search  current discussion  categories  glazes - misc 

plastic bits in glaze

updated thu 31 oct 96

 

Joyce Lee..........Jim Lee on fri 18 oct 96

I'm using plastic buckets for mixing and storing glazes. When I sieve I
find tiny bits of plastic obviously from the bucket (color) in my glazes.
Does anybody else have this problem? What do you do besides buying new
buckets? How do you mix your glazes to avoid this, if you do?

Estupida Joyce
Aaaaggghhh...I want colder weather NOW.

Marcia Selsor & Matt Benacquista on fri 18 oct 96

Joyce Lee..........Jim Lee wrote:
>
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> I'm using plastic buckets for mixing and storing glazes. When I sieve I
> find tiny bits of plastic obviously from the bucket (color) in my glazes.
> Does anybody else have this problem? What do you do besides buying new
> buckets? How do you mix your glazes to avoid this, if you do?
>
> Estupida Joyce
> Aaaaggghhh...I want colder weather NOW.
My students have been mixing the dry powder of clay with a jiffy
mixer and a cement mixer drill attachment from a hardware store.
We have been getting plastic bits in the glazes as well as the clay
bodies. Screen the glazes before each use. I also prefer to mix
the dry mix clay recipe with my hands,arms etc. (wearing a respirator)
--
Marci Selsor
Matt Benacquista
http://www.imt.net/~mjbmls/
mjbmls@imt.net

Bob Kavanagh on fri 18 oct 96

Joyce

Use buckets until there is a hole. Plastic burns off.

You want cold, come visit - yesterday is was 7 below (celsius).

bob kavanagh (60 kilometers west of Montreal)


>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>I'm using plastic buckets for mixing and storing glazes. When I sieve I
>find tiny bits of plastic obviously from the bucket (color) in my glazes.
> Does anybody else have this problem? What do you do besides buying new
>buckets? How do you mix your glazes to avoid this, if you do?
>
>Estupida Joyce
>Aaaaggghhh...I want colder weather NOW.

Don Sanami on fri 18 oct 96

Not so Estupida Joyce. If the buckets are colored and you are sieving
out the particles perhaps you are fortunate. We use colorless old pork
buckets and never noticed the problem. If the same situation is true with
us and the glazes are not affected then neither of us has the problem.On
Fri, 18 Oct 1996, Joyce Lee..........Jim Lee wrote:

> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> I'm using plastic buckets for mixing and storing glazes. When I sieve I
> find tiny bits of plastic obviously from the bucket (color) in my glazes.
> Does anybody else have this problem? What do you do besides buying new
> buckets? How do you mix your glazes to avoid this, if you do?
>
> Estupida Joyce
> Aaaaggghhh...I want colder weather NOW.
>

Tim Lynch on fri 18 oct 96

I used to be plagued with the same problem. I was using my electric drill
with a mixer attachement and was allowing it to scrape the sides and
bottom of the bucket. I was unknowingly (I swear) knocking little bitty
pieces of plastic into the glaze. Screening eliminated them.

Tim Lynch
The Clay Man

On Fri, 18 Oct 1996, Joyce Lee..........Jim Lee wrote:

> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> I'm using plastic buckets for mixing and storing glazes. When I sieve I
> find tiny bits of plastic obviously from the bucket (color) in my glazes.
> Does anybody else have this problem? What do you do besides buying new
> buckets? How do you mix your glazes to avoid this, if you do?
>
> Estupida Joyce
> Aaaaggghhh...I want colder weather NOW.
>

ktighe on sat 19 oct 96

Estupida-- I too have experienced the same plastic bits from those buckets.
I now am more careful not to allow my jiffy-mixer to hit bottom while
mixing ( I reach down and use my hand to stir up the bottom and clean off
the sides. I'd be interested in hearing others on this because these 5
gallon buckets are invaluable to me. --Ken

Richard mahaffey on sat 19 oct 96

Dear Joyce,

The posts recommending screening the glaze are fine for treating the
symptoms. In our studio Reid Ozaki adn I ran into the same thing. We
even cut through the bottom of the bucket once ( the glaze stops leaking
out till you move the bucket!).

We checked the Jiffy Mixer we used to see that the glaze had honed the
leading edges to a razor sharpness. We then filed the leading edges and
then checked it ocasionally when it became thin we would file it again.
We also tried to avoid runnig it into the bottom of the bucket after
that.

No more plastic bits.


To the person who mixes glaze with hands and arms, that is not allowed in
my studio at Tacoma Community College, I feel it is a very bad habit to
teach students. We use hypoallergenic latex gloves when we need to mix
glaze. Perhaps it is over doing it but better to err on the side of
saftey.

Rick Mahaffey, Tacoma Community College, Tacoma, Washington, USA
206-566-5260

Dan Taylor on sat 19 oct 96

Joyce Lee wrote...I'm using plastic buckets for mixing and storing glazes.
When I sieve I find tiny bits of plastic obviously from the bucket (color)
in my glazes. Does anybody else have this problem? What do you do besides
buying new
buckets? How do you mix your glazes to avoid this, if you do?"

