I'm 2.5 mins into this and can see where it's going.
I will be coming back to this video again! :D
I like you method of explaining it and it seems you think in a similar way to me... many small parenthetical asides as you say something and realise there's a bit of an exception worth mentioning.
I previously only saw your "15 second" pot throwing, chuckled and moved right along... I think I'll be checking some of your other stuff now.
(First attempt at pottery was 4 days ago and I'm hooked.)
Thank you so much. you have explained it so well for people like me just fresh to this field. Now I understand the basic. I have a question - can I do the glazing on the clay (brown coloured clay) which is used by most of the potters in India? Because I am confused when I am looking at white coloured pots on which I see the glazing is don. Is that the different clay than the brown or mud coloured?
@Tentmakerindia: The color of the clay is like the color of the canvas to be painted on. Glazes will look differently on a brown clay than on a white clay. I think glazes tend to look brighter and richer on white clay.
Often people make the pot with brown clay, and coat it with a white slip. This is basically a white clay coating. Then, the glazes is applied over this white slip coating. That might be what you are seeing.
That was great mate. just getting into pottery and always learning. great glazing guide you got here. Be good to see more of your blogs (even if you don't like them) ^_^
Thanks for this video - as budding potter it's one of the most useful video's on here, there is a LOT of information about throwing, but so little about glazing.
He is AWESOME!!!!! He breaks down an intimidating subject to something sensible. Like see, it's not impossibly mysterious and unabtainable! You CAN do it too!!
While a great portion of this is over my head, it did give me a working idea of glazes at the basic level and working up. Since I am extremely weak in chemistry, there is a high probability I will be buying pre-mixed glazes or have DH mixing them since he is the science whiz (MAE engineer. Thanks for the information. Great video.
Thank you! You do a great job at taking a complex subject and breaking it down into simpler, more manageable parts!
I have avoided making my own glazes because I didn't want to just "blindly" mix up someone else's recipe. Thank you for sharing your system, as now I can see a straight forward starting point. Super job!
If you add clay for alumina, is it best to add the same type of clay that you are going to put the glaze on?
I really like your vlogs as well, so I hope you don't stop making them!
This video was REALLY interesting! I have stayed away from making my own glazes, mostly due to lack of space for so many powders and a small room, so I don't want lots of dust. But you are tempting me to try now!
If you keep things simple, you don't need too many materials. Even just wood ash and clay or wood ash and feldspar can give you great glazes. There is more dust from the forming clay forming process than the glazing process I think.
Clay certainly causes dust, almost no matter what I do with it. But I was thinking of the dust from mixing the glazes dry.
So wood ash and caolin powder and I could try to make a glaze from that? Hmmm! I guess I could mix the powders outside. Need a better weight? or is 2-gram tolerance OK?
I like a triple beam balance scale that is accurate to within 1/10th of a gram, however a 2 gram tolerance is probably ok for simple glazes that are not very picky. Yes, kaolin and ash may make a glaze, (it probably wont be a clear even one however, be ready for it to run all over). Slip clays may work better, like redart or ball clays. types of ash very a lot, so keep that in mind as well.
That first book I mention is the best I've found on the subject. Some easy 50%/50% mixes I like are soda ash/ ball clay, wood ash/redart clay, nepheline syenite/magnesium carb. (a texture glaze). a 2-gram tolerance will be difficult for small test batches using colloring oxides. often you add fractions of a gram of these. For example it might only take .2 grams of copper carb to make a copper red glaze.
My glaze room is very small, just room to stand at a workbench. The type of clay you add to add alumina us normally EPK (kaolin) or Ball Clay. You want it pure, without the grog and other fillers and fluxes your clay body might have. But one never knows for sure, so feel free to experiment.
Low fire glazes get a bit more complex than high fire, but they share the same basic techniques. With high fire, you have the nice advantage of raw heat power to help things melt. Glazing is a whole other side of things, with a great deal to learn and understand, but I find it very rewarding.
I really prefer the high-fire glazes, as there is much for "life" in them. The colors are seldom solid and drab.
I think maybe I need to learn some basic chemistry before I start thinking about doing glazes - and maybe find some more space for storage of powders and glazes. My workshop is FULL as it is! :-)
It all depends on how complex you wish to get. Very simple glazes don't take a great deal to mix and use. Glazing can be complex or simple, depending on your approach and values and what you want to accomplish.
