Alyssa Ettinger on sat 8 apr 06
yikes... we moved our studio a bit ago and there was a week or two that the
glazes were in storage and frozen... (high frit glazes, but with epsom salts
added to keep them from becoming hard as rocks on the bottoms.)
went to go work with glazes yesterday for the first time since the freeze
and lo and behold, bottoms were hard as rocks. tried using the hand-held
glaze mixer/slip mixer with little results. ended up pouring out liquid,
chiseling out pieces and putting batches into a blender. this tedious method
worked but, alas, these were 2000-3000 mg buckets of glaze. the thought of
doing this to my 10k buckets of glaze makes me want to throw them out and
remix them (which i won't do, because i used expensive frit and i'm dirt
poor...)
ideas? there has to be an easier way.
alyssa
coming at you from williamsburg, brooklyn, land of the stray cat.
www.alyssaettinger.com
Graeme Anderson on mon 10 apr 06
The liquid you poured out - did you try heating it, and putting it back in
the glaze bucket? May soften the solid sediment, and make it easier to
mix. Also, any soluble materials from the glaze in the liquid will not be
lost.
Cheers. Graeme.
Lynn Goodman Porcelain Pottery on mon 10 apr 06
The epsom salts don't always last. I always put 2% bentonite plus 1%
veegum plus epsom salts into my glazes (which have lots of expensive
frits in them). For these glazes: dump out the wet stuff on top and
save; when the stuff at the bottom is dry, it will be easier to chip
out of the buckets. Break up the dry glaze and pulverize into tiny
bits, add bentonite , veegum and remix with the saved wet stuff. Once
mixed back together, give it another shot of epsom salts. Very time
consuming and laborious--you need to figure out if the time spent
salvaging the glazes is worth the cost of the salvaged glaze materials.
Lynn
On Apr 8, 2006, at 11:57 AM, Alyssa Ettinger wrote:
> yikes... we moved our studio a bit ago and there was a week or two
> that the
> glazes were in storage and frozen... (high frit glazes, but with epsom
> salts
> added to keep them from becoming hard as rocks on the bottoms.)
>
> went to go work with glazes yesterday for the first time since the
> freeze
> and lo and behold, bottoms were hard as rocks. tried using the
> hand-held
> glaze mixer/slip mixer with little results. ended up pouring out
> liquid,
> chiseling out pieces and putting batches into a blender. this tedious
> method
> worked but, alas, these were 2000-3000 mg buckets of glaze. the
> thought of
> doing this to my 10k buckets of glaze makes me want to throw them out
> and
> remix them (which i won't do, because i used expensive frit and i'm
> dirt
> poor...)
>
> ideas? there has to be an easier way.
>
> alyssa
> coming at you from williamsburg, brooklyn, land of the stray cat.
>
>
>
> www.alyssaettinger.com
>
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Lynn Goodman
Fine Porcelain Pottery
548 Court St.
Brooklyn, NY 11231
718-858-6920
Cell 347-526-9805
www.lynngoodmanporcelain.com
Jeanie Silver on mon 10 apr 06
I have encountered this problem and here is how I handled it.
1-Pour off liquid from each bucket.MUY IMPORTANTE! Retain, label, and and
reuse liquid for each glaze so you don't lose solubles, which even fritted
glazes will have.
2-Allow solid glaze ingredients to dry thoroughly.
3.-Put solid glaze in Steel Sak plastic bag
4.-Fasten sack tightly and cover with old rug or piece of foam.
5.-Put sack on smooth solid durface and beat the hell out of it with a board
or big dowel rod or a hammer.Pound it until its broken into pea size
rubble-Do not be satisfied with tennisball size rubble. Don't allow yourself
to be led astray by golf-ball size anything. When you achieve pea-size
rubble,give yourself a break and go down to the creek with the dogs or watch
Law and Order. Whatever.
6.-When you come back ,take some CMC,[ which you will have previously mixed
with hot water and let set overnight. because, unlike me, you will have
thought ahead] and add it to your reserved water. I can't tell you how
much-, I add about 1/2 cup solution to water for a 10,000 gram batch. It
doesn't seem critical. CMC works for me much better than Epsom
salts,which,if you use even a tiny bit too much,can actually facilitate
hardpanning.
6.-Add the glaze rubble to the CMC fortified water. Allow to soak for a
little while.
7.-Screen your reconstituted glaze once or twice
8.- You'te good to go.! I know this sounds like a lot of work, but it is
much easier than trying to do it wet.You'll save your glaze, your energy,
and your money. Good Luck!
Jeanie in PA.
May Luk on mon 10 apr 06
Hello Alyssa;
That sounds like a drag. I used to have a glaze like
that and it really not worth the time to try to save
it. I used a hand blender in what felt like zero
temperature glaze water and it took half an hour, at
least, to make the glaze useful again. I curse myself
everytime I have to do it. RR did a fix for me using
more ball clay and now it's like BUTTER-no matter how
long it sits in the bucket at what temperature. The
glaze is pretty much the same fired up. Sometimes, it
feels like a miracle when I think back how I
hand-blend the bloody frozen glaze bucket.
I did let the frozen glaze dried out, crunched it into
small pieces and put it in the bottom of the bowl as
if it's broken glass. I didn't really like the effect
though.
Post your recipes here. Maybe somebody can 'fix' it?
Could be a good learning experience.
Regards
May
LondON, UK
Alyssa Ettinger on fri 14 apr 06
it's not been fun... if i had the time i'd have done the "let it dry out and
pulverize it while it's in a hefty bag" method... don't have that time. so
i've been in those buckets with a kitchen knife, and once i have manageable
pieces i use the glaze mixer.
joy.
alyssa
www.alyssaettinger.com
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