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I am building a bell kiln and I am considering using aluminum tubing for the frame construction with aluminum sheets for the sheathing. I will be using some softbrick for element holders but mostly the kiln will be ceramic fiber with mineral wool backing. The aluminum would be good because I want to...

Ahhh Morganica, I apologize for my incomplete information and will try to answer your questions better. I am spraying kiln wash (strong on alumina hydrate) on the plaster because I have used kiln wash on plaster molds for 30 years now. In the beginning I found that I would get some plaster stick on ...

I have experimented with some sand and plaster mixes for dry casting but I needed something that would yield minimal textures on a very flat piece of glass. I went ahead and tried mixing 5% lemon juice in my water before I mixed in the dry plaster and gave it a try. What it yielded so far after dryi...

I am not doing a plaster slab and then carving it. I am laying down a thin layer (1/8th inch or so) of plaster on top of a kiln shelf and then raking it or pressing it to create a texture in the wet plaster. After it sets, I spray a thin layer of kiln wash on it and allow it to finish hardening. I p...

I have been working with low relief plaster molds to texture glass and I need to retard the working time of the plaster so I can scratch and manipulate the plaster. I have found information where others have used either citric acid (lemon juice) or tartaric acid (cream of tartar) to achieve this. Do...

I had a friend a few years ago who was doing some over glaze work on some manufactured clay tiles. He had a temp control failure. When he checked the kiln in the morning, it was still going and had reached the yellowish white phase. It took a while to cool down but when it did, he found that all of ...

I wonder if you could try placing a layer of stainless steel foil against the metal wall and reinstall the blanket over that. The ss foil is available through metal casting suppliers I believe. It might not stop the rust but it should at least contain it and keep it from falling on your work.

I am thinking about getting a ring saw to cut irregular shapes out of standard thickness System 96. What is the current consensus regarding the saws that are presently on the market?

Thanks,
Terry

I made the assumption that you were using a photo emulsion when you were screen printing. If you are using something like a dual cure photo emulsion, using water based mediums can cause some problems unless you use an emulsion hardener to protect the stencil from breaking down. This is especially tr...

I have been doing screen printing on glass for quite some time and used many commercial mediums. The suppliers for these mediums are few and they usually require purchase of these mediums in larger quantities. If you have a professional screen printing materials supplier in your area, you should be ...