MudPuppy on tue 4 jan 05
Hey Carl,
I have just started mixing my own glazes.
My biggest problem in getting started was knowing what to buy in chemicals.
Especially since I need to have everything shipped to me and am not made of
money...
I found a really good book, with a variety of base glazes as well as various
additives and how they react with eachother and the various bases is "The
Potters Pallette".
Its not an overwhelming book but great for a beginner!
I also got alot from the Ian Currie workshop I attended. You might see if
there is a glaze workshop in your area sometime, or a studio that might
give you a little basic overview.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Carl D Cravens"
To:
Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2005 9:57 PM
Subject: Beginner mixing my own glazes?
> I've taken some classes and thrown a few pots, but classes haven't covered
> glazes... glaze was something that came in a bucket and you just used it,
> see? :) (I'd take more classes, but I'm kind of close to broke after
> buying a wheel.)
>
> Now that I'm setting up to do pottery at home, the issue of having to
> obtain my own glaze has come up. I figured at first I'd just buy some
> commercial glazes, and eventually I'd learn more about glaze chemistry and
> mixing my own glazes.
>
> Problem is, I started looking at how much pre-formulated dry glazes _cost_
> and wondered how I was going to afford to experiment with much at all.
> $35 for ten pounds of clear glaze, and it goes up from there.
>
> So I thought, "Hey, folks say it's cheaper to mix your own glazes, let's
> do a little math experiment." So I went to ceramic-materials.com and
> looked at their ^6 20x5 "base" clear glaze. Less than $10 for ten pounds,
> and I've got a base recipe that I can modify myself.
>
> So, I'm a smart guy, I can read and follow directions, I can do careful
> research, I can do math, I can make careful weight measurements, and I can
> evaluate results and make adjustments.
>
> Is there any reason I shouldn't mix my own glazes from the get-go?
>
> Thanks!
>
> --
> Carl D Cravens (raven@phoenyx.net)
> ...and BTW, OTOH (FWIW), IMHO it's OK.
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
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>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
>
Carl D Cravens on tue 4 jan 05
I've taken some classes and thrown a few pots, but classes haven't covered
glazes... glaze was something that came in a bucket and you just used it,
see? :) (I'd take more classes, but I'm kind of close to broke after
buying a wheel.)
Now that I'm setting up to do pottery at home, the issue of having to
obtain my own glaze has come up. I figured at first I'd just buy some
commercial glazes, and eventually I'd learn more about glaze chemistry and
mixing my own glazes.
Problem is, I started looking at how much pre-formulated dry glazes _cost_
and wondered how I was going to afford to experiment with much at all.
$35 for ten pounds of clear glaze, and it goes up from there.
So I thought, "Hey, folks say it's cheaper to mix your own glazes, let's
do a little math experiment." So I went to ceramic-materials.com and
looked at their ^6 20x5 "base" clear glaze. Less than $10 for ten pounds,
and I've got a base recipe that I can modify myself.
So, I'm a smart guy, I can read and follow directions, I can do careful
research, I can do math, I can make careful weight measurements, and I can
evaluate results and make adjustments.
Is there any reason I shouldn't mix my own glazes from the get-go?
Thanks!
--
Carl D Cravens (raven@phoenyx.net)
...and BTW, OTOH (FWIW), IMHO it's OK.
Rick on wed 5 jan 05
None at all. Go to a wholesaler in your area and get one of their
catalogs or write off to one for a catalog. You will find that the
materials are considerably cheaper than the premixed. Might I suggest
reading "Clay and Glazes for the Potter" by Daniel Rhodes and Robin
Hopper if you haven't already read it. And there are lots of other
books on glazes to choose from, too. Hope this helps. Happy glazing!
Rick
On Jan 5, 2005, at 12:57 PM, Carl D Cravens wrote:
> I've taken some classes and thrown a few pots, but classes haven't
> covered
> glazes... glaze was something that came in a bucket and you just used
> it,
> see? :) (I'd take more classes, but I'm kind of close to broke after
> buying a wheel.)
>
> Now that I'm setting up to do pottery at home, the issue of having to
> obtain my own glaze has come up. I figured at first I'd just buy some
> commercial glazes, and eventually I'd learn more about glaze chemistry
> and
> mixing my own glazes.
