Firing Onglaze.

Wow! - well first off I will show my ignorance - what is 'onglaze'?

If I change that to being 'on glaze' then I will assume that you have left out a lot of very critical information. How are you going to fire? That is what kiln do you have? Before anyone can give you any useful information they have to know what kind of clay you are using, what glaze, etc. You can fire any where between temperatures you do in your oven (that is not really something that anyone here will be much help with is my guess) and up to ~2500 degrees F (cone14). Many people are currently firing ~2200F (cone6). My firing for that takes around 12 hours but that is just the glaze firing. I fire in an electric kiln. My clay and glaze are formulated for those temperatures. If I fired that clay to cone14 it would melt. If I fired it in the kitchen over the glaze would not 'flux' and the clay would not vitrify (none of the chemical changes would occur that are needed to make the clay and glaze 'glass' like.

I've decided I have really over talked this. Tell us what it is your are working with. The only thing I can think of that would fire in 2-3 hours is polymer clay and that is not Pottery. DIY or HGTV might be useful for that.

Google is your friend.

Ok, that was pure laziness on my part. There really is something called onglaze. Silly me, I assumed... well it is pretty clear what I assumed. How does it go - assume makes an ass of u and me... (in this case forget the u)

Of course it's possible that Google (the whole Internet?) is actually The Matrix and none of it is real ... in which case I'm screwed because I have a lousy memory and rely on it far too much. :-)

I know what you mean... I've been thinking of building a visor (think Geordie) that has google in the upper corner and a microphone that translates subvocal words into text for a search (lift the right eyebrow for search and the left page... twitch the nose to bring up your todo list for the day...). Do you think there's a market for it? ;) It can't be any stranger than all the people that now go around talking into cell phone mics with no around them. It really has taken away the glamour of being the eccentric log lady that I am.

And speaking of the matrix... I gotta tell these guys that I'm much more productive when things are going well than when I have to deal with all the petty frustrations they throw in....

Wow ! What was all that about ? Onglaze is exactly what it says. Any Australians out there ? - I know they like to do 'onglaze' work. Yep! I learned that if I fire onglaze work for

12 hours, it burns off, so I'm looking for specific instructions, before I ruin any more of my painstaking efforts.

I have been making an arse of myself for years but what a learning curve eh ?! How else can you learn how to go potty !

Yes there are Aussies and Kiwis here (hope that isn't offensive - I'll blame it on my Friend from New Zealand if it is) but Not I - from U.S. of A... I had no idea what onglaze was and made the bad assumption you meant 'on glaze'. The rest only makes sense if you are a scifi or fantasy fan.

I thought the 2 links I posted had good info. Sorry if they were of no use. Donna

Yes there are Aussies and Kiwis here (hope that isn't offensive - I'll blame it on my Friend from New Zealand if it is) but Not I - from U.S. of A... I had no idea what onglaze was and made the bad assumption you meant 'on glaze'. The rest only makes sense if you are a scifi or fantasy fan.

I thought the 2 links I posted had good info. Sorry if they were of no use. Donna

Thanks Donna

Not the info I was seeking and not strictly to do with the 'onglaze' medium I was referring to. I guess I will find something about the firing somewhere, or will have to do my own experiments.

Thanks again

Roz

In message , Rosalind Lacey writes

Roz. Are you talking about firing onglaze enamels and/or lustres and the mediums used to do this?

Susie

Yes indeed Susie

The mixing of stains with various mediums and producing designs/pictures on top of already fired glaze. I was hoping an onglaze specialist would be able to say 'this is what I do and it is very successful'. I fire it to ? ramp for ? number of hours - soak whatever. Ditto for lustres, gold etc. I have found a lot of conflicting text information, some of which I know doesn't work. It is obvious, I aint doing it right and am fed up with spoiling my work.

Roz

In message , Rosalind Lacey writes

Roz

I've been doing this for a long, long time. It's a complicated and difficult area. I never went through college and I've had to learn from books and advice from others. And mistakes like not venting the kiln sufficiently so I got permanent smutty marks all over prized work :-(( Not easy. I enjoy home cooking and I usually regard my work along the same lines. Read the labels, follow the recipe, follow instructions and cook (fire) to recommended temperature! In theory it should turn out ok. I ramp the firings depending on the size and the "thermal shockability" of the piece. Also I never soak anything.

I have found that pinks, redsand purples fire out at lower temperatures and blues and greens are the more stable at higher temperatures, with variations in the rainbow of colours in between. I'm still experimenting. I don't like the smell of some of the mediums used - they can be a health hazard too. So, I mostly just mix up the enamels with water, which means that they dry like a layer of dust on the surface of work, which can be all too easily disturbed. With lustres there's no choice, I have to use the thinners :-((

I don't have any books that I can recommend. Is there anywhere near you that runs classes in on-glaze painting? That's probably the best route to take, if you can. Like you, I've found conflicting information. As so many of the colours need firing within specific temperature ranges, I really do stick to reading the labels. Cadmium selenium reds can cope with higher temperatures than most of the other reds/pinks/purples. Problems begin when you find out that you just can't mix the C.S. colours with the rest. And maybe you can't get just exactly the colour you're after and have to compromise.

The more I learn, the more admiration and respect I have for the china painters who went before us - Sevres, Meissen et al - we have all the technology to help us. All they had were basic firing techniques, a lot of patience and astonishing skills.

If you think I can help at all, let me know. Email me privately if you wish. I'd be interested to know what you're trying to accomplish.

If anybody else out there has advice or information that can help both Roz and myself, I'd love to know.

Good luck regards Susie

continue to look out of curiosity and did find this (do a search for onglaze - the one book that keeps coming up is by Heather Tailor. This artist is in your country and might be helpful - "I'm also happy to answer any questions you may have..." , she says. snipped-for-privacy@janri.com.au

Thanks Susie and Janette - I will be contacting you both to pick your brains. I agree, it is painstaking but that polished enamel effect is well worth it. It was by accident the first time. Someone suggested I could disguise some blemishes on a bad firing of a model and the result was marvellous. It is a new challenge and I do want to get it right, plus I can't afford any more disasters.

Roz