-part
series that summed up very well how glazes work, it's
highly recommended. If you want to get in deeper on
glazes, John and Ron's Mastering Cone 6 Glazes is
highly recommended. It's a really good reference book
as well as a primer, and it begins to deal with the
incredible variety of options. Remember that there
are only so many variables -- peak temperature,
'soak', slow or fast cool; that's just three things
for firing in electric kilns. Then silica (and/or
other glass formers) concentration, Alumina (and/or
other stiffeners) concentration, then total melters,
divided into high-temp melters, low-temp melters, and
alkali, alkaline and neutrals and so on and add your
colorants and pretty soon you have identified all of
the possible variabilities in a glaze -- but you
haven't scratched the surface.
Each of these variables influences the reaction
(surface smoothness, expansion, color response,
turbidity of the glaze, internal refraction, it just
goes on and on) within a glaze. And because
concentration of each is an issue, you don't have a
simple range of either-or options for 5 variables,
within 5 groups of variables you have multiple
substitution possibilities AND ranges of
concentrations) the total number of outcomes is
effectively infinite.*
That's why rule #2** of glaze experimentation is KEEP
GOOD RECORDS.
Best wishes -- Steve S
*In 1969 I made the 'effectively infinite' argument to
Tom Cech in a dormitory stairwell regarding decoding
RNA. By 1982 he'd nailed it.
**Rule #1 is USE SENSIBLE SAFETY PRECAUTIONS
--- June Kinsinger wrote:
> Steve, Thanks so much for the info-now for the dumb
> question....
>
> I have only been mixing my own glazes for a short
> time and not familiar with the substitute
> chemicals...could you please tell me what I might
> use in place of the zircopax/superpax? I have alot
> of chemicals that i use in limited glazes and hate
> to keep adding to my stock and it just sets there.
>
> Will adding this chemical make the burgandy washed
> out or more pink? will i have to increase the stain,
> pretty expensive.
Steve Slatin --
Drove downtown in the rain
9:30 on a Tuesday night
Just to check out the
Late night record shop
__________________________________
Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005
http://mail.yahoo.com
______________________________________________________________________________
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.
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