us pigment chemicals

The first order I placed was at US Pigment.  They generally had the best or near the best prices for each raw material.  The website and order form were simple and easy to use.  The only drawback was that they require a 1 lb. minimum for every chemical.  This is only a minor issue when it comes to the more expensive chemicals.  For example, I needed some Cobalt Carbonate which is $25 per pound.  I didn’t really want to buy a whole pound until I was sure that I would use it eventually.  There were also a few chemicals I needed that weren’t listed on their site.

seattle pottery supply chemicals

So I also placed an order at Seattle Pottery Supply.  Their website is a little awkward to use at first but I got it figured out.  They offered many chemicals in 1/4 and 1/2 pound increments which cost more “per pound” but allowed me to try more chemicals and keep the total within my budget.  At first I ordered 4 chemicals.  The next day someone called while I was at school.  They wanted to tell me that I could fit a few more pounds of materials in the box without increasing the shipping price.  I thought that was a pretty nice thing to do since I wasn’t in a hurry to get my order.  So after playing phone tag for a day or two I finally added more to my order.

The total order from US Pigment was 12 chemicals (12 lbs) for $46 including $12 for shipping.  The total from Seattle Pottery Supply was 10 chemicals (8 lbs.) for $49.90 including $12.95 for shipping.

Next Project: find/build some kind of shelves/drawers/containers to hold all these chemicals.

triple beam scale

I’ve always wanted to experiment with glaze recipes and mix my own glazes some day.  A couple months ago I got a step closer to making that happen in my very own studio when I purchased a triple beam scale.  I wasn’t interested in paying over $100 for a new Ohaus scale so I monitored ebay for a while and finally got a used one for $20.44 which included shipping.  For such a low price I wasn’t expecting it to be in mint condition and it wasn’t.  It has a few dings and the metal tray or platform or “pan” is no longer attached.  It also seems to be missing some weight under the pan which have been replaced by pennies and nickels.  It didn’t come with the additional attachment weights or any other accessories.

The good news: it seems to function properly.

triple beam attachment weights

I found a cheap set of attachment weights at Digital Scales AZ but when I ordered they told me that the weight set was discontinued.  So I finally bought a generic weight set for $24 from Parco Scientific.  I didn’t see anything in the mail for about two weeks so I emailed them.  The package arrived a few days later.  These attachment weights will allow me to weigh ingredients up to 2610g (~5lbs.) instead of only 610g without the extra weights.

triple beam pan velcro

To keep the pan from falling off the scale every time I try to weigh something I had my wife buy me some velcro on one of her trips to the store.  She got me the industrial strength stuff which I can now use to attach the tray to the scale.  I could have used super glue or welded it back on but there was another issue I had to consider.  I don’t want to pour dry powders directly on the metal pan to weigh them.  I also didn’t have much money left in the ceramic supply budget to buy a scoop or cup set.

triple beam cup

To solve that problem I decided to convert a sour cream container into a triple beam weighing cup.  Since it was a lot lighter than the metal tray I taped some nails around the outside so it was about the same weight as the pan and I wouldn’t have to mess around too much with counterweights and adjusting the zero knob a whole lot.  The bottom is indented in the middle and it fits on the pan rest almost perfectly.

So I think I’ve got enough equipment to start weighing glaze materials pretty accurately.  Total cost was about $50.  After looking back there is an American Weigh triple beam balance on the Digital Scales AZ website which would be about $62 including shipping.  It’s probably in a lot better shape and just as reliable but I can use the money I saved for extra glaze chemicals.  Look for a new post with details about all the raw materials I recently purchased…

new shelf - glaze area

I added a shelf at the top of the glaze area which I’m using for finished work and random objects that I don’t really use that often.  Now I can use the two bottom shelves for glazes, chemicals and other glaze related tools and equipment.  I might try to come up with a row of drawers or containers for storing chemicals.

new glaze area

I rearranged the small set of shelves on the floor and the table.  Now I have better access to the whole table and I can move pots from the table to the long shelf against the west wall easily.  And I feel like everything is less crammed into the corner.  I haven’t glazed anything using this arrangement so I’m excited to try it out.

new shelf at the top

The other shelf I added is above the wedging table/workbench against the north wall.  With this extra top shelf I have a lot of space to keep the stuff that I rarely use.  Now I can use the easier-to-reach shelves for the stuff that I use regularly.  Now I just need some more tools!

shelves near the sink

I also added one more set of shelves near the sink.  I just bought the plastic, easy to put together shelves when they were on sale at Menard’s.  I use them for drying plastic buckets and containers after I wash them.

nice respirator

I talked my wife into helping and she had a lot of fun….  She took a couple pictures so I could share my experience.  The first thing you want to remember is: Safety First!  I got to wear a new respirator so I didn’t breathe too much of the dust when I was dumping the powder into the water. It’s a good look!

mixing glaze

My wife mixed the water while I slowly dumped the powder .  It got pretty thick, even when I used all the water that the directions called for.  I was supposed to use 1 gallon and 1 pint but added a lot more by the end of the process.  I used my cordless drill and a 1 gallon paint mixer to mix the powder into the water. Even after mixing it with the drill mixer for a while it was still pretty lumpy.

glaze sieve

I put it through an 80 mesh sieve three times.  After letting it sit overnight I mixed it up again with the drill mixer and it was ready to be applied to some bisque ware. I even checked the specific gravity or “density” with a hydrometer.