>
> Problem is, I started looking at how much pre-formulated dry glazes
> _cost_
> and wondered how I was going to afford to experiment with much at all.
> $35 for ten pounds of clear glaze, and it goes up from there.
>
> So I thought, "Hey, folks say it's cheaper to mix your own glazes,
> let's
> do a little math experiment." So I went to ceramic-materials.com and
> looked at their ^6 20x5 "base" clear glaze. Less than $10 for ten
> pounds,
> and I've got a base recipe that I can modify myself.
>
> So, I'm a smart guy, I can read and follow directions, I can do careful
> research, I can do math, I can make careful weight measurements, and I
> can
> evaluate results and make adjustments.
>
> Is there any reason I shouldn't mix my own glazes from the get-go?
>
> Thanks!
>
> --
> Carl D Cravens (raven@phoenyx.net)
> ...and BTW, OTOH (FWIW), IMHO it's OK.
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> _______
> 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.
>
May Luk on wed 5 jan 05
Hi Carl;
Maybe if you only have space for one bucket and 9 bucks in your pocket?
;-)))))
I have a couple of friends who just buy clear transparent and doctor them -
adding colourants, little opacifiers. I did that myself and I found the
glaze dead and flat. And that only last a while, then they run into walls -
not knowing how to adjust for glaze faults, then lack of knowledge to change
directions, eg: going from reduction to electric [graduated from college]
going from earthenware to porcelain [change of style]; move to a new country
[bought home in France and Spain and start a new studio] Eventually,
everybody had to go back to glaze basics or pay up in time or money.
If you have time, start with the foundation - knowing your materials and how
to test them. Write your own brief of what you are looking for. Learn how to
deconstruct a recipe. Ivor reminded me how frustrating it is just to get a
recipe and sample it and hope for the best.
I just got The Ceramic Spectrum by Robin Hopper for Christmas. I really like
it for all the 'bracketing' test. I would like it for the simplicity and
logical organization if it were my first glaze book.
Master Cone 6 Glazes by John H and RR is a must for testing stable wares.
Then you do everything backwards just for fun.
Apology for stating the obvious. I was just having the same conversation
yesterday when a friend came to my studio and look at my glaze tests.
Regards
May
London UK
I don't know what's OTOH or FWIW. everytime I see a new alphabet combo, I
just say WTF?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Is there any reason I shouldn't mix my own glazes from the get-go?"
Chris Schafale on wed 5 jan 05
No reason in the world. I did the same thing, learned a lot, had lots of
fun, and never got stuck in the limitations of commercial glazes. Just be
prepared to keep testing until you get what you want. Make lots of pots --
you want to do that anyway, right? -- and keep after it.
Chris
>So, I'm a smart guy, I can read and follow directions, I can do careful
>research, I can do math, I can make careful weight measurements, and I can
>evaluate results and make adjustments.
>
>Is there any reason I shouldn't mix my own glazes from the get-go?
>
>Thanks!
>
>--
>Carl D Cravens (raven@phoenyx.net)
>...and BTW, OTOH (FWIW), IMHO it's OK.
>
>______________________________________________________________________________
>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.
Light One Candle Pottery
Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, USA (near Raleigh)
www.lightonecandle.com
Galleries of Pottery Forms by Clayart Potters: www.potteryforms.org
Email: chris at lightonecandle dot com
Mert & Holly Kilpatrick on wed 5 jan 05
Carl,
You will love mixing your own glazes, it's very absorbing and fascinating.
Not hard. Or rather, I guess you could say it's as hard as you want to make
it.
Get a book or two, there are many, one of my favorites is Robin Hopper's
Ceramic Spectrum which has a wealth of information. Also Ron Roy's and John
Hesselberth's Cone 6 Glazes is a good starting point, which you can get from
John's website at www.frogpondpottery.com. I have a webpage which gives
some information about cone 6 glazes,
http://www.stonecropstudio.com/potters.html
I know a couple of the links are dead, I need to get it updated. The
Digital Fire website is a whole glaze education.
Holly
East Bangor, PA
>Carl D Cravens (raven@phoenyx.net) wrote:
>Is there any reason I shouldn't mix my own glazes from the get-go?
Maurice Weitman on wed 5 jan 05
> Is there any reason I shouldn't mix my own glazes from the get-go?
