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getting wax off

updated fri 20 dec 02

 

Mary White on wed 18 dec 02


Another newbie problem:

Using ordinary grocery-store paraffin for resist, just dipping the
bottoms in it and touching up with a brush, a long thin dribble
escaped onto the pot, my best jug so far. Is there any way of getting
this stuff off?

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mary
on the wet west coast of British Columbia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony Ferguson on wed 18 dec 02


Mary,

You will have to bisque it. If you were single firing, you can scrap it
off, depending on how much saturated the body. I have heard of some folks
taking a torch to it.

Thank you.

Tony Ferguson
On Lake Superior, where the sky meets the Lake

Stoneware, Porcelain, Raku
www.aquariusartgallery.com
218-727-6339
315 N. Lake Ave
Apt 312
Duluth, MN 55806


----- Original Message -----
From: "Mary White"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, December 18, 2002 10:15 AM
Subject: Getting wax off


> Another newbie problem:
>
> Using ordinary grocery-store paraffin for resist, just dipping the
> bottoms in it and touching up with a brush, a long thin dribble
> escaped onto the pot, my best jug so far. Is there any way of getting
> this stuff off?
>
> --
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Mary
> on the wet west coast of British Columbia
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> 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.
>

Kay Howard & Phil Chaban on wed 18 dec 02


Hi Mary--
I sometimes have the same problem. I have had good luck sanding off any =
residue left after peeling off the string of wax. Of course this won't =
work if the wax crossed a textured or impressed area that you want to =
protect. In some cases you may have to re-bisque. You might also try =
"goo gone" or another (usually citrus based) wax and grease remover. Of =
course then you have to wash off the cleaner as it is oily. Haven't =
tried the latter as I just thought of it while typing. Good luck and =
Happy Holidays to everyone.


Kay in Grass Lake, MI where the 36 personalized gift mugs are drying in =
the kiln and it feels more like spring than almost Solstice.

Laura Dener on wed 18 dec 02


just re-bisque at a cone less

Christena Schafale on wed 18 dec 02


Mary,

Best way is just to bisque the pot again. Some people burn away the
offending wax with a propane torch, but this can be a little risky.

Chris

At 10:15 AM 12/18/2002 -0800, you wrote:
>Using ordinary grocery-store paraffin for resist, just dipping the
>bottoms in it and touching up with a brush, a long thin dribble
>escaped onto the pot, my best jug so far. Is there any way of getting
>this stuff off?

Light One Candle Pottery
209 N Woodrow St
Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526
(919) 567-1098
candle@intrex.net
www.lightonecandle.com

Olivia T Cavy on wed 18 dec 02


The wax burns off at a much lower temperature. I use Standard Ceramics'
synthetic wax and don't use parafin, but for wax that lands in the wrong
place, I put the piece in my kitchen oven. I also use a propane torch,
but you do have to be careful not to crack the piece or burn your hand.

Early on I discovered that you cannot just scrape off the wax and
reglaze. Many glazes will simply not adhere if there is any wax, oil or
grease.

Bonnie

Bonnie D. Hellman, CPA
First Capital Corp., Pittsburgh, PA

PA work email: oliviatcavy@juno.com
PA home email: mou10man@sgi.net (that's the number 10 in the middle of
the letters


On Wed, 18 Dec 2002 14:30:50 -0500 Christena Schafale
writes:
> Mary,
>
> Best way is just to bisque the pot again. Some people burn away the
> offending wax with a propane torch, but this can be a little risky.
>
> Chris
>
> At 10:15 AM 12/18/2002 -0800, you wrote:
> >Using ordinary grocery-store paraffin for resist, just dipping the
> >bottoms in it and touching up with a brush, a long thin dribble
> >escaped onto the pot, my best jug so far. Is there any way of
> getting
> >this stuff off?
>
> Light One Candle Pottery
> 209 N Woodrow St
> Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526
> (919) 567-1098
> candle@intrex.net
> www.lightonecandle.com
>
>
_________________________________________________________________________
_____
> 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.
>


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J. B. Clauson on wed 18 dec 02


We used a blow torch. Pass the flame back and forth (so you don't create
uneven heat cracks) until the paraffin is burned off. It's tricky, but the
pot is ruined with the wax resist run on it so, what have you got to lose?

Jan C.

