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Plainsman Products

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Clays

  Low Temperature Clays
  Medium Temperature Clays
  High Temperature Clays
  Porcelains
  Other Clays
  Native Clays
  Casting Slips

Materials

  Dry Materials
  Stains
  Encapsulated Stains
  Liquids

Glazes

  Spectrum Opaque Gloss Low Fire Glazes
  Spectrum Metallic Glazes
  Plainsman Dry Glazes
  Potter's Choice Cone 5/6 Glazes
  Celadon Cone 5/6 Glazes
  Amaco Satin Matte Glazes
  Liquid Brights

Underglazes

  Amaco Velvet Underglazes

Enamelling

Equipment

 Kilns
  Electric Pottery Kilns
  Electric Glass Kilns
  Kiln Furniture
  Cones
  Elements
  Kiln Parts, Accessories
  Exhaust Systems
  Refractories
  Potter's Wheels
  Slab Rollers
  Hand Extruders
  Pugmills
  Scales
  Banding Wheels
  Air Brushes

Tools

  Brushes
  Throwing Tools
  Trimming, Turning, Cutting Tools
  Wood/Bamboo Tools
  Rollers/Stamps
  Decorating Tools
  Glazing Tools
  Ribs & Scrapers
  Ribbon/Wire Tools
  Rasps
  Knives, Needle Tools, Cutters
  Tool Kits
  Unclassified

Accessories

  Miscellaneous Accesories
  Corks/Stoppers
  Cork Pads
  Oil Lamp Accessories
  Dispenser Pumps
  Teapot Handles
  Bisque Tiles

We are one of about 90 ceramic suppliers in North America. But unlike almost all of them, we make most of our products from clays we mine and process ourselves. We intend to leverage this advantage to achieve the unmatched quality, assurance of supply and low prices this enables.

Technical Tips Blog

The outside glaze has a fining agent that clears the bubble clouds

A bubble clouding transparent glaze

This 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 glaze

Black mug with gold flower

This 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.

The G2934 base matte recipe is good for decals because it has a very low B2O3 content (unlike high boron glazes that can begin to melt very early, even in a decal firing, and alter their degree of matteness or even produce tiny pinholes or blisters). G2934 can tolerate some high-boron G2926B glossy, enough to de-matte it, and still work well with decals.

Context: Ceramic Decals

Monday 18th November 2024

A cone 10R blood red - without copper but with risk

Blood red at cone 10R without copper

This 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

A step to prevent cracking at handle-joins on thrown mugs

Drying cracks are opportunistic, especially in highly plastic or fine-particled clays. They like to initiate inside sharp acute angles. The sharper the angle the greater the chance of crack. By doing this procedure before the clay gets too stiff (in the leather-hard stage) you will deny a crack a place to start. Of course, even drying is still important, the water content of a handle should now be allowed to get too far ahead of that of the main body of the mug at any time. In the pictures on the right, two tools are being used to compress and round the angle at which the handle meets the wall of the mug.

Context: Worst case scenario for.., Drying Crack

Monday 11th November 2024

Ceramic tissue transfers: Good goat, better pig

Tissue transfers with transparent glaze

These are whiteware mugs (Plainsman M370) with tissue transfer designs that were applied at the leather hard stage. The pieces were then dried, bisque firing, clear glazed and then fired to cone 6. Tissue transfers are sold online in a wide range of designs (in full color also). They can also be made at home by silk screening the appropriate type of ink onto the tissue paper (you can make your own ink using ceramic pigments). These overglaze transparent recipes are G2934 matte (left) and G2926B glossy (right). The matte glaze softens the edges of the design. The pig is a good demonstration of how crisp the edges of lines can be (once the application techniques are mastered). This method of decorating is far less expensive than decals. And does not require an extra firing. While the ink is somewhat powdery, it can be stabilized with spray starch if pieces need to be transported for firing.

Not to be ignored are the two transparent glazes. Control of thickness is important. Too thick and they will go cloudy. Too think and they won't fire smooth. For use as a dipping glaze the slurry should be thixotropic. Using them as a brushing glaze, while taking longer to apply, does enable tighter control of thickness.

Context: An underglaze tissue transfer.., Ceramic Transfer Printing 144.., Buy tissue paper ceramic.., Sanbao Studio - Ceramic.., Inglaze High Temperature Transfers.., Catie Miller terra cotta.., Ceramic Transfer

Friday 8th November 2024

Common dipping glazes converted to jars of high SG brushing

Dipping glazes converted to brushing

These are cone 6 Alberta Slip recipes that have been brushed onto the outsides of mugs (three coats gave very thick coverage). Recipes are GA6-C Rutile Blue on the outside of the left mug, GA6-F Alberta Slip Oatmeal on the outside of the center mug and GA6-F Oatmeal over G2926B black on the outside of the right mug). These one-pint jars were made using 500g of powder, 280g of water and 75g of Laguna CMC gum solution (equivalent of adding 1% powdered CMC). Because no Veegum is being used this blender mixes to a slurry of high 1.6 specific gravity (for thicker coverage per coat than commercial glazes having much more water). This approach is good for recipes high in Alberta Slip. The gum removes the need for roasting part of it, reduces the water needed and the plasticity of the Alberta Slip helps suspend the slurry.

