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In Store Shopping availablePlainsman Pottery Supply is open for in-store shopping. Pickup orders may still be placed via email at larry@plainsmanclays.com, or over the phone by calling 780-440-4791. Click the links to the left to get information and pricing on our products. Click the "Plainsman Data Sheets" for details information on the use and Plainsman clay bodies and glazes. The blog below is intended to help you with all manner of technical issues in ceramic hobby production, these posts come every few days, so check back often. Technical Tips BlogMelt fluidity is not evident on typical glaze testsWe wanted to compare the melt fluidity of G2934Y (left) to G2934 (right). To do that we prepared GBMF test balls (see below). The forming and drying process leave a flat spot so the gumball-sized balls are easy to place on a porcelain tile. During firing they flatten out. The degree to which they do acts as a measure of the flow (when compared with another). Many characteristics that one would not observe on glaze tiles reveal themselves in this test. In this case, we needed to know if the melt flow was at least as good (and this proves it is better). Reactive glaze tend to be the norm in recent years, their primary characteristic is being runny (having high melt fluidity). Their fired character... Context: Preparing balls for a.., Forming a glaze into.., Melt Fluidity Tuesday 31st December 2024 A high-quality inexpensive studio/lab mixer is hereFor many years we have searched for a credible alternative to our Lightnin lab mixer. We found this unit on Amazon but then bought it from FristadenLab in Nevada. These are made in China but packaged, documented, shipped and supported in Nevada. This cost about $300US (a programmable one costs a little more but this is the better option for ceramic slurries). The first impression is how heavy the unit is. The base is 1/4" solid steel. The rods are all solid stainless 5/8". The clamp is also solid metal. The shaft is 3/8" and is held in place by a good quality chuck which enables easy release. The propeller is about 2 1/2" in diameter and screws on, it would thus be easy to 3D print other propellers and mount them on a hex nut (e.g. to fit into glaze jars). The locking mechanism enables mounting at an angle (important when trying to achieve the highest speed without sucking air bubbles). It plugs in via a 24v DC adapter (which means it has a DC motor). When switched on it speeds up gradually and the dial offers fine control of speed. On this occasion, we mixed 3500g of plaster in this 2 IMP gallon bucket (2.5 US gallon) with no problem. It runs completely silent and should easily mix this pail full of glaze or casting slip. A propeller mix like this is a great start to DIY glazes. Context: A must-have Laboratory variable.., Learn to draw and.., Based in the USA.., Propeller Mixer Tuesday 24th December 2024 Why is this vitreous low fire ware cracking out of the kiln like this?Simply put: Glaze misfit. The glaze is under compression and it is pushing outward. That compression was created as these terra cotta pieces cooled in the kiln. After the glaze solidified, somewhere above red heat, it became a glass and began to contract. The body, to which that glaze is attached by a glass bond, had its own higher rate of contraction. The glaze has some advantages in this battle. Its thick application gives it extra power to assert its thermal expansion. The body is over-fired and has become brittle. The unglazed outsides, incised designs and varying thickness provide points of weakness where cracks can start. The body resists the relentless force from inside but the odds were stacked against it and the pieces do not even make it out of the kiln. Of course, the glaze could be applied thinner, ware could be fired lower, it could have a more even cross-section and the outsides could be glazed. All will help, but increasing the thermal expansion of the glaze (by increasing KNaO at the expense of other fluxes), is one change that would fix this issue. Context: Glaze Compression Wednesday 18th December 2024 Learn to draw and print a mixer propellerLilly will take you step-by-step through the 3D design process of drawing a propeller. We tried many methods of doing this to finally arrive at a simple procedure that produces a flexible parametric design. Follow the full transcript as you watch. You can use the same process to create one in this or other CAD software. Our design has only nine steps yet is flexible enough to accommodate a different number of blades, changes in the blade shape, angle, thickness and size and different heights and diameters for the hub and hole. If you would like this 3D file in Fusion 360 format, it is available in the Files Manager in your Insight-live.com account. Context: A high-quality inexpensive studio.., Download Fusion 36 CAD.., Kdenlive is a video.., Propeller Mixer, Draw a propeller in.. Wednesday 18th December 2024 Super kiln wash that can be applied with a paint rollerTraditional 50:50 kaolin:silica kiln wash can be a real bummer to use. It flakes, both on drying and after every firing. Pieces of it stick to the feet of ware (plucking). It is not refractory enough either. Shelves