Sharing ideas

I posted 2 recent thoughts I had on useful tools (using toilet brushes for stirring/mixing glazes and using dehumidifier water for mixing glazes) and the moderator of clayart came back with his own tools which I really liked. I assume it is OK to share since the list is public. I just thought he had really useful things to share on making glazing easier and better and wanted those here who don't do clayart to see.

Donna

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snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com&P=1665"i have used for a long time, a very fine kitchen sieve/strainer on a long broom handle.

it mixes well, and takes out many of those pesky bits of bisque that can fall off a big platter or bowl. you know, those little bits that stick to the ring foot. it is hard to strain those big batches...and using my mounted strainer i keep the glaze clean as i stir it.

i use dippers for glazing. i have found some nice measuring cups with flat handles that mount nicely on a bamboo rod. i use duct tape, and or, electricians tape to strap them to the rod.

by using the handled dipper, you can stir/reach to the bottom of the pail and always have rich fully homogenized glaze. i drill motor with a paddle to start the mixing process, but then put that away...and use the dipper or strainer on a stick.

i stir before every dip...and use the dipper to fill my pots with glaze...then start the counting of the seconds. the rule for me is: no pot is glazed for more than 10 seconds...total...so, a dip may be two seconds, another three seconds, base coat in and out. in japan we had an old clock with a big sweep second hand...cut off the hour and minute hand...and, we counted the seconds that pots were in glaze. fussy. but that is how you get consistent glazes from firing to firing. test the glaze for water amount, count the seconds for a perfect coating...both inside, and outside. (it seems that it is critical with `floating blue`, that the glaze is the right thickness, the coating has to be perfect and the firing has to be dead on cone 5. anything else, and the glaze is ruined....i just learned that for the 80th time here on clayart...the `floating blue blues.`)

each glaze bucket has a dipper, just for that color. 50 gallon dippers are two/three cup dippers. for decorative glazes i often use a half cup measure.

when i glaze, i keep two 5 gallon buckets of fresh water to clean my dippers, brushes etc. and, i use the garden hose to clean my glazing area. lots of water...a big old kitchen mop. i never leave glaze on the floor, or on my ware boards. takes just a second to hose them off. "

Mel Jacobson""

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DKat
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