Gail Dapogny on wed 18 dec 02


Mary, You can scrape with a metal tool; then sand and sand! Try a brush of
glaze on that spot to see if you got it off, and if it resists, sand some
more (opps, sorry, Lili). Some people get it off with a propane torch -- a
bit risky. Others just give up and re-bisque. I find that I can usually
get it off as first described.
--Gail


>Another newbie problem:
>Using ordinary grocery-store paraffin for resist, just dipping the
>bottoms in it and touching up with a brush, a long thin dribble
>escaped onto the pot, my best jug so far. Is there any way of getting
>this stuff off?
>Mary

Gail Dapogny
1154 Olden Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48103-3005
(734) 665-9816
gdapogny@umich.edu
http://www.silverhawk.com/ex99/dapogny (single historical photo - no longer
registered with Silverhawk)

Jeremy McLeod on wed 18 dec 02


Tony Ferguson wrote:

> I have heard of some folks taking a torch to it.
>

Indeed. The torch thing works wonders and has the added
benefit of being a really direct/immediate gratification. Those
small propane bottles sold at bigbox hardwares that come complete
with little electric ignition switches make the perfect tool for this
terribly practical way to play with fire.

:-)

Jeremy McLeod

matt damage on wed 18 dec 02


While we're on the subject of wax, I once had the counter intuitive
experience of dealing with residual wax that had been applied to leather
hard work while I was decorating with defloculated slips and bisque fired to
cone 06. It really worked out in my favor, as the glaze clean up from the
textured areas was made effortless. It was the liquid wax available from any
ceramic suplier, and for some reason there were still traces of the wax
present after the bisque and the phenomenon worked it's way into my
decorating technique. I would apply the wax to the impressions stamped into
the slip coated vessel at the leather hard stage, bisque fire, apply oxides
to the textured areas, and then whipe away with a single stroke before soda
firing. I have done this in a while and I'm not sure it still works. It
could be an isolated incedent.





>From: Christena Schafale
>Reply-To: Clayart
>To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
>Subject: Re: Getting wax off
>Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 14:30:50 -0500
>
>Mary,
>
>Best way is just to bisque the pot again. Some people burn away the
>offending wax with a propane torch, but this can be a little risky.
>
>Chris
>
>At 10:15 AM 12/18/2002 -0800, you wrote:
>>Using ordinary grocery-store paraffin for resist, just dipping the
>>bottoms in it and touching up with a brush, a long thin dribble
>>escaped onto the pot, my best jug so far. Is there any way of getting
>>this stuff off?
>
>Light One Candle Pottery
>209 N Woodrow St
>Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526
>(919) 567-1098
>candle@intrex.net
>www.lightonecandle.com
>
>______________________________________________________________________________
>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.


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Rebecca P on wed 18 dec 02


Sand it off using a Dremel - much easier than using sandpaper.





>From: Mary White
>Reply-To: Clayart
>To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
>Subject: Getting wax off
>Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 10:15:11 -0800
>
>Another newbie problem:
>
>Using ordinary grocery-store paraffin for resist, just dipping the
>bottoms in it and touching up with a brush, a long thin dribble
>escaped onto the pot, my best jug so far. Is there any way of getting
>this stuff off?
>
>--
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Mary
>on the wet west coast of British Columbia
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>______________________________________________________________________________
>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.


_________________________________________________________________
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Bob Leek on wed 18 dec 02


>>Using ordinary grocery-store paraffin for resist, just dipping the
bottoms in it and touching up with a brush, a long thin dribble
escaped onto the pot, my best jug so far. Is there any way of getting
this stuff off?<<

To remove the unwanted drips of parafin, I set my kitchen oven on warm, put
the piece on the oven rack with a piece of aluminum foil on the rack beneath
(to catch the wax), and an hour or two later all the wax has dripped off.
Ready to re-wax. Works pretty well.

Bob in Virginia

Sandy Cryer on thu 19 dec 02


Ive tried putting them in the oven and usuing a torch, but the only really
truely reliable method it to bisque fire it again.
Sandy Cryer

Joyce Lee on thu 19 dec 02


Any of my Bison tools will remove wax from bisque
by scraping. Just be careful not to drop them on
a concrete floor or they well might shatter ... what are
they, Phil ....... titanium steel, isn't it? AND clean the wax
from the blade or it could wind up on your next pot.

Joyce
In the Mojave where the adult flickers are once again
trying to get into the warmth of the house. We placed
roosts for them tucked back under the eaves, but
then discovered a cat climbing the stuccoed wall
heading in their direction as they roosted. So, we listen to the
peck,peck,peck...... scratch,scratch,scratch .... as
they now and then call "hello in there" in typical flicker style .... =
and we feel sad..... down to 25 F last
night. Going now to rescue #1 Support Person who=20
is hiding under his warm covers as the westie tries
to uncover his head and bite his ears...... "no
scratchin'...." he says........ "Joyce," he yells, "come
get your puppy......"=20