I wouldn't have it any other way, Carl, and neither will you.
There's loads of great info and encouragement here on clayart for you.
You're in for a great ride; enjoy it!
Broad assumption here: you're making functional pottery. If not, and
food safety isn't an issue, then the stuff below can be moderated a
bit or a lot (heh).
Here's my (free) advice: since you said cone 6, buy these two books first:
"Mastering Cone 6 Glazes" (revered and referred to on clayart as
MC6G) by clayart's Ron Roy and John Hessellberth, and Mike Bailey's
"Cone 6 Glazes"
I suggested MC6G because they focus on making cone 6 glazes stable
and safe and show you how and why to do it. Mike Bailey's book
explains more about glaze development, how and why glazes can be
formulated to be matte or glossy, etc. in more detail than MC6G.
Read them both cover-to-cover and you'll be in great shape. I've
used MC6G glazes as my "base" glazes and have had fine results,
individually and in combination with themselves and others.
Since you're good at research (heh!) I'm sure you'll find them.
Next, get yourself some good glaze calc software. Which to use is a
personal decision. They've each got their own charms and cursable
aspects. Luckily you can try two good ones to see which fits your
style better. Both are available for Windoze and Mac.
Hessellberth makes Glazemaster which is based on FileMaker. I'm a
FileMaker kinda guy but I end up preferring to use Insight (below).
You can download it to try it (for 30 days) from his
http://frogpondpottery.com site.
I mostly use Tony Hansen's (he's the guy who developed the 5x20
glaze, I'm pretty sure) Insight. Check out http://digitalfire.com
where you may download a fully functional 30-day version of Insight
and some of his other educational materials. I've forgotten the name
of his glaze tutorial, but you'll find it there and I highly
recommend it.
There are several other books I think you'll want to have, especially
if you want to really understand what's going on, but you don't have
to go as nuts as I did or do so as quickly.
The two books above will more than get you started. You'll find
other recommendations, such as Ian Currie's Revealing Glazes (or
something like that). In it he describes his brilliant method
(called, coincidentally the Currie Grid) for doing glaze development.
It is brilliant. The thing I love about each of the three above is
they're small enough to pack on a trip or read in bed.
Then there's Hamer's bible, Mimi Obstler's "Out of the Earth, Into
the Fire", neither of which could I do without. Search on clayart
for Hamer or Obstler to see what "they" say about them. Robin Hopper
also has a few book I like a lot, info also found on clayart.
A few other things I'd also suggest and/or demand: an excellent
respirator-mask. I use a 3M, it comes in several sizes to fit most
faces tightly, and has replaceable filter elements. Very, very, very
important. As is a very, very well-ventilated place to mix. A
decent digital scale (I've got two: one to 30 pounds with half-gram
resolution, and one to 2600 grams with tenth-gram resolution), and a
Talisman rotary sieve -- makes mixing glazes well a delight.
I'm happy to help if I can.
Have a blast!
Regards,
Maurice
Carl D Cravens on wed 5 jan 05
I want to thank everyone for their answers, both on and off the list.
I've ordered _Mastering Cone 6 Glazes_... after doing a lot of reading of
the archives and looking at their pages, it seems like it's worth it.
I've got my eye on "The Ceramic Spectrum" as well. My library has older
editions of _The Potter's Dictionary..._ and _Clay and Glazes..._, both of
which I've checked out and expect to eventually own.
I have Evans Ceramics here in Wichita, and if they don't have what I want,
I can drive out to Brackers in Lawrence. It's about 2.5 hours away, but I
can include a shopping trip in Kansas City for my wife, or visit friends
in the KC area, and avoid paying directly for shipping. (I might spend as
much in gas, but at least I'll have more fun.)
My pottery wheel is sitting at UPS, waiting for me to go pick it up. We
had an ice storm last night, I didn't go to work today. I'm not sure I'm
going to make it to UPS either. Can't seem to get my truck door open
because of the layer of ice coating it.
Thanks again!
--
Carl D Cravens (raven@phoenyx.net)
ZenCrafters: Total enlightenment, in about an hour.
