G.M. Schauer on tue 3 dec 02
Hi all,
I just mixed up my first batch of glaze ever this week, 10 kg of a shino
recipe of Steve Louck's from the recent Studio Potter. Probably this was
too ambitious for a first time, but I wanted enough to dip some large pots.
Anyway, I used a jiffy mixer and hot water, and it was easy to get it lump
free. I sieved it through an 80 mesh sieve and it took about an hour of
rubbing it through with a spatula. There were literally no lumps visible
through the entire time, and at the end the sieve contained about one third
of a handful of fine sandy particles which I discarded. I have several
questions about this process.
Why do we sieve anyway, is it to get rid of any lumps, to remove any solids
bigger than the mesh to make the melted glaze more uniform or what?
Does it take others this long for what amounts to a 4 gallon batch? One
hour of stirring is alot of stirring in my mind.
What might I lose in practical terms if I switched to 60 mesh? Or even
bigger just to break up lumps?
Any thought welcome on this topic. Thanks,
Galen Schauer
Plymouth MN
PS I personally appreciate knowing where all you clayarters are writing
from, who so note in your posts, somehow I can visualize a person better if
I can put a place around them.
Lois Ruben Aronow on wed 4 dec 02
On Tue, 3 Dec 2002 21:44:27 -0600, you wrote:
>Anyway, I used a jiffy mixer and hot water, and it was easy to get it =
lump
>free. I sieved it through an 80 mesh sieve and it took about an hour of
>rubbing it through with a spatula. There were literally no lumps =
visible
>through the entire time, and at the end the sieve contained about one =
third
>of a handful of fine sandy particles which I discarded. I have several
>questions about this process.
Try using a brush - either a stiff paintbrush, a nail brush, a
vegetable scrubbing brush, whatever, as long as it's stiff. Your
sieving will go much faster.
sieving is a very important part of glaze making, but it needn't take
as long as an hour. I can usually sieve a 5 gallon bucket through an
80 mesh sieve twice in about 15 minutes, depending on the glaze. (My
crawl glaze takes longer, because of the thickness). =20
I also let is slake in the bucket overnight, just to let the chemicals
and water get to know each other better. Makes for MUCH easier
sieving.
--------------------------------------------
Lois Ruben Aronow
gilois@bellatlantic.net
=46ine Craft Porcelain
http://www.loisaronow.com=20
Ababi on wed 4 dec 02
Hello Galen Schauer
The purpose and the unpurpose!
When you make a glaze, sieving through an 80# sieve forces the small particle as well
as the bigger ones to combine to one liquid.
Some materials like titanium or strontium have bigger particles the result of not
sieving are small crumbs around your glaze ( people with old kiln might know it from
the rust falling from the top-door that ruin the works).
On the other hand: When I test 20 or 30 recipes it is a bit scary to think about sieving
washing cleaning 20-30 times.
This is how I do it:
http://members4.clubphoto.com/_cgi-bin/getImage.pl?imgID=10618784-d820&trans=
half long cut jiffy mixer or similar fit the size of the bottom of my plastic test jars I mix
fast without sieving.
When do I sieve: Foodsafe glazes. Crystal glazes or glazes with big particles. Some
glazes I do not sieve on purpose.
Some of the glazes I do not sieve I have to spray, so I use a smaller mesh sieve
(bigger holes).
Hope it helps
Ababi Sharon
Glaze addict
Kibbutz Shoval Israel
ababisha@shoval.org.il
http://members4.clubphoto.com/ababi306910/
http://www.milkywayceramics.com/cgallery/asharon.htm
---------- Original Message ----------
>Hi all,
>I just mixed up my first batch of glaze ever this week, 10 kg of a shino
>recipe of Steve Louck's from the recent Studio Potter. Probably this was
>too ambitious for a first time, but I wanted enough to dip some large pots.
>Anyway, I used a jiffy mixer and hot water, and it was easy to get it lump
>free. I sieved it through an 80 mesh sieve and it took about an hour of
>rubbing it through with a spatula. There were literally no lumps visible
>through the entire time, and at the end the sieve contained about one third
>of a handful of fine sandy particles which I discarded. I have several
>questions about this process.
