CNW on wed 31 may 00
Perhaps someone out there can help me with ancient knowledge.=20
I purchased at a school auction a electric glue pot. It is about 6 =
inches across and about 8 inches deep. (15cm and 20cm?) no settings, =
just on or off. It appears to be in nearly unused condition, the cord =
appears to date from the 60's, but is clean and smooth.
Would this be too hot or cold for melting wax? I have access to canning =
wax and the brown type mentioned previously. Would one of these work =
better in this type is hot pot?=20
Or should I just keep it as a curiosity?=20
Celia in NC
cwike@conninc.com
Larry Phillips on thu 1 jun 00
Cindy Strnad wrote:
>
> I suggest you use that glue pot to melt glue. It sounds like an inconvenient
> shape to be using to dip pottery unless you only ever make small things. If
> you want to find out the temperature, fill it with water, heat, and measure
> the temp with a candy thermometer. If it goes much above 250F, it's too hot.
If it goes much above 250F, you've somehow moved into another universe.
In this one, we don't allow water to get much above 212F.
The best way to find out the suitability is to fill it with wax, and
perform the same experiment. If it gets above 250F, it's too hot.
Otherwise it's fine. As you say, though, it's the wrong shape and size
for dipping.
--
Hukt on fonix werkt fer me!
http://cr347197-a.surrey1.bc.wave.home.com/larry/
Gail Dapogny on thu 1 jun 00
I don't pretend to be a safety expert on hot wax, but I have heard from
intelligent sources that paraffin fumes coat and seal the surface of the
lungs; this as I understand it can be a long-range and serious problem.
I'd like to know more; also am curious about the Bob Briscoe approach.
--Gail
Gail Dapogny
1154 Olden Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48103-3005
(734) 665-9816
gdapogny@umich.edu
www.silverhawk.com/ex99/dapogny
RonniB1@AOL.COM on thu 1 jun 00
This is such a curious subject. I use an electric frying pan, turned to low
it melts the canning paraffin that I buy very inexpensively in the
supermarket perfectly, without smoke. The pan is large enough for me to
cover the bottoms of most of my pots, and I use a brush to put on larger pots
and to use as was resist. It really works very well. I used to put old
candles in it, but that got smelly, mixed scents, and I like the clarity of
the paraffin.
I go to all of this explanation because I really can't understand why wax is
such an important thing that it's been discussed on here so much. It seems
much ado about nothing. No? Maybe I just don't use enough wax? :-)
Thanks for letting me air my view.
Ronnie
In the rain forest in Belize where we do have paraffin in a little box.
It's the clay and glazing materials I have to import from Houston. :-)
> Perhaps someone out there can help me with ancient knowledge.
> I purchased at a school auction a electric glue pot. It is about 6 inches
> across and about 8 inches deep. (15cm and 20cm?) no settings, just on or
off.
> It appears to be in nearly unused condition, the cord appears to date from
> the 60's, but is clean and smooth.
> Would this be too hot or cold for melting wax? I have access to canning
wax
> and the brown type mentioned previously. Would one of these work better in
> this type is hot pot?
> Or should I just keep it as a curiosity?
Cindy Strnad on thu 1 jun 00
Celia,
I suggest you use that glue pot to melt glue. It sounds like an inconvenient
shape to be using to dip pottery unless you only ever make small things. If
you want to find out the temperature, fill it with water, heat, and measure
the temp with a candy thermometer. If it goes much above 250F, it's too hot.
Cindy Strnad
earthenv@gwtc.net
Earthen Vessels Pottery
RR 1, Box 51
Custer, SD 57730
David McDonald on thu 1 jun 00
Celia,
You really want a wax melting container that will allow you to adjust
the temp. An on/off hot pot like you mentioned is very unlikely to
satisfy your hot wax needs, as depending on the specific type of wax you
have, and whether or not you thin it with anything, you'll find that
being able to adjust the temp is pretty essential. Just my own
experience, and I'm a long time user of this stuff; it plays a large role
in my claywork. I'm glad to see the recent sharing of info on this
important subject.
A long while back, I discovered those little coffee can shaped hot pots,
which were designed to heat soup, etc. They plug in, have a small dial
control for low to high, and are quite suited for this purpose. They are
also very easy to come across, and can often be found in thrift stores.
Just make sure that you get the kind that is all metal inside- no
plastic. If the lid is plastic, just replace it with your own clay lid,
and you're all set.
I'm looking forward to trying the low temp wax from the source that
David Hendley mentioned, and see if I can get it to work for me without
adding the lamp oil I've used (Liquid Paraffin, from Lamplighter Farms).
