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to spray or not to spray?

updated fri 2 jun 00

 

Grace Sheese on mon 15 may 00


Hi!

I need some help, especially since this involves money$$$. My pots have
alot of texture, either through stamps or patterns made with my slip
trailer. I think that my pots really needs to be wood fired or salt fired.
Unfortunately, I am not currently in a position to build either. Since it's
the subtle variations in the glaze surface (like a salt or wood fired pot)
that I want...so I was thinking of spraying my pots. Using the garden
sprayer did not work out for lots of reasons. Could I achieve this with a
sprayer? If so, what kinds of things aside for a spray gun and a booth
would I need to buy and what are the best and cheapest brands/places to
purchase all of this?

Thanks for the help.

Grace
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Martin Howard on tue 30 may 00


You need not buy a spray booth. Design one for fitting over an existing
kickwheel. Then you can have more control over the spraying and can save the
spray from a removable backpad.

Consider having more than one sprayer, so that you can use more than one
glaze in a session.

Spraying, though will not give you texture of finish. It will give a very
machine like finish, only differentiated where you have sprayed for longer
or the glaze hits parts with previous texturing.

Martin Howard
Webb's Cottage Pottery
Woolpits Road, Great Saling
BRAINTREE, Essex CM7 5DZ
England
martin@webbscottage.co.uk

Jean Todd on wed 31 may 00


A large plastic garbage can with a hole cut out on one side that fits onto
to wheel makes a good spray booth. When finished wipe all the clay off the
inside of the plastic bin and put back into the glaze bucket. The hole has
to be large enough, at least one foot square or more and the can used upside
down on the wheel surround, place pot on wheel and have wheel turning slowly
while spraying..

Jean
"Lang may your lum reek"
E-mail mallyree@ix.net.au


> You need not buy a spray booth. Design one for fitting over an existing
> kickwheel. Then you can have more control over the spraying and can save
the
> spray from a removable backpad.
>
> Consider having more than one sprayer, so that you can use more than one
> glaze in a session.
>

Jeff Lawrence on thu 1 jun 00


Grace was wondering about spraying glazes for textural effects and Martin
was suggesting that only a machine-like finish was possible.

Hello Grace and Martin,

I've been using sprayers for textural effects for a number of years -- my
current arsenal consists of a drywall hopper gun (cut down the hopper or
your forearms will get very muscular), a sandblaster and a small HVLP from
the industrial supply.

By varying the device, air pressure, fluid flow, viscosity of the glaze and
attitude of the gun, you can get many variations:
- fine mist - HVLP gun, high pressure, low-medium flow, thin glaze
- small thick blots - HVLP gun, low pressure, high flow, thick glaze
- small thin blots - HVLP gun, med pressure, med flow, thin glaze
- large thick blobs - hopper gun, med air, medium flow, thick glaze
- large thin splashes - HVLP gun, med air, high flow, thin glaze
- elongated streak -- large thick blob technique, but shoot across surface.
- variaty of large and small -- sandblaster, short bursts, thicker glaze

There is a wealth of possibilities I've not had time to pursue. The hopper
and sandblaster are particularly fun but it's very easy to overdo it.

I believe that the fine mist is what industry shoots for (ahem) with their
personnel. I'm not aware of a machine that can do any of the other effects.
I believe you can buy a machines that will dip your ware, though.

Jeff Lawrence ph. 505-753-5913
Sun Dagger Design fx. 505-753-8074
18496 US HWY 285/84 jml@sundagger.com
Espanola, NM 87532 www.sundagger.com