AKitchens on mon 30 aug 99
I just came across a tile manufacturer (www.terragreenceramics.com) that
produces tiles with over 55% post-industrial/pre-consumer recycled glass
and selected ceramic materials. Made in the USA.
Is there anyone that has any information about making this kind of tile
on a small scale. This is the only place that I have ever lived where
glass isn't recyclable.
Nan Kitchens
David Hendley on tue 31 aug 99
Glass cullet (the name for glass milled to a fine
powder consistency) is just another ceramic ingredient.
It's bought and sold by big companies as a commodity,
like copper or soybeans.
You can also make your own glass cullet if you have a
ball mill. I put my glass jars and bottles through a hammer
mill, and then tumble the sand-sized pieces in a small ball
mill for 24 hours, to end up with 150-200 mesh powder.
You can think of glass cullet as a frit that contains mostly
sodium, with a little calcium and magnesium as fluxes, and
silica. There's usually a trace of alumina, but not much.
Or, think of it as a feldspar, except without the alumina.
Glass cullet and clay will make a glaze at cone 10, but it
will most likely be crazed because of the high sodium content.
I ran a tri-axial blend of glass cullet, wood ashes, and local
clay, and came up with an entire range of glazes from
dry matt, to runny shiny.I call them my 'free glazes', since
none of the ingredients were purchased.
I've not used cullet as a body flux, but it seems like it
should work OK. Of course, if you used 55% cullet, as you
mentioned, you would have a low-fire body that would not
be very plastic.
Making your own glass cullet on a small scale is not really
very economic. Claybody materials like feldspar are so cheap,
your time is better spent making your art.
As an alternative to buying frit for a glaze at $1 a pound, it
becomes more worthwhile.
I started recycling my own glass by making cullet when
there was no place to take it for recycling out here in the
boondocks. I made the mistake of writing a story about it
in my newspaper I occasionally publish (The Old Farmhouse
Glaz-ette). Several people were so excited that I could put
old jars and bottles to good use that they brought me boxfuls
of mayonnaise and pickle jars. Yes, I dutifully thanked them, but,
2 years later, I still have boxes of old jars out behind the shed.
--
David Hendley
Maydelle, Texas
hendley@tyler.net
http://www.farmpots.com/
----- Original Message -----
From: AKitchens
To:
Sent: Monday, August 30, 1999 1:01 PM
Subject: Recycled glass
| ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
| I just came across a tile manufacturer (www.terragreenceramics.com) that
| produces tiles with over 55% post-industrial/pre-consumer recycled glass
| and selected ceramic materials. Made in the USA.
| Is there anyone that has any information about making this kind of tile
| on a small scale. This is the only place that I have ever lived where
| glass isn't recyclable.
| Nan Kitchens
|
| |
|