Elizabeth Priddy on wed 5 jan 05
But don't be afraid of commercial glazes. They are reliable, predictable,
a time saver, already tweaked, and cheap when you factor in potential loss
due to glaze making mistakes and mishaps. And for many people, learning
how to make glazes is important, for me I wouldn't call myself a potter if I
did not know how to make a glaze from scratch and test it and make it work.
It is an important basic skill. But I am not interested in doing it, there are not
enough hours in the day already, without an obsessing sideline. Commercial
glaze manufacturers will also make YOUR glaze for you and test it and guarantee
the ingredients . Once you have your own recipes, you may not want to make
them and devote valuable studio space to chemical warehousing. I prefer commercial
glazes, I have a good stable of basic resipes that work with my clay, but zero
interest in chemistry.
And in every commercial pottery that I have worked, there were people hired to make the
glaze, once the choice has been made about what it is. Unless you are doing something
innovative or very project specific, glaze making is not an essential part of your daily
routine unless you choose for it to be. My work focuses on images and painting so the
simple clarity and predictability of my glazes as a frame or pallette for my paintings has
become the caveat of what a good glaze is to me.
So there is a slightly altered perspective on it for you.
Chris Schafale wrote:
No reason in the world. I did the same thing, learned a lot, had lots of
fun, and never got stuck in the limitations of commercial glazes.
Elizabeth Priddy
252-504-2622
1273 Hwy 101
Beaufort, NC 28516
http://www.elizabethpriddy.com
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Neal on wed 5 jan 05
Carl: As others have said, go for it. I've got a six-month
head start, getting my kiln last summer. The folks on the
list have been great. My first foray into the 20x5 glaze
did not fit my clay--it crazed. I'm now using Tony Hansen's
1215H variation. Look under "Further Improvements" on this
web page:
http://ceramic-materials.com/cermat/education/114.html
Mastering Cone 6 Glazes is great. So is John Britt's new
cone 10 glaze book, The Complete Guide to High-Fire Glazes.
Even though I'm firing to cone 6, it really helped me
understand some of the ingredients and the process of
mixing glazes better.
Neal
neal126@yahoo.com
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Gary Harvey on wed 5 jan 05
Mastering Glazes by John and Ron is a very good book to start with. Go to
www.frogpondpottery.com One thing you need to consider is that inorder to
make your own glazes you have to commit to buying so much stuff. For
instance you will want to buy some items such as feldspar in 50 lb sacks.
Other things such as cobalt in small sizes because the 1 lb of cobalt
carbonate will cost more than $25 but the feldspar only about $12 for the
50 lbs. Of course the cobalt goes a long way and you will not need but
small amounts for most recipes. As a beginner myself I did not realize the
cost involved and the problems associated with them. Commercial glazes are
a lot easier but home made glazes are cheaper in the long run but not in the
short run. Good luck. Gary Harvey, Palestine TX
----- Original Message -----
From: "Carl D Cravens"
To:
Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2005 9:57 PM
Subject: Beginner mixing my own glazes?
> I've taken some classes and thrown a few pots, but classes haven't covered
> glazes... glaze was something that came in a bucket and you just used it,
> see? :) (I'd take more classes, but I'm kind of close to broke after
> buying a wheel.)
>
> Now that I'm setting up to do pottery at home, the issue of having to
> obtain my own glaze has come up. I figured at first I'd just buy some
> commercial glazes, and eventually I'd learn more about glaze chemistry and
> mixing my own glazes.
>
> Problem is, I started looking at how much pre-formulated dry glazes _cost_
> and wondered how I was going to afford to experiment with much at all.
> $35 for ten pounds of clear glaze, and it goes up from there.
>
> So I thought, "Hey, folks say it's cheaper to mix your own glazes, let's
> do a little math experiment." So I went to ceramic-materials.com and
> looked at their ^6 20x5 "base" clear glaze. Less than $10 for ten pounds,
> and I've got a base recipe that I can modify myself.
>
> So, I'm a smart guy, I can read and follow directions, I can do careful
> research, I can do math, I can make careful weight measurements, and I can
> evaluate results and make adjustments.
>
> Is there any reason I shouldn't mix my own glazes from the get-go?
>
> Thanks!
>
> --
> Carl D Cravens (raven@phoenyx.net)
> ...and BTW, OTOH (FWIW), IMHO it's OK.
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> 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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