Rita Belserene on thu 6 apr 06
This discussion is fascinating to me. About a year ago I bought Mastering
Cone 6 Glazes and started out with the Clear Base 2. My results were
distinctly milky and very disappointing. It set me into quite a tailspin.
After my first read through the book I was feeling very inpired, but, in
spite of all the information in the book, I had no idea how to start
troubleshooting, so I went back to the recipes and commercial glazes I had
been using. Just a few weeks ago I found this list and got the courage to
return to the business of learning about glazes. I've now tried some other
glazes in the book with more success. I also got John's GlazeMaster
software and have begun to get a handle on unity formulas. But, I still
want to mix my own transparent clear glaze and have been hesitant to go
there again.
Our water supply is from a well on our property and it is very "hard" water
which we treat to soften it. It never crossed my mind to think about the
affect this might have on my glazes! Maybe this weekend I'll get brave
enough to try for a clear glaze again using distilled water. Even if it
fails, it's encouraging to hear that others have had the same results I
saw. It makes me feel less clueless.
Mary Adams on thu 6 apr 06
Hi,
I don't mean to step in here before RR and John; but, I had this same
problem. And, maybe my experience might help (might not). I'm pretty much a
novice so, I'll preface what I say with that. I made a big batch (I'm
talking big) of the Glossy Clear #2 because I had tested it in a very small
amount and it looked really good. Meanwhile I had gotten some misinformation
from someone to ALWAYS add 2% bentonite to every recipe. The small test
amount that worked DID NOT have bentonite. Have found out (through allot of
responses from Clayart people -- thanks RR and John Britt) that you should
add bentonite only when the recipe has less than 10%-15% clay -- and then a
small amount at a time -- 1% maybe.
Also, I found out through responses from RR that (in addition to my adding
bentonite to this recipe when it wasn't necessary ) my water might have
something to do with the " heavy pudding" look of the glaze in the raw form
and it crawling and cracking so bad. He suggested that I try using
distilled water instead of my tap water. It turns out that my tap water has
some nasties in it (high calcium and other unmentionables).
I hope that my experience lends some data and doesn't confuse further.
Mary
Pfeiffer, Dan (Dan R) on thu 6 apr 06
=20
Mary>>> It turns out that my tap water has
some nasties in it (high calcium and other unmentionables).>>>>
Water is becoming more of a problem then most people think if you are
not using a well, and that has its own set of problems. Our country
water this last year decided to up the ph to 8. Not good for lots of
plants but what the hell the country thinks it makes the pipes last
longer. The did not tell anyone that this was going to happen, just did
it. Almost put my bother out of the plant business before he found out
what had happed. This is typical of how they do business, make lots of
changes, never tell anyone untill after the fact.=20
Dan & Laurel in Elkmont Al=20
Pfeiffer Fire Arts=20
www.pfeifferfirearts.com
Potters Council Members=20
Gary Harvey on fri 7 apr 06
About water. I use filter water from my water system which is well water.
I haven't had problems from the filtered water but I have when I forget to
filter it. Cheap water filters are available in most discount houses that
fit on the sink or just one that fits on a pitcher will do?? Maybe but it
depends on what's in you water too. Hope this helps let me know if it does.
Gary Harvey, Palestine TX.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rita Belserene"
To:
Sent: Thursday, April 06, 2006 5:07 PM
Subject: Re: Mastering Cone 6 glaze problems
> This discussion is fascinating to me. About a year ago I bought Mastering
> Cone 6 Glazes and started out with the Clear Base 2. My results were
> distinctly milky and very disappointing. It set me into quite a tailspin.
> After my first read through the book I was feeling very inpired, but, in
> spite of all the information in the book, I had no idea how to start
> troubleshooting, so I went back to the recipes and commercial glazes I had
> been using. Just a few weeks ago I found this list and got the courage to
> return to the business of learning about glazes. I've now tried some other
> glazes in the book with more success. I also got John's GlazeMaster
> software and have begun to get a handle on unity formulas. But, I still
> want to mix my own transparent clear glaze and have been hesitant to go
> there again.
>
> Our water supply is from a well on our property and it is very "hard"
> water
> which we treat to soften it. It never crossed my mind to think about the
> affect this might have on my glazes! Maybe this weekend I'll get brave
> enough to try for a clear glaze again using distilled water. Even if it
> fails, it's encouraging to hear that others have had the same results I
> saw. It makes me feel less clueless.
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
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>
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> melpots@pclink.com.
>
Elizabeth Priddy on fri 7 apr 06
Our water softening system makes our water clean and
smell good enough to drink, but any standing water will
still leave an irony ring after a while.
These buts are "glaze ingredients" and will fog up a clear
glaze for sure. Distilled water is the soution.
