SIMON LEACH - A simple clay / ash glaze

www.simonleachceramics.com
This recipe good for 1300 C in reduction ! Needs to be well mixed now & sieved again .Should be suitable for raw glazing.SL

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[LeaTownsend]

Simon, I have also been attempting to create glazes from local materials. I am absolutely passionate about it! I have also been on a neverending search for a wonderful purple glaze. I have a deep purple granite in my area and have been collecting peices in hopes of making a glaze from it. The problem that I am having is in crushing it finely enough. Do you have any suggestions for grinding materials into powder? Thanks, Lea

[sleachpots]

Try your local marble / granite yard where they should cut these materials with a water cooled disk , the tank where all this 'dirty' water goes will have a sludge in the bottom of very fine dust/mud .If they let you have the sludge you can begin testing it .

Your purple granite probably wont make a purple glaze though ! Granite is very hard so you would have some problems to crush it fine enough in your own back yard I guess. SL

[mudpuppy61]

I love experimenting with glazes! I'm afraid I get a bit hampered by the 'science' of it though. Without knowing what the clay is made of, how do you know it's going to contain enough flux material to melt the glaze? Just curious - looks like fun! :)

[sleachpots]

...because i have tested it ! SL

[liamg1995]

could we use a cone 10 store bought clay body for this glaze as well?

If so I will check it out.

Thank you.

Liam

[sleachpots]

try it out ..why not .Probably not such an interesting result though !

SL

[dashpots]

ANY FELLOW YOUTUBE/SIMON GROUPIEs who are enthusiasts of learning should definitely make a trip to spain to work with simon. he is an amazing teacher and a very genial guy as well. (you all knew that from the videos) the countryside is gorgeous...and even after two short lessons i came away with increased knowledge of all the basic throwing techniques i was trying to master.

cylinders improving, simon! drake

p.s. love this glaze idea

[chopin65]

Simon your a cool dude. I wish I could afford a trip to Spain. I would be honored to call you Teacher.

[djdepaolo]

Do you think that this would work on a Cone 6 stoneware if I were to use a local terracotta?

I also have a local lead colored clay too.

I am making some chestnut, butternut and locust ash to test for my locavore glazes.

I am just starting to fire and glaze my own work so I find the technical stuff difficult to predict. Any help would be appreciated about proper melting at cone 6.

Thank you

[parrotpotterstudio]

That's going to change for every found clay used. You'll need to make a test batch and vary the amount of ash for the clay, the clay body you 're using it on, and the temp that you're firing the clay at. Hope that helps!

Dan

[fuzzycreative]

helooo master

could you please tell us abaut the appropriate temperature for this glaze ?

thanks a lot !

[crataegus17]

Simon

You are an inspiration

[Robkat3751]

show some finished pieces with your wood ash glaze. Show the finished fired pieces on each of your demostrations.

[nate777]

ahh such a good book!

[LeaTownsend]

longbeforedawn, I really thought that was the purpose of a ball mill! We have one at my school, however, and when I asked my instructor about it she was very adimate that I NOT use the ball mill for that purpose. I asked "Then what is a ball mill for"? I was told that it was to grind powders into finer powders. Personally, I think that she is wrong. We have a large, powerful ball mill and believe that it is designed for that purpose.

[longbeforedawn]

The "Illustrated Dictionary of Practical Pottery" by Robert Fournier, recommends a "ball mill" for milling your grit into usable form.

Michael Cardew's book, "Pioneer Pottery" has an appendix on ball mills. It's basically a rock polisher type cylinder which tumbles your "charge" with a "grinding medium" consisting of flint pebbles, or porcelain balls.

Harry Fraser, describes a much faster technology, the "vibratory mill" in his book, "Glazes for the Craft Potter"