Dear donna,
In article , DKat writes
Yes!
A Blender is my most treasured pottery implement; I now never sieve small glaze or slip batches when I use it. What's better is I've now got one with a removable and/or replaceable blade unit; I've trashed one already and I have 2 spare sets waiting in the wings!!!!
Steve
That certainly looks pretty useful.
I also have a hand-blender which I use in a small container, though I've worn it out now; the bearings are screaming!! That was about the same price as the Tupperware item is in the UK.
Steve
In article , DKat writes
Yeah, the great thing about this little mixer is no moving parts to break down and it cleans up real easily. It would not mill the larger particles at all (though I'm not sure a blender does either). I just found it for less money on Amazon.com.
Donna
I have saved old glass peanut butter jars for similar purposes. They hold 2 cups and have 1/4 cup markings on one side and
1/3 cup on the other, with a metal lid having a rubbery sealer. I use these in the kitchen all the time for measuring and shaking things up.For small glaze test batches (100-200 grams) my favorite is the new plastic containers that frozen juice concentrates come in. I go through a lot of Welch's Grape Juice, so there are always plenty available. These are just the right size to shake really hard with one hand, holding your thumb over the lid. Since the containers are abundant and free, I just mark the top with a felt-tip and store as-is. Later, when you want to use that glaze, you just shake it up and you are ready to go. Great for detail brushwork, where you don't need a large batch in the first place.
There are a couple of caveats: When you initially use the juice and wash out the container, snap the lid back on right away. If you store the lid separate from the container, the plastic apparently shrinks or something and it won't go back on easily. (You can rejuvenate by running in hot water for a bit.)
Also, the lid has a pretty fine groove that interlocks with the lip of the container. Excellent seal when new, but the groove tends to catch drips of glaze that you have to wipe out (with difficulty) to insure a good seal. Sometimes when I open a glaze that I haven't used in many months, the contents have dried out (slightly or a lot) and need to have water added. But that is pretty easy.
Hope this helps!
Bob Masta dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom D A Q A R T A Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
I cannot put a jar in recycling if it has measurement marks. I will buy a brand I would normally pass by if it is in a glass container with measurement marks. I have never seen a plastic frozen juice container. I just know of these little cardboard ones. I'll have to go looking. Locally I'm known as the odd container lady. I go around to deli's, grocers, bakers asking for any plastic containers they may have that they are throwing out. Pickle containers are 5 gallons and come in blue and green. I have discovered that it is really good to color code your glaze containers for newbies. The smell of pickles is with you for a really, really long time but the glaze doesn't seem to mind. Bakers have these great 10 liter containers for eggs. If you don't get the eggs entirely off it grows a really nice black mold.
What really works about this litte 'shaker' is that it has 'blades' at the top and then a dome lid. So if you could join two jars together with a something between them that acts as blades, and then some way to seal it.... I wonder if just a bit of screen on the top of the jar with some rubber rings on top of it so there is air space between the screen and the top of the lid but you still get a tight seal? It really acts like a blender. I can put dry powder in it that really doesn't want to go into liquid form and this little sucker turns it into cream.
Donna
P.S. Are you in the U.S? (otherwise I think it will be a fruitless search).
Yep... Ann Arbor, Michigan. All Welch's frozen concentrates are in plastic now, as far as I can tell, and a few other brands are moving in that direction as well.
I also am an avid recycler and reuser. One thing you might want to know about the Welch's containers is that they are HDPE (number 2 in the little triangle). Now, many community recycling programs state that only "bottle" shapes are acceptable in HDPE, not wide-mouth containers. But what they *really* mean is that they only accept blow-molded HDPE, which is a slightly different formulation from the usual wide-mouth. Welch's containers, however, are indeed blow-molded... you can tell by the parting line. You may have to prod the authorities a little bit to recognize this, but they now accept the Welch's containers here. (Or at least they seem to. They might have told me that to shut me up, and are still quietly tossing them in the sorting facility.)