need cleaning and rewashing often. Three outside-the-box ideas make this a better recipe. Context: My first zircopax kiln.., Plainsman Super Kiln Wash.. Tuesday 10th December 2024 Pottery glaze peeling when multi-layeredDipping glazes can, in very controlled circumstances, be multi-layered. If you have done it for some time, with success, you may have been just lucky. These pieces demonstrate one of many factors that can produce failure: The top glaze contains 7% bentonite and 5% zinc oxide - that is 12% hyper-fine particles, perfect to create the drying shrinkage to make this happen. The recipe author must have reasoned that it could "pinch hit" for the inadequate clay content. But 7% bentonite in any glaze is highly unusual. And, it is actually not even necessary here. Why? The high percentage of Ferro Frit 3124 is sourcing needless Al2O3 (alumina), that should be coming from kaolin or ball clay instead. Frit 3134 is the perfect stand-in, it contains almost no Al2O3, but otherwise is quite similar. The equivalent recipe we calculated on the right has the same chemistry, but does pass a sanity check. It is not guaranteed to work, but has a better chance than this one. For even more assurance of success, it should be mixed as a base-coat dipping glaze. Context: GLC, Substitute Ferro Frit 3134.., Glaze Layering Thursday 28th November 2024 Can a decal firing melt a glaze? Yes!Typical zero-boron high-temperature glazes will not soften in a 1500F decal firing. But low-temperature glazes will (especially those high in boron). Even middle-temperature ones, especially those having significant B2O3, can soften. G3806C (right), for example, is reactive and fluid, it certainly will. Even G2926B, which has high Al2O3 and SiO2, has tiny pits (because of the amount of B2O3 in contains). In serious cases, they can bubble like the mug on the right. What happened to this one? Steam. It was in use and had been absorbing water in the months since it was first glaze-fired at cone 03. The one on the left was not used, but it did have some time to absorb water from the air, it is showing tiny pits in the surface. Even if moisture is not present, on refire low fire bodies continue to generate gases of decomposition that affect glazes. Each decal manufacturer has a recommended firing temperature, that is for their decals, not your glaze. Context: Ceramic Decals, Borate, Glaze Pinholes, Pitting Saturday 23rd November 2024 The outside glaze has a fining agent that clears the bubble cloudsThis is a buff stoneware body, Plainsman M340. A L3954F black engobe was applied inside and upper outside at leather hard. The piece was fired at cone 6 using the PLC6DS schedule. The inside, totally clouded glaze is G2926B. Outside is GA6-B Alberta Slip amber transparent. Normally this inside glaze is crystal-clear on other bodies (and on this one without the black engobe). Clearly, the black stain in the engobe is generating tiny gas bubbles at the exact wrong time during the firing and the melt is unable to pass them. The outside glaze on on the same engobe, but the GA6-B glaze is demonstrating its ability to clear the micro-bubble clouding. It contains a lot of Alberta Slip, a material that is not finely ground like others. Particles across the range from 60-200 mesh are present, some of them appear to be acting as a fining agent to clear the bubbles. Context: Thick application clouds a.., Fining Agent, Clouding in Ceramic Glazes.. Wednesday 20th November 2024 Gold decal on a gunmetal matte black glazeThis is a cone 6 porcelain mug with G2934 matte glaze (with 6% black stain added). We get this satin matte effect in our test kilns using the PLC6DS schedule. Larger kilns cool slower so this glaze turns out too matte in them, we deal with that by increasing the percentage of glossy base (this is a 15:85 blend of G2926B glossy and G2934 matte). The gold decal is from Sanbao Studio. On the left, it has just been applied, other than the glossy finish revealing its location, no gold design is visible. But, after the decal firing, using the MDDCL schedule, we get the result on the right. Context: Ceramic Decals Monday 18th November 2024 A cone 10R blood red - without copper but with riskThis is G1947U clear glaze with 8% Mason 6021 encapsulated red stain added. The body is P700, a Grolleg kaolin porcelain. The one on the right, having significantly reduced clouding within, has one tiny addition: 2% Zircopax. It is acting as a micro-bubble fining agent, producing a brighter color and smoother surface. But there is a possible problem: These stains are not recommended for use above 2300F. Even though the color is very good, cone 10 is just on the edge of the limit temperature, so suitability for food surfaces would require careful testing for leaching cadmium. Context: Mason 6021 Red Stain, G1947U, Mason Color Reference Guide.., Copper Red, Fining Agent Saturday 16th November 2024 SignUp For Monthly Tech-Tip EmailPlease visit https://digitalfire.com and use the Register feature at the top of the page. No art or sales language, no tracking and no ads. 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Plainsman Pottery Supply, 9517 - 41 Ave NW, EDMONTON, AB T6E 5X7
Phone: 780-440-4791, FAX: 780-490-7591, Email: larry@plainsmanclays.com