You didn't say how you mix your glazes but I did experience the same problem
some time ago when I used a paint mixer on an electric drill. Now I use a
bathroom plunger with about a half a dozen half inch holes drilled into it.
Works like a darn. Got the idea in Ceramics Monthly a few years ago.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
Dan Taylor dataylor@mlc.awinc.com
Taylor Clayworks Ph: (403)527-1002
1340 - 10th Ave. NE Fax: (403)527-1032
Medicine Hat, AB T1A 6G3 "Strive to die young, but put it off as long
as you can"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----

Karen Gringhuis on sat 19 oct 96

If you are using a glaze mixer blade on a power drill, maybe it is nicking
the bucket when I hits the sides.

Donald G. Goldsobel on sat 19 oct 96

At 06:30 PM 10/18/96 EDT, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>I noticed the same thing once a while back when I used a drill motor with a
paint mixer to stir my glazes. Apparently the mixer chgipped off bits of the
bucket.
How are you mixing your glazes?>>

Donald Goldsobel, in the San Fernando Valley where it is 75 deg, sunny and
what we have been waiting for all summer. The canadian honkers are back!
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>> I'm using plastic buckets for mixing and storing glazes. When I sieve I
>> find tiny bits of plastic obviously from the bucket (color) in my glazes.
>> Does anybody else have this problem? What do you do besides buying new
>> buckets? How do you mix your glazes to avoid this, if you do?
>>
>> Estupida Joyce
>> Aaaaggghhh...I want colder weather NOW.
>>
>
>

Corinne Null on sun 20 oct 96

> Now I use a bathroom plunger with about a half a dozen half inch holes
drilled into it.


I second the motion! My plunger only has four 2-3 inch holes in it cut with
good sissors, but it really churns up the glaze nicely. The toilet brush,
having so much surface area, causes alot of glaze to go to waste, down the
sink. The plunger doesn't waste much glaze.
Corinne Null
Bedford, NH

cnull@mv.mv.com

William Amsterlaw on sun 20 oct 96

About those plastic bits caused by Jiffy Mixers....

I have noticed that my local hardware store now carries Jiffy Mixers with
plastic blades. (It is a tough plastic that seems pretty durable.) Plastic
blades like these can't cut into plastic buckets the way a metal blade can.

- Bill Amsterlaw (wamster@msn.com)
Plattsburgh, NY

Richard Gralnik on sun 20 oct 96

One slight refinement to the plunger mixer - find a long poll instead of
the usual 18-24" ones that come with them. It's nice to be able to mix
the glaze without having to kneel/bend over/lift the bucket onto a table.
It's also good exercise for the triceps :)

For those of you thinking about making yourself a plunger mixer - DO IT.
You'll be surprised how easily it churns up a settled bucket of glaze.
Two warnings though - Don't use it on a 1/3 full bucket unless you like
wiping up splattered glaze (or at least churn more gently!). Also, be
careful using it on a batch of dry materials being mixed up. I like using
a restaurant size wire mixer for this better.

Richard Gralnik
Los Angeles
Ready to final weld the kiln chamber and chimney and drill out the
burner manifold holes...

At 10:18 AM 10/20/96 EDT, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>> Now I use a bathroom plunger with about a half a dozen half inch holes
>drilled into it.
>
>
>I second the motion! My plunger only has four 2-3 inch holes in it cut with
>good sissors, but it really churns up the glaze nicely. The toilet brush,
>having so much surface area, causes alot of glaze to go to waste, down the
>sink. The plunger doesn't waste much glaze.
>Corinne Null
>Bedford, NH
>
>cnull@mv.mv.com
>
>

Dave Harms on tue 22 oct 96

Nifty. So how do you use it? Put it on the bottom of the bucket, pump
it, and move it around? Or do you move it up and down in the bucket?

Dan Taylor wrote:

>You didn't say how you mix your glazes but I did experience the same problem
>some time ago when I used a paint mixer on an electric drill. Now I use a
>bathroom plunger with about a half a dozen half inch holes drilled into it.
>Works like a darn. Got the idea in Ceramics Monthly a few years ago.
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dan Taylor on wed 23 oct 96

You use it the same as our forefathers (mothers?) used a washing plunger,
which was an inverted metal perforated cone with a handle like a bathroom
plunger. You smoosh it up and down and the glaze is squished through the
holes. You can also smush it around the bottom to get the thick stuff.
But, as someone cautioned the other day, be gentle with a full glaze bucket.
This machine creates an amazing amount of turbulance and you could find
yourself wearing your glaze.

----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Dave Harms wrote..."Nifty. So how do you use it? Put it on the bottom of the
bucket, pump it, and move it around? Or do you move it up and down in the
bucket?"

Dan Taylor wrote:

>You didn't say how you mix your glazes but I did experience the same problem
>some time ago when I used a paint mixer on an electric drill. Now I use a
>bathroom plunger with about a half a dozen half inch holes drilled into it.
>Works like a darn. Got the idea in Ceramics Monthly a few years ago.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
Dan Taylor dataylor@mlc.awinc.com
Taylor Clayworks Ph: (403)527-1002
1340 - 10th Ave. NE Fax: (403)527-1032
Medicine Hat, AB T1A 6G3 "Strive to die young, but put it off as long
as you can"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----