For my particular uses, I need a consistency of wax which will flow
easily with a brush, not just for bottoms, but between layers of glaze as
decoration too. Straight wax has always been too thick for me.
At Shimaoka's in Mashiko, we used a mixture of about half wax and half
fuel oil (a kerosene like fuel). This mix was heated in a tin can, which
sat atop a little clay hibachi like stove which contained small charcoal
embers. Temp was regulated by fanning the coals to make hotter! Very
flammable yes.
So David Hendley says he read that the fumes from paraffin are benign.
Perhaps it's the things we may add in to thin the mix which we may want
to look out for; kerosene, etc. Nasty stuff to smell when heated. David
McDonald
On Wed, 31 May 2000 23:04:03 -0400 CNW writes:
> Perhaps someone out there can help me with ancient knowledge.
> I purchased at a school auction a electric glue pot. It is about 6
> inches across and about 8 inches deep. (15cm and 20cm?) no
> settings, just on or off. It appears to be in nearly unused
> condition, the cord appears to date from the 60's, but is clean and
> smooth.
> Would this be too hot or cold for melting wax? I have access to
> canning wax and the brown type mentioned previously. Would one of
> these work better in this type is hot pot?
> Or should I just keep it as a curiosity?
>
> Celia in NC
> cwike@conninc.com
>
>
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Ray Aldridge on thu 1 jun 00
At 12:35 PM 6/1/00 -0600, you wrote:
>Celia,
>
>I suggest you use that glue pot to melt glue. It sounds like an inconvenient
>shape to be using to dip pottery unless you only ever make small things. If
>you want to find out the temperature, fill it with water, heat, and measure
>the temp with a candy thermometer. If it goes much above 250F, it's too hot.
>
Just to add another bit of info, back when I used hot wax to protect the
feet of my pots from glaze, I used a propane stove with a big Teflon pizza
pan to melt the wax. The advantage of this setup was that the wax was
shallow and the edge of the container didn't keep me from dipping wide low
bowls.
But I'm no longer waxing the feet of my pots. My glazes are not
particularly runny, and so now I just use a wet sponge to wipe the glaze
off the footring. When I trim, I cut a little bevel, maybe an eighth of an
inch wide, on the outside edge of the foot, and sponge this bevel clean of
glaze. My footrings look better than when I used wax, and I don't have to
breathe fumes or worry about conflagrations. And I don't get driven out of
the kiln room in the early stages of glaze firing, as the wax burns off.
Ray
Aldridge Porcelain and Stoneware
http://www.goodpots.com
Cindy Strnad on fri 2 jun 00
Hi, Larry.
Geez, is my face red. Duh. Of course it won't boil hotter than 220F.
Actually, here at my altitude it won't boil hotter than 210F. Guess I was
thinking of the slightly watered down molten sugar you normally use with a
candy thermometer. I'm too young to have a "senior moment". It must
be something else, surely.
Cindy Strnad
earthenv@gwtc.net
Earthen Vessels Pottery
RR 1, Box 51
Custer, SD 57730
Larry Phillips on sat 3 jun 00
Cindy Strnad wrote:
> Geez, is my face red. Duh. Of course it won't boil hotter than 220F.
> Actually, here at my altitude it won't boil hotter than 210F. Guess I was
> thinking of the slightly watered down molten sugar you normally use with a
> candy thermometer. I'm too young to have a "senior moment". It must
> be something else, surely.
Aw heck, we all do it occasionally. Why, I once turned on the TV when we
had a power failure, to see if there was any news about it. Talk about
red face!
--
Hukt on fonix werkt fer me!
http://cr347197-a.surrey1.bc.wave.home.com/larry/
Lee Love on wed 7 jun 00
---- Original Message -----
From: David McDonald
| fuel oil (a kerosene like fuel). This mix was heated in a tin can, which
| sat atop a little clay hibachi like stove which contained small charcoal
| embers. Temp was regulated by fanning the coals to make hotter! Very
| flammable yes.
They still use the same mixture, but the hibachi is gone and now they use a
pan of hot water on an electric hotplate.
--
Lee Love
2858-2-2 , Nanai , Mashiko-machi ,Tochigi-ken 321-4106 JAPAN
Ikiru@kami.com Voice Mail and Faxes (a USA number): (303) 256-0374
Help E.T. Phone Earth: http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/
Emily & Kurt Kiewel on sat 10 jun 00
>They still use the same mixture, but the hibachi is gone and now they use a
>pan of hot water on an electric hotplate.
Lee,
When I was in Kyoto my sensei used this great stuff called ryo. I never
did understand what exactly it was but it was the best wax resist I've ever
used. It was water soluble, thin as water, dried instantly, went on
smooothly. I'd love to get some. Do you know what it is?-Emily
| |
|