Since I don't think I will take university courses in pottery, I need to do this the old-fashioned way - learning a little bit at a time. I am getting better on the wheel these days, and will stick to that, but have put this vid (and thus also the comments and tips) in my pottery favourites to check back on when I am more ready to take that next step.
I wonder if there is a way to test a glazed pot to see if it was made using lead? I've bought several cups and dishes that I sometimes worry about. Thanks for the info. You are a good teacher! Mrs. GeezerArt
I should have probably said this in my vid, but I think lead can't be used in high-fire glazes because it burns out, but I could be wrong. The best way to know is to send a sample to a lab.
If the pot is low fire and uses copper to color it, so it might be greeen, that could be dangerous. copper often helps the lead leach out. You can do a simple acid test to see if your glaze leaches - leave a lime or tomato or other acidic thing on the glaze over night and look for color changes. If it changes color, (lighter usualy), the glaze leaches and may be harmfull.
If the pot is high-fire, I don't think lead could be used. If it is even possible, it's unlikely it was used because other fluxes are normally used instead. Any glaze that fails the acid bleaching test probably shouldn't be used for food.
I'm 2.5 mins into this and can see where it's going.
I will be coming back to this video again! :D
I like you method of explaining it and it seems you think in a similar way to me... many small parenthetical asides as you say something and realise there's a bit of an exception worth mentioning.
I previously only saw your "15 second" pot throwing, chuckled and moved right along... I think I'll be checking some of your other stuff now.
(First attempt at pottery was 4 days ago and I'm hooked.)
thirteenfingers 1 year ago
water and sugar and garlic lol
ironlionkalo 1 year ago
Thank you so much. you have explained it so well for people like me just fresh to this field. Now I understand the basic. I have a question - can I do the glazing on the clay (brown coloured clay) which is used by most of the potters in India? Because I am confused when I am looking at white coloured pots on which I see the glazing is don. Is that the different clay than the brown or mud coloured?
Tentmakerindia 1 year ago
@Tentmakerindia: The color of the clay is like the color of the canvas to be painted on. Glazes will look differently on a brown clay than on a white clay. I think glazes tend to look brighter and richer on white clay.
Often people make the pot with brown clay, and coat it with a white slip. This is basically a white clay coating. Then, the glazes is applied over this white slip coating. That might be what you are seeing.
majolica is another way to make white pots.
ClayThrower 1 year ago
exactly the information I was seeking, thanks
deltapeco 2 years ago
Thank you so much!
jagaimo2 2 years ago
That was great mate. just getting into pottery and always learning. great glazing guide you got here. Be good to see more of your blogs (even if you don't like them) ^_^
AuldCrazyEyes 3 years ago
I came back to review your video, because I am finally getting around to learning to mix glazes... again, thanks for the vid.
offcenteredpotter 3 years ago
Thank you! This information is very articulate and helpful.
vinyl9 3 years ago
Thanks for this video - as budding potter it's one of the most useful video's on here, there is a LOT of information about throwing, but so little about glazing.
ajspanna 3 years ago
Thanks. I hope to do more.
ClayThrower 3 years ago
He is AWESOME!!!!! He breaks down an intimidating subject to something sensible. Like see, it's not impossibly mysterious and unabtainable! You CAN do it too!!
aikianime 4 years ago
this is a great intro,. i understand more now!
offcenteredpotter 4 years ago
I have a natural Gas kiln, about 20 cubic feet, (probably a bit smaller), made from IFB.
ClayThrower 4 years ago
It is less like chemistry and more like baking really.
ClayThrower 4 years ago
While a great portion of this is over my head, it did give me a working idea of glazes at the basic level and working up. Since I am extremely weak in chemistry, there is a high probability I will be buying pre-mixed glazes or have DH mixing them since he is the science whiz (MAE engineer. Thanks for the information. Great video.
PaisleyPlace 4 years ago
awesome!!!! thx!!!!
qad417 4 years ago
Thank you! You do a great job at taking a complex subject and breaking it down into simpler, more manageable parts!