I have even found that commercial dry mix glazes have
different results depending on where you get the water and
these are supposedly tested for varying conditions.
E
Rita Belserene wrote:
But, I still
want to mix my own transparent clear glaze and have been hesitant to go
there again.
Our water supply is from a well on our property and it is very "hard" water
which we treat to soften it. It never crossed my mind to think about the
affect this might have on my glazes! Maybe this weekend I'll get brave
enough to try for a clear glaze again using distilled water.
Elizabeth Priddy
Beaufort, NC - USA
http://www.elizabethpriddy.com
---------------------------------
Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. PC-to-Phone calls for ridiculously low rates.
Jennifer Buckner on fri 7 apr 06
At 05:07 PM 4/6/2006, Rita Belserene wrote:
>This discussion is fascinating to me. About a year ago I bought Mastering
>Cone 6 Glazes and started out with the Clear Base 2. My results were
>distinctly milky and very disappointing. .......
>
>.......Our water supply is from a well on our property and it is very
>"hard" water
>which we treat to soften it. It never crossed my mind to think about the
>affect this might have on my glazes! Maybe this weekend I'll get brave
>enough to try for a clear glaze again using distilled water.
Rita,
We, too, use "hard" well water so I've switched to using distilled water to
mix my glazes. The Glossy Base 2 comes out very milky regardless of
this. I don't think it's the water.
Jennifer
Lake Champlain Islands VT
Jennifer G. Buckner jennifer@buckner.cc
Ron Roy on sat 8 apr 06
Hi Rita,
See my post about the glossy glazes I am sending today.
One of the best ways to learn about glazes is to calculate them out and see
how they differ - especially if you have been using them already.
If you need some help while you are learning to use your calculator just
let me know - a word to the wise goes a long way in the beginning.
I had to learn by myself and I can see how much easier it would have been
if there was such a thing as ClayArt then.
RR
>This discussion is fascinating to me. About a year ago I bought Mastering
>Cone 6 Glazes and started out with the Clear Base 2. My results were
>distinctly milky and very disappointing. It set me into quite a tailspin.
>After my first read through the book I was feeling very inpired, but, in
>spite of all the information in the book, I had no idea how to start
>troubleshooting, so I went back to the recipes and commercial glazes I had
>been using. Just a few weeks ago I found this list and got the courage to
>return to the business of learning about glazes. I've now tried some other
>glazes in the book with more success. I also got John's GlazeMaster
>software and have begun to get a handle on unity formulas. But, I still
>want to mix my own transparent clear glaze and have been hesitant to go
>there again.
>
>Our water supply is from a well on our property and it is very "hard" water
>which we treat to soften it. It never crossed my mind to think about the
>affect this might have on my glazes! Maybe this weekend I'll get brave
>enough to try for a clear glaze again using distilled water. Even if it
>fails, it's encouraging to hear that others have had the same results I
>saw. It makes me feel less clueless.
Ron Roy
RR#4
15084 Little Lake Road
Brighton, Ontario
Canada
K0K 1H0
Rita Belserene on thu 13 apr 06
Thanks to Ron and everyone else who responded, on and off list, to my post.
Based on all your input I tried a test of the liner glaze recipe from
Mastering Cone 6 Glazes (rather than trying the Clear Base 2 recipe again).
To test for the effect of my tap water I mixed two batches -- one with
distilled water and one with tap water. My results for these two batches
were indistinguishable. I also played with dipping a dark and light clay
tile halfway in tap water ten times--with a drying interval between. Then I
rotated the tiles 90 degrees and dipped each in the test glaze batch that I
made using distilled water. The tap water dipping had no effect at all on
either the unglazed or glazed portions of the tile.
Because I was told it was important to keep the glaze thin, I went up to
130 ml of water per 100 grams in my test batches. Then, I dipped once,
twice, then three times in the test glazes leaving portions undipped each
time so I could see the effect of glaze thickness. On all of my tiles the
glaze was clear with one dip, started showing some clouding (very visible
on dark clay, but not on white clay) with two dips, and showed more
clouding and some crazing with three dips. This seems too fussy to be the
glaze of my dreams, but unlike a year ago, I find this more interesting
than depressing. Next, I'm planning on playing with the glaze fit recipes
from the book and also experimenting with some revisions of the liner glaze
recipe based on Ron's response to Jason.
When I head down to my studio or crack a pottery book these days, I tell my
husband I'm off to glaze school. It's tough school, but I aim to make the
grade eventually.
Rita Belserene
Rita Belserene on fri 14 apr 06
Oops. That was 115 ml of water per 100 grams.
>Because I was told it was important to keep the glaze thin, I went up to
>130 ml of water per 100 grams in my test batches.
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