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titanium in a crystal glaze

updated mon 15 oct 07

 

Diane Luedemann on sat 13 oct 07


I have been experimenting with crystals for awhile and have become more
confused then when i first started years ago. Can you fire to a lower cone,
say cone 9...insted of 10, when adding titanium to your glaze? Last glaze
all my glazes with titanium produced a nice glaze but no crystals! My
glazes w/o titanium were fine.
Any suggestions?

William & Susan Schran User on sat 13 oct 07


On 10/13/07 8:19 PM, "Diane Luedemann" wrote:

> I have been experimenting with crystals for awhile and have become more
> confused then when i first started years ago. Can you fire to a lower cone,
> say cone 9...insted of 10, when adding titanium to your glaze? Last glaze
> all my glazes with titanium produced a nice glaze but no crystals! My
> glazes w/o titanium were fine.
> Any suggestions?

Diane,
There are so many variables involved with your question it's hard to know
where to start with an adequate response.

Some simple things - Yes, you can fire to ^9 instead of ^10. In fact you can
fire even lower. I fire my crystalline glazes to just ^6. Check my web site
listed after my signature.

Titanium usually will not have a great affect on lowering the glaze
temperature but it can act in the formation of a glass/glaze. I've adding 8%
rutile or titanium to my glazes with good effects.

I also invite you to post your question on the crystalline glazes forum:



--
William "Bill" Schran
wschran@cox.net
wschran@nvcc.edu
http://www.creativecreekartisans.com

Diane Luedemann on sun 14 oct 07


Thank you, I think some of the issues I have also are the temp variables in
different parts of the kiln. I am still using a kiln sitter, and have not
moved on to the programable technology. I realize. like you say, it could be
a million things! However my results over the years are getting worse rather
then better! I am firing now and will see what happens @ cone 9 this
time......not enough time in a lifetime to understand! Diane

On 10/13/07, William & Susan Schran User wrote:
>
> On 10/13/07 8:19 PM, "Diane Luedemann" wrote:
>
> > I have been experimenting with crystals for awhile and have become more
> > confused then when i first started years ago. Can you fire to a lower
> cone,
> > say cone 9...insted of 10, when adding titanium to your glaze? Last
> glaze
> > all my glazes with titanium produced a nice glaze but no crystals! My
> > glazes w/o titanium were fine.
> > Any suggestions?
>
> Diane,
> There are so many variables involved with your question it's hard to know
> where to start with an adequate response.
>
> Some simple things - Yes, you can fire to ^9 instead of ^10. In fact you
> can
> fire even lower. I fire my crystalline glazes to just ^6. Check my web
> site
> listed after my signature.
>
> Titanium usually will not have a great affect on lowering the glaze
> temperature but it can act in the formation of a glass/glaze. I've adding
> 8%
> rutile or titanium to my glazes with good effects.
>
> I also invite you to post your question on the crystalline glazes forum:
>
>
>
> --
> William "Bill" Schran
> wschran@cox.net
> wschran@nvcc.edu
> http://www.creativecreekartisans.com
>
>
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William & Susan Schran User on sun 14 oct 07


On 10/14/07 8:16 AM, "Diane Luedemann" wrote:

> like you say, it could be
> a million things! However my results over the years are getting worse rather
> then better! I am firing now and will see what happens @ cone 9 this
> time......not enough time in a lifetime to understand!

When was the last time you changed elements?
Are your firings getting longer and longer?
A longer firing, especially towards the top end will subject the glazes to
more work heat. This will, in turn, burn out more crystal forming nuclei,
resulting in less or no crystals.

Bill


--
William "Bill" Schran
wschran@cox.net
wschran@nvcc.edu
http://www.creativecreekartisans.com