I have avoided making my own glazes because I didn't want to just "blindly" mix up someone else's recipe. Thank you for sharing your system, as now I can see a straight forward starting point. Super job!
bottlewasher37 4 years ago
If you add clay for alumina, is it best to add the same type of clay that you are going to put the glaze on?
I really like your vlogs as well, so I hope you don't stop making them!
This video was REALLY interesting! I have stayed away from making my own glazes, mostly due to lack of space for so many powders and a small room, so I don't want lots of dust. But you are tempting me to try now!
Marihani 4 years ago
If you keep things simple, you don't need too many materials. Even just wood ash and clay or wood ash and feldspar can give you great glazes. There is more dust from the forming clay forming process than the glazing process I think.
ClayThrower 4 years ago
Clay certainly causes dust, almost no matter what I do with it. But I was thinking of the dust from mixing the glazes dry.
So wood ash and caolin powder and I could try to make a glaze from that? Hmmm! I guess I could mix the powders outside. Need a better weight? or is 2-gram tolerance OK?
Marihani 4 years ago
I like a triple beam balance scale that is accurate to within 1/10th of a gram, however a 2 gram tolerance is probably ok for simple glazes that are not very picky. Yes, kaolin and ash may make a glaze, (it probably wont be a clear even one however, be ready for it to run all over). Slip clays may work better, like redart or ball clays. types of ash very a lot, so keep that in mind as well.
ClayThrower 4 years ago
That first book I mention is the best I've found on the subject. Some easy 50%/50% mixes I like are soda ash/ ball clay, wood ash/redart clay, nepheline syenite/magnesium carb. (a texture glaze). a 2-gram tolerance will be difficult for small test batches using colloring oxides. often you add fractions of a gram of these. For example it might only take .2 grams of copper carb to make a copper red glaze.
ClayThrower 4 years ago
My glaze room is very small, just room to stand at a workbench. The type of clay you add to add alumina us normally EPK (kaolin) or Ball Clay. You want it pure, without the grog and other fillers and fluxes your clay body might have. But one never knows for sure, so feel free to experiment.
ClayThrower 4 years ago
Low fire glazes get a bit more complex than high fire, but they share the same basic techniques. With high fire, you have the nice advantage of raw heat power to help things melt. Glazing is a whole other side of things, with a great deal to learn and understand, but I find it very rewarding.
ClayThrower 4 years ago
I really prefer the high-fire glazes, as there is much for "life" in them. The colors are seldom solid and drab.
I think maybe I need to learn some basic chemistry before I start thinking about doing glazes - and maybe find some more space for storage of powders and glazes. My workshop is FULL as it is! :-)
Marihani 4 years ago
It all depends on how complex you wish to get. Very simple glazes don't take a great deal to mix and use. Glazing can be complex or simple, depending on your approach and values and what you want to accomplish.
ClayThrower 4 years ago
Since I don't think I will take university courses in pottery, I need to do this the old-fashioned way - learning a little bit at a time. I am getting better on the wheel these days, and will stick to that, but have put this vid (and thus also the comments and tips) in my pottery favourites to check back on when I am more ready to take that next step.
Keep teaching! I'm learning lots!
Marihani 4 years ago
I wonder if there is a way to test a glazed pot to see if it was made using lead? I've bought several cups and dishes that I sometimes worry about. Thanks for the info. You are a good teacher! Mrs. GeezerArt
geezerart 4 years ago
I should have probably said this in my vid, but I think lead can't be used in high-fire glazes because it burns out, but I could be wrong. The best way to know is to send a sample to a lab.
ClayThrower 4 years ago
If the pot is low fire and uses copper to color it, so it might be greeen, that could be dangerous. copper often helps the lead leach out. You can do a simple acid test to see if your glaze leaches - leave a lime or tomato or other acidic thing on the glaze over night and look for color changes. If it changes color, (lighter usualy), the glaze leaches and may be harmfull.
ClayThrower 4 years ago
Great idea! Thanks for the info!
geezerart 4 years ago
That's a really great tip that could potentially save someone from a nasty poisoning!
Marihani 4 years ago
If the pot is high-fire, I don't think lead could be used. If it is even possible, it's unlikely it was used because other fluxes are normally used instead. Any glaze that fails the acid bleaching test probably shouldn't be used for food.
ClayThrower 4 years ago