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funny itc story

updated wed 11 apr 12

 

mel jacobson on mon 9 apr 12


i sat in the factory parking lot of itc in florida
with feriz. he ran in to get some mail...he said
`no, you cannot set foot in that factory, not even
getting out of the car is going to happen....you and nils
would figure my secret out in five minutes if you
got into the factory.`

but, no one yet has figured out the binder...it works
like magic. it is not, and i know, it is not a common
silicate material.

like the brick industry, potters buy about .1 of one percent
of these products. millions of dollars change hands in industry.
and, that is where feriz sells itc.
all the launch pads at nasa have itc coatings.
the u.s. navy has itc on every heat treating facility in the world.
feriz has designed some very sophisticated furnaces for the
u.s. military. they are not potters kilns. they are million
dollar furnaces/all itc/fiber coated.
alcoa uses itc on all their aluminum smelting facilities.

by the way....feriz is retired and sold itc to a new group.
they have the secret now.
many have tried to make itc, no one has.
it works.
and the sale of that idea was not looose change.

feriz and i talk on the phone every month. he is a dear friend.
and, he is as generous as any human can be.
(he grew up in bosnia/yugoslavia during ww2. his father was
shot by the nazis in front of feriz. his family owned a brick yard
that dates back to the turn of the 20th century.

feriz did his advanced engineering degree at northwestern...but, his ph.d.
paper was itc...so, he left the last month, and never gave the
university the idea. he struck out on his own with alice at his side.
what a great couple.
i still write alice's* name on every kiln i build.
mel
*alice graduated from temple university.
she was a good friend of her classmate, bill cosby.
http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
clayart page below:
http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
http://www.21stcenturykilns.com/

JRodgers on mon 9 apr 12


Mel,

Good story. Thanks for sharing.

John R

On 4/9/2012 5:21 PM, mel jacobson wrote:
> i sat in the factory parking lot of itc in florida
> with feriz. he ran in to get some mail...he said
> `no, you cannot set foot in that factory, not even
> getting out of the car is going to happen....you and nils
> would figure my secret out in five minutes if you
> got into the factory.`
>
> but, no one yet has figured out the binder...it works
> like magic. it is not, and i know, it is not a common
> silicate material.
>
> like the brick industry, potters buy about .1 of one percent
> of these products. millions of dollars change hands in industry.
> and, that is where feriz sells itc.
> all the launch pads at nasa have itc coatings.
> the u.s. navy has itc on every heat treating facility in the world.
> feriz has designed some very sophisticated furnaces for the
> u.s. military. they are not potters kilns. they are million
> dollar furnaces/all itc/fiber coated.
> alcoa uses itc on all their aluminum smelting facilities.
>
> by the way....feriz is retired and sold itc to a new group.
> they have the secret now.
> many have tried to make itc, no one has.
> it works.
> and the sale of that idea was not looose change.
>
> feriz and i talk on the phone every month. he is a dear friend.
> and, he is as generous as any human can be.
> (he grew up in bosnia/yugoslavia during ww2. his father was
> shot by the nazis in front of feriz. his family owned a brick yard
> that dates back to the turn of the 20th century.
>
> feriz did his advanced engineering degree at northwestern...but, his ph.d=
.
> paper was itc...so, he left the last month, and never gave the
> university the idea. he struck out on his own with alice at his side.
> what a great couple.
> i still write alice's* name on every kiln i build.
> mel
> *alice graduated from temple university.
> she was a good friend of her classmate, bill cosby.
> http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
> clayart page below:
> http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
> http://www.21stcenturykilns.com/
>

jonathan byler on mon 9 apr 12


there are a few types of colloidal sillica, based on the particle
size, it has varying properties. it's been a few years since I read
anything about it, so I can't remember exact details anymore. anyway,
it's fascinating stuff. micro particle amorphous fumed silica mixed
with water to make a colloidal suspension. there are other materials
that can work in similar ways. there is also colloidal alumina,
colloidal zirconia (sometimes with yttria as a stabilizer). I was
reading today that zirconia on its own goes through some serious phase
changes with temperature, much like alpha and beta quartz, but adding
yittrium to it in small amounts will do away with the phase changes.
all of these particles are 5-10 nm (nanometers). That's pretty
small. anyway, all the product information on these things lists them
as high temperature refractory or as ceramic binders. Who knows what
ITC is exactly? probably not worth it for most folks to mess with and
find out. but a fun puzzle for someone. maybe you invent something
new?


On Apr 9, 2012, at 5:21 PM, mel jacobson wrote:
>
> but, no one yet has figured out the binder...it works
> like magic. it is not, and i know, it is not a common
> silicate material.
>

Greg Relaford on mon 9 apr 12


Agreed, a fantastic story!
On Apr 9, 2012 3:54 PM, "JRodgers" wrote:

> Mel,
>
> Good story. Thanks for sharing.
>
> John R
>
> On 4/9/2012 5:21 PM, mel jacobson wrote:
>
>> i sat in the factory parking lot of itc in florida
>> with feriz. he ran in to get some mail...he said
>> `no, you cannot set foot in that factory, not even
>> getting out of the car is going to happen....you and nils
>> would figure my secret out in five minutes if you
>> got into the factory.`
>>
>> but, no one yet has figured out the binder...it works
>> like magic. it is not, and i know, it is not a common
>> silicate material.
>>
>> like the brick industry, potters buy about .1 of one percent
>> of these products. millions of dollars change hands in industry.
>> and, that is where feriz sells itc.
>> all the launch pads at nasa have itc coatings.
>> the u.s. navy has itc on every heat treating facility in the world.
>> feriz has designed some very sophisticated furnaces for the
>> u.s. military. they are not potters kilns. they are million
>> dollar furnaces/all itc/fiber coated.
>> alcoa uses itc on all their aluminum smelting facilities.
>>
>> by the way....feriz is retired and sold itc to a new group.
>> they have the secret now.
>> many have tried to make itc, no one has.
>> it works.
>> and the sale of that idea was not looose change.
>>
>> feriz and i talk on the phone every month. he is a dear friend.
>> and, he is as generous as any human can be.
>> (he grew up in bosnia/yugoslavia during ww2. his father was
>> shot by the nazis in front of feriz. his family owned a brick yard
>> that dates back to the turn of the 20th century.
>>
>> feriz did his advanced engineering degree at northwestern...but, his ph.=
d.
>> paper was itc...so, he left the last month, and never gave the
>> university the idea. he struck out on his own with alice at his side.
>> what a great couple.
>> i still write alice's* name on every kiln i build.
>> mel
>> *alice graduated from temple university.
>> she was a good friend of her classmate, bill cosby.
>> http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
>> clayart page below:
>> http://www.visi.com/~melpots/**clayart.html/clayart.html>
>> >
>> http://www.**21stcenturykilns.com/
>>
>>

Ric Swenson on tue 10 apr 12


mel...

sorry

but



I found feriz a bit snooty...

ITC?

so secret....ohhhhhuhhhhh

we had him come to work on our periodic kilns in the 1980s at Bennington Po=
tters.... we would not let him touch the tunnel kiln...also fiber...but sac=
red.. (stupid David Gil)

at that time feriz was a kinda dilitant...holy holy holy....yada yada ya=
da...usw usw usw, etc etc etc etc...ad infinitum....


we paid him a LOT of money to protect our fiber walls....how are they today=
?



IMHO

but hey ...he is rich now..had a method..... an EDISON idea...or maybe the =
secret COKE idea.???

what is the formula????

we want it for free!!!

right....give away your work?

NASA wil pay more than simple potters...


hehe


come on.


more power to him.

a mavin...a mensch? yiddish is a great expressive language...better than En=
glish, Spanish or Norsk... but maybe I just know more expressions in Yiddis=
h (LILI?)


I still fire to cone 13 and do not give a sH$#* how it happens....heat work=
...HAPPENS

time and temperature.


the kiln be damned. just give me the result. maybe it is tooo easy here i=
n China? specialists do what they know best....afterall...you do not need t=
o do it allbyyourself.


who fired it? was it wood or raku???


was it cone ten or cone 13? was it porcelain? stoneware? earthenware? t=
erracotta?

JUST DO WHAT YOU DO

gather wood...hook up gas? use coal? electric...powered by hydro? NUCLEA=
R?


which fuel?
environment friendly? or just serves your purposes?

get it done



ric

Ric Swenson, B.F.A, M.F.A.
Ceramist, Artist and Teacher.
Jing De Zhen Ceramic Institute
Jing De Zhen City,
Jiang Xi Province
China
Mobile: 86-13767818872



> Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2012 17:46:40 -0500
> From: jrodgers113@GMAIL.COM
> Subject: Re: funny itc story
> To: Clayart@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
>
> Mel,
>
> Good story. Thanks for sharing.
>
> John R
>
> On 4/9/2012 5:21 PM, mel jacobson wrote:
> > i sat in the factory parking lot of itc in florida
> > with feriz. he ran in to get some mail...he said
> > `no, you cannot set foot in that factory, not even
> > getting out of the car is going to happen....you and nils
> > would figure my secret out in five minutes if you
> > got into the factory.`
> >
> > but, no one yet has figured out the binder...it works
> > like magic. it is not, and i know, it is not a common
> > silicate material.
> >
> > like the brick industry, potters buy about .1 of one percent
> > of these products. millions of dollars change hands in industry.
> > and, that is where feriz sells itc.
> > all the launch pads at nasa have itc coatings.
> > the u.s. navy has itc on every heat treating facility in the world.
> > feriz has designed some very sophisticated furnaces for the
> > u.s. military. they are not potters kilns. they are million
> > dollar furnaces/all itc/fiber coated.
> > alcoa uses itc on all their aluminum smelting facilities.
> >
> > by the way....feriz is retired and sold itc to a new group.
> > they have the secret now.
> > many have tried to make itc, no one has.
> > it works.
> > and the sale of that idea was not looose change.
> >
> > feriz and i talk on the phone every month. he is a dear friend.
> > and, he is as generous as any human can be.
> > (he grew up in bosnia/yugoslavia during ww2. his father was
> > shot by the nazis in front of feriz. his family owned a brick yard
> > that dates back to the turn of the 20th century.
> >
> > feriz did his advanced engineering degree at northwestern...but, his ph=
.d.
> > paper was itc...so, he left the last month, and never gave the
> > university the idea. he struck out on his own with alice at his side.
> > what a great couple.
> > i still write alice's* name on every kiln i build.
> > mel
> > *alice graduated from temple university.
> > she was a good friend of her classmate, bill cosby.
> > http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
> > clayart page below:
> > http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
> > http://www.21stcenturykilns.com/
> >