>Why do we sieve anyway, is it to get rid of any lumps, to remove any solids
>bigger than the mesh to make the melted glaze more uniform or what?
>Does it take others this long for what amounts to a 4 gallon batch? One
>hour of stirring is alot of stirring in my mind.
>What might I lose in practical terms if I switched to 60 mesh? Or even
>bigger just to break up lumps?
>Any thought welcome on this topic. Thanks,
>Galen Schauer
>Plymouth MN
>PS I personally appreciate knowing where all you clayarters are writing
>from, who so note in your posts, somehow I can visualize a person better if
>I can put a place around them.
>______________________________________________________________________________
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
Leland G. Hall on wed 4 dec 02
You wrote in part:
I sieved it through an 80 mesh sieve and it took about an hour of
>rubbing it through with a spatula. >
>Does it take others this long for what amounts to a 4 gallon batch? One
>hour of stirring is alot of stirring in my mind.
>
>>Galen Schauer
>Plymouth MN
>
Have you considered a "Talisman"? I love mine. Some of my glaze batches
do not require sieving. But when sieving is required, the Talisman is a
wonder. A real time saver. A little spendy, but very well made, sturdy
and functional. Check your catalogs. Hope this helps.
Leland Hall
Before The Wheel Enterprises
La Pine, OR, USA, where it's still dry as a bone. sheesh, what a fire
season next year!
Ababi on wed 4 dec 02
Please see http://members4.clubphoto.com/ababi306910/186014/
The last slide
This is the "poor potter" substitute for Talisman It is a rubber back disk with a longer
shift
on the other side I glued rubber from car's tub to cover the screw.
I consider adding "Scotch -Bright" to be like the brushes on the talisman.
You can roll it with hands or connected to a power tool
Ababi Sharon
Glaze addict
Kibbutz Shoval Israel
ababisha@shoval.org.il
http://members4.clubphoto.com/ababi306910/
http://www.milkywayceramics.com/cgallery/asharon.htm
---------- Original Message ----------
>You wrote in part:
>I sieved it through an 80 mesh sieve and it took about an hour of
>>rubbing it through with a spatula. >
>>Does it take others this long for what amounts to a 4 gallon batch? One
>>hour of stirring is alot of stirring in my mind.
>>
>>>Galen Schauer
>>Plymouth MN
>>
>Have you considered a "Talisman"? I love mine. Some of my glaze batches
>do not require sieving. But when sieving is required, the Talisman is a
>wonder. A real time saver. A little spendy, but very well made, sturdy
>and functional. Check your catalogs. Hope this helps.
>Leland Hall
>Before The Wheel Enterprises
>La Pine, OR, USA, where it's still dry as a bone. sheesh, what a fire
>season next year!
>______________________________________________________________________________
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
Craig Martell on wed 4 dec 02
Hi:
It takes about 5 minutes to seive a 5 gallon batch of glaze if I use my
Talisman and it really doesn't take that much longer to do it with a
regular sieve and a big paint brush. I usually use a 100 mesh sieve.
Some glazes don't really need to be sieved. Glazes with coloring oxides
do. Celadons for instance will iron spot and not be as nice if they are
not sieved. Iron is somewhat difficult to disperse. I actually ball mill
and then sieve all the celadons. Cobalt oxide is another one and you'll
get blue spots if you don't sieve glazes with cobalt ox.
regards, Craig Martell Hopewell, Oregon
ken kang on wed 4 dec 02
----- Original Message -----
From: "G.M. Schauer"
You wrote in part
> I just mixed up my first batch of glaze ever this week, 10 kg of a shino
> recipe of Steve Louck's from the recent Studio Potter. Probably this was
> too ambitious for a first time, but I wanted enough to dip some large
pots.
>
> Anyway, I used a jiffy mixer and hot water, and it was easy to get it lump
> free. I sieved it through an 80 mesh sieve and it took about an hour of
> rubbing it through with a spatula.
