First Shot - And Perplexed
Jun 30, 2016 14:07:51 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2016 14:07:51 GMT -6
Greetings,
I've been a member of this forum for a few years, but never posted — until now. I've gotten a great deal of great direction, off-forum, from Avi and Bill Schran, for which I am very grateful. My first shot at high-fire crystal did not go very well, however. The bullet didn't exactly misfire; it did clear the barrel, but landed with a great thud quite short of the target.
All boring metaphors aside, I would very much appreciate any guidance in resolving my problem. Here is a photo and the details of this first attempt.
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I used a recipe by David Snair, as follows, mixed with a soupy concoction of water and CMC, as per Bill Schran's posted procedure:
FF3110 –––––––––––––––––––––– 48.4%
Calcined Zinc Oxide ––––––––––– 24.35
Calcined Kaolin ––––––––––––––– 1.52
Flint –––––––––––––––––––––––– 17.95
Titanium Dioxide –––––––––––––– 7.78
Added: Copper carbonate –––––––––– 3.5
Cobalt carbonate ––––––––––– 0.3
All ingredients were weighed to +/- 3/100th gram (the insane accuracy was to hopefully eliminate as many variables as possible on my first try), and applied as thickly as I could. David Snair recommends 3/16", but I plastered that cream-thick glaze on with a brush for over an hour and could not get remotely near that thickness. The mystery is that the catcher, which had a lot of volume was filled with over a half-inch of glaze (with a nice large crystal floating on it, I might add), so it seems if I had managed the 3/16" recommended thickness, it would have overflowed the catcher a few times over.
By the way, with no attempt to enter the friendly contention between the kaolin/alumina crowd, I used Avi's 50/50 white glue/kaolin mix (along with Matt Horne's suggestion of brushing some glaze on down below the catcher/pedestal joint to facilitate easier flow over it), and when I reached in the kiln I lifted the vase right off the catcher so cleanly it doesn't even need foot grinding).
I fired it according to Diane Creber's basic schedule:
RA-1 270º F/Hr. to 2380ºF (Δ10)
RA-2 600º F/Hr. (9999) – 2050ºF – HOLD: 4-hrs.
Then went from 2050ºF above and below by 50ºF, twice, holding for 45-minutes at each stop to see if halos would form (looks like I got a few small ones).
Thank you for those who took the time to read this far, and for ANY suggestions you may have in educating me into large, round, nicely haloed crystals.
Best regards,
Gabriel
I've been a member of this forum for a few years, but never posted — until now. I've gotten a great deal of great direction, off-forum, from Avi and Bill Schran, for which I am very grateful. My first shot at high-fire crystal did not go very well, however. The bullet didn't exactly misfire; it did clear the barrel, but landed with a great thud quite short of the target.
All boring metaphors aside, I would very much appreciate any guidance in resolving my problem. Here is a photo and the details of this first attempt.
FF3110 –––––––––––––––––––––– 48.4%
Calcined Zinc Oxide ––––––––––– 24.35
Calcined Kaolin ––––––––––––––– 1.52
Flint –––––––––––––––––––––––– 17.95
Titanium Dioxide –––––––––––––– 7.78
Added: Copper carbonate –––––––––– 3.5
Cobalt carbonate ––––––––––– 0.3
All ingredients were weighed to +/- 3/100th gram (the insane accuracy was to hopefully eliminate as many variables as possible on my first try), and applied as thickly as I could. David Snair recommends 3/16", but I plastered that cream-thick glaze on with a brush for over an hour and could not get remotely near that thickness. The mystery is that the catcher, which had a lot of volume was filled with over a half-inch of glaze (with a nice large crystal floating on it, I might add), so it seems if I had managed the 3/16" recommended thickness, it would have overflowed the catcher a few times over.
By the way, with no attempt to enter the friendly contention between the kaolin/alumina crowd, I used Avi's 50/50 white glue/kaolin mix (along with Matt Horne's suggestion of brushing some glaze on down below the catcher/pedestal joint to facilitate easier flow over it), and when I reached in the kiln I lifted the vase right off the catcher so cleanly it doesn't even need foot grinding).
I fired it according to Diane Creber's basic schedule:
RA-1 270º F/Hr. to 2380ºF (Δ10)
RA-2 600º F/Hr. (9999) – 2050ºF – HOLD: 4-hrs.
Then went from 2050ºF above and below by 50ºF, twice, holding for 45-minutes at each stop to see if halos would form (looks like I got a few small ones).
Thank you for those who took the time to read this far, and for ANY suggestions you may have in educating me into large, round, nicely haloed crystals.
Best regards,
Gabriel