I’ll have  a full post on the items that I pulled out of the kiln.  The Pam’s Blue that I mixed from powder actually looks different than the pre-mixed pints I’ve used.  Check later to see how!

coyote and amaco glazes

Clay King was having a pretty good sale on glazes.  I ordered a few of my favorites (Coyote: Red Gold and Leopard Shino) and a few new colors to test (Coyote: Espresso Bean and Saturated Iron and Amaco: Frosted Turquoise and Iron Lustre).  I also ordered 10 lbs. of Pam’s Blue dry powder (by Coyote).  Finally!  As soon as I mix up the Pam’s Blue I will be able to dip and pour instead of brushing glaze onto every… single… piece…  This should drastically reduce the amount of time it takes to glaze a load of bisque ware.  I guess at first there will be a lot of blue mugs and bowls but if everything goes smoothly I hope to order some more glazes in dry powder form and mix up some large quantities.

hydrometer, sieve, glaze chemicals, kiln posts

Speaking of mixing glazes…  I needed a few more items to get the job done.  Axner had some pretty good prices on most of the stuff I needed so I ordered a hydrometer, sieve, kiln posts, and some other dry chemicals.  I hope to mix some of my own glazes in the future so I’m starting a small collection of dry chemicals.

In other not-very-exciting news I installed a more permanent light above my wheel and made a small shelf behind the wheel where I can put freshly thrown pots to dry.

In the somewhat-exciting department I have a few mugs and bowls drying on the shelf.  I just threw a few more before track practice today which need handles but I’ll try to put up some pictures before the bisque fire.  I’m trying a different kind of clay so I’m anxious to see how it fires.

I bought a sheet of 2′x4′ plywood from Lowes for about $6.  Then I cut off a 18″ x 24″ piece to use for things like platters or slab work.  Then I divided the rest into 12″ or 6″ squares.  I decided to go with the deluxe model so I got out my router and gave at least one side of each board an angle so it will be easier to pick up when it’s piled with clay items.

Ceramics drying boards

easy lift drying board

Recent pottery drying on the shelf

As you can tell by the picture, I’ve been pretty busy in the clay studio lately.  The past couple weeks I’ve been cranking out some wheel thrown items when I haven’t been in class or on the computer.  I worked on a bunch of different mug forms for a week or two and recently I’ve made some large bowls and jugs/vases.  I really wanted to try some different handle ideas because I feel like handles have been the most neglected part of my arsenal.  I felt I never really mastered pulling handles so I rarely enjoyed or even used the skill.  While I was making all the mugs I decided it was a good time to, in the words of Nike, “just do it.”  After pulling handles for most of the mugs I can tell that I have improved dramatically.  Sometimes I even enjoy it.

On a somewhat related note I added two more shelves to the drying shelves that I already had.  Now I can cram almost twice as much stuff onto the shelves to dry.

My brother and his wife came down a little while ago to hang out with us before they leave.  (At the beginning of August they’ll be in a little place called… China!)  My brother was nice enough to put in another light and switch down in the basement and he replaced my kiln outlet in the garage which overheated the last time I fired.  Sometime this week I hope to start loading the kiln for a bisque fire.

I only wish that I would have made the chuck a little taller because the other vase/bottle that I threw had a neck that was a little long for the chuck.  I got around it by wadding up some of the extra shelf liner to make the chuck thinner in the middle so the shoulder of the pot would have a place to rest.

I threw the main form a few months ago and maybe a month ago I glued that to a spare bat with Liquid Nails.  Then a few weeks ago I started testing some material to glue to the chuck to prevent the pots from slipping as they rotate.  The video suggests neoprene but I would have had to order it online and I didn’t want to invest too much in case I never use this thing more than once.  I finally decided to try “Shelf Liner” material.  Yeah, the stuff you line shelves with…  It was pretty cheap and it seemed to have the attributes that I was looking for.  I measured it out and cut it and then glued it to the chuck with Krazy glue.  It seems to be on there pretty tight.  And the material seems to offer pretty good grip.  As soon as I throw something decent, I’ll trim it with this “Superchuck” and see if mine works as well as the one in the video.  I’ll even try to remember to post my results here.