I use an electric hand mixer. As I'm pouring the glaze in the sieve I place
the mixer touching the screen and turn it on. I just sieved a 10,000 gram
batch through a 60 mesh, it took me only a few minutes to finish. Would have
been faster if I had someone else helping me pour the glaze. A new mixer
can be bought for less then ten bucks. Had mine for years mixing small
batches of glazes. Just this year I had the idea of putting the mixer in the
sieve. Go to my web page and look in the glaze album for a picture of the
mixer.
http://photos.yahoo.com/rakuken2000
Another beautiful day in Hawaii!
Aloha, Ken
Ron Roy on fri 6 dec 02
Hi Galen,
Sieving is to get rid of the lumps and also to get a good mix of materials
- I think 80 mesh is right for most glazes.
Like Graig - I have to do more with iron oxide in a cone 10 Celadon - or I
also get brown spots - I just take a cup of the glaze - add the iron to it
and put it through 140 Mesh - a blender would do the job as well.
The best technique for fast sieving is to make the glaze thin - you can
practically pour it through the sieve - next day take the water off the top
and add it back in till the consistency is right. Not for glazes with
solubles in them though - do the glaze without them - and add the solubles
- in solution - after.
60 mesh is simply not fine enough for many glaze - you can still get
visible chunks at that size. It is also important to make sure all the
glaze goes through the sieve at least once - it's easy to get the batch
contaminated with unsieved from the brush or container if you are not
thinking about that.
RR
>I just mixed up my first batch of glaze ever this week, 10 kg of a shino
>recipe of Steve Louck's from the recent Studio Potter. Probably this was
>too ambitious for a first time, but I wanted enough to dip some large pots.
>
>Anyway, I used a jiffy mixer and hot water, and it was easy to get it lump
>free. I sieved it through an 80 mesh sieve and it took about an hour of
>rubbing it through with a spatula. There were literally no lumps visible
>through the entire time, and at the end the sieve contained about one third
>of a handful of fine sandy particles which I discarded. I have several
>questions about this process.
>
>Why do we sieve anyway, is it to get rid of any lumps, to remove any solids
>bigger than the mesh to make the melted glaze more uniform or what?
>
>Does it take others this long for what amounts to a 4 gallon batch? One
>hour of stirring is alot of stirring in my mind.
>
>What might I lose in practical terms if I switched to 60 mesh? Or even
>bigger just to break up lumps?
Ron Roy
RR#4
15084 Little Lake Road
Brighton, Ontario
Canada
K0K 1H0
Phone: 613-475-9544
Fax: 613-475-3513
Marvpots@AOL.COM on fri 6 dec 02
Galen:
you would probably do yourself some good by firsst sieving through a 40 mesh
sieve a couple of times, then a 60 mesh and finally the 80 mesh. That will
give you a particle-free glaze that will be applicable without small
particles on the surface of your piece.
I suggest you try that next time, with a smaller amount of glaze, just to see
how it goes.
Good luck!
Marvin Flowerman
marvpots@aol.com
iandol on sat 7 dec 02
Dear Marvin,
I appreciate your suggestion to start sieving with an fairly open mesh =
and working down to a finer one. I do this when I am dry crushing raw =
materials in the dolly. I seem to get better returns for my effort.
But there is something I do not understand if this is being done to the =
mixture of ingredients in the bucket after they have been slaked and =
mixed with water.
If this is done to a glaze recipe, then anything which is retained on =
the coarser meshes will be removed from the glaze. Surely this will =
change the character of the glaze. Not a very desirable outcome. Or am I =
missing something?
Best regards,
Ivor Lewis
Russel Fouts on sat 7 dec 02
One trick on sieving is to get a REALLY fine kitchen sieve, I've used a
reusable coffee filter (common here).
First get your glaze up off the bottom with a toilet brush (another neat
trick)so it's all suspended and the larger chunks are broken up.
Then stir the glaze with the sieve and you'll find that it does a pretty
good job. Stir keeping the open end forward. Empty the sieve out as it
fills up.
Russel
--
Russel Fouts
Mes Potes & Mes Pots
Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32 2 223 02 75
Mobile: +32 476 55 38 75
Mailto:Russel.Fouts@Skynet.Be
Http://www.mypots.com
http://www.Japan-Net.ne.jp/~iwcat
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