Context: CMC Gum, Where do I start.., Brush-on commercial pottery glazes.., Brushing Glaze

Friday 8th November 2024

Time to repurpose that 3D printer for ceramics

3D printed Axolotl well demonstrates

Do you have a family member with a 3D printer? Possibly someone who is a "print tourist", downloading a printing things like this lizard (pardon me, it is an Axolotl) but who never learns the 3D design tools to make his or her own! Turn that wasted opportunity into something productive. This creature took much more time to print than these two jigger case molds for making mugs. The person on Thingiverse who made it has undeniable CAD expertise, far beyond mine (it has articulating tail, body, head, legs and feet). He/she may have a dozen multi-material 3D printers running in the basement churning these out in multi-color madness, feeding a vast "model mooch" culture and revelling in the money it can make (this model was also available as a file, it cost $4, very inexpensive compared many). If you are a pottery or a hobby potter, 3D design is a great way to channel creativity, a real adrenaline-pumping and practical skill. My know-how with Fusion 360 is much less than this, but it has been plenty to make dozens of molds and cutters and tools. So commandeer that printer from its current "print pirate" master and turn it into an awesome asset to your ceramic practice!

Context: The 3D printed hinge..

Wednesday 6th November 2024

3D printed mold tests of embossed logo

3D printed embossed logo mold

We want to achieve embossed lettering inside the foot rings of slip-cast ceramic pieces by using a standard consumer 3D printer with PLA filament. There are plenty of obstacles to overcome in doing this. Since plaster does not release well at all from lettering having sharp corners, bevelling has to be done. However, our CAD software has problems rounding the corners of many fonts, I had to search for one having no variations in stroke width. Then it was a matter of discovering how much to extrude and how much bevelling it would tolerate - this one permits a 1 mm extrusion with a 0.6 radius bevel.
Left front: A 1mm extrude without bevelling and cold release produced very poor results.
Centre: 1mm extrude, 0.6 radius bevelling, 0.2mm rise of background to minimize verticals and cold release - better but still problems.
Right: Same as center but released with heat gun - almost perfect.
Bottom: A test casting from the first prototype mold - looking really good (albeit backwards!).

Context: 2 19 Jiggering-Casting Project..

Thursday 31st October 2024

Milk-as-a-glaze goes on more evenly by sponge

Milk glazed mugs

The milk was applied to inside-glazed L210 terracotta ware (fired to cone 06) that I had preheated to 250F. This has not gone on as thick as usual so it appears it might be best to dip the pieces into milk and then pat them with a milk-damp sponge to break all the bubbles, remove the drips and even out the coverage.

Since these are glazed only on the inside I had to be cautious to avoid glaze compression issues. And tell users not to put these in the dishwasher (or if they do tell them how to restore the surface in their own oven).

Context: This crack is spring.., Milk as a glaze.., Using milk as a..

Wednesday 30th October 2024

3D printed three-piece jigger case mold complete

3D printed jigger case mold

It is now practical to make true-round, perfect-fitting, all-in-one case molds for jiggering using a consumer 3D printer and PLA filament. This is a one-off test mold using a consumer printer, but the method is so fast that production molds on an industrial printer are feasible. The process is: Create the drawing in 3D CAD (e.g. Fusion 360), print the three sections, glue them, turn the assembled shell upside down, fill with plaster, let it set and peel out the inside two pieces using a heat gun.

Things to note:
-This is very light, the walls are only 0.8mm thick.
-The shoulder (C) is printed solid and the PLA printed surface from A to D is left in place permanently, this enables precise and durable fit into the cuphead. I print the outside shell upside down, no printed support is needed and it prints very quickly.
-The down-pointing flange (A) embeds it into the plaster providing a durable edge against which to fit the pour spout (F). The glue joint connecting A & B breaks when B & E are removed.
-B and E are printed upside down, no support is needed for B, since the top is open, it thus prints quickly.
-The base E has a flange that enables gluing it precisely into B. It has a debossed logo and prints upside down for maximum quality (print support is generated but because it is short it prints quickly).

If you would like this 3D file in Fusion 360 format, it is available in the Files manager in your Insight-live.com account (click the link below to go straight there).

Context: 3D render for a.., Fusion 36 drawing of.., 0.8mm thickness, 3D-Printing, All-in-one case mold, 2 19 Jiggering-Casting Project..

Monday 28th October 2024

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Plainsman Clays, 671 Industrial Ave, Medicine Hat, Alberta T1A 3L5
Phone: 403-527-8535    FAX: 403-527-7508