Best regards,
Bob Masta dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom D A Q A R T A Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
Finally found the notes. For crawling on the lip, it suggests a thinner glaze application. For flaking it doesn't mention lips but for minor flaking: if the flaking happens when touched, add 3 percent binder; if it flakes before it's touched add more. Binder I guess means gum, possibly sugar.
That's from Dennis Parks book on raw glazing.
For myself, I find thickness of glaze a real challenge. I don't fire that often and if the glaze has evaporated at all it's hard to figure out how much water to add. I try to document it with a hydrometer. Note that bisqueware usually wants a thinner glaze, so you can't use the same vat of glaze for both.
In the refiring, I got uneven areas almost blobs of new glaze on the old glaze. I could have used to much syrup or it could be that the two firings were in differant kilns. The second may not have been hot enough to really melt the glaze smooth. Don't know.
I also have Fran Tristram's "Single Firing" but haven't done any glazing since I got it. One question for UK posters or for anyone. The local supplier here in western Canada won't/can't supply any lead frits or bi-silicates. Every low-fire glaze in the above book has lead. It seems to be a current book, c'96. Is lead use still common in the UK? In the rest of North America?
Well, common for small functional potters, common for sculpture, common in universities? I get the impression that other frits have taken over.
Elaine
I had no idea that anyone still used lead glazes (though I have heard of frits that supposedly encapsulate it and cadmium successfully).
Thank you for hunting that information down for me! I just got Dennis Parks' book and have been reading it. It is useful of course but it has conflicting information and doesn't seem to cover the issues that I'm having. I have decided that I probably glazed too late in the leather hard state because the glaze is very solid except for the lips. I have been trying any number of things to recover those pots, which has been a learning experience in itself. I really do like the feel of doing things this way. I think it is going to take awhile to develop the glazes I want and to learn the skills but it is definitely the way I want to go. The only problem with learning this skill is that I can't chuck the pot back into recycling - perhaps break them up and use them for mosaics?
I tried the syrup and I have one word for it - YUCK!! I still have it dripping off the pot I tried it on even after re-glazing. I'm afraid to put it in the kiln.
Thanks again. I'm really hoping to get this kiln fired soon so I can see if there are any successes.
Donna
In message , DKat writes
I do use commercially prepared lead glazes. Years ago I had a discussion about them with our local Trading Standards. The conclusion was that no body is going to put food anywhere near anything I make. Dragons' wings soup bowls - I don't think so ;-)) I don't make anything that in any way can be called functional. However, at the time some of the tableware being used in Chinese restaurants had glazes containing lead, which failed the lead release tests. I'm just very careful when and how I use the lead. My main reason for still using it is the brilliance of colour responses.
I use a tin white for the porcelain as well. I haven't been through college and don't know a thing about glaze chemistry. It's like buying a cake mix to me. Off the shelf, follow the instructions, cook to the recommended temperature. Et voila!
Susie
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I've found it useful but confusing as there are adjustsment that can be made to the glaze or to the clay body. As I buy premixed clay, I'm not going to change the clay body but I have found myself reading in the wrong section when trying to figure things out. I like both books as they have pictures of large pieces being raw glazed. One of my problems is my studio is pretty small and I don't have a lot of space to put pans and bowls and trays to trap glaze as its poured over pieces. Strict discipline and focus might help ;-)
I have decided that I probably glazed too late in the leather hard
Yeah, it mentions that the lips and handles may need to have some water sponged on as they may dry first. Even if the glazes stays on to go into the firing, the lip is where some glazes for bisque won't work.
I have been
Where I feel that raw glazing/single firing has been most succesful for me is in leather hard pieces with carved and painted on decoration. When I've finished decorating the piece, the glazing is also finished. I might pour the glaze inside but paint it in layers outside.
Not all glazes work as well on raw pieces but some pieces should work, I'd think. Good luck :)
Elaine
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