BE pink kilnwash

[Brad Walker]

Well, the Bullseye I have is pink (I'm not aware that BE ever made anything but pink), the Hotline I have is blue (but they make two Hotlines, regular and high-fire, so one could be blue and one could be pink, I don't know), and the Primo I have is orange (I think we all agree on that).

I also have about half a dozen other kiln washes and they're all uncolored. As far as I can tell, color doesn't make a difference. And bubbles are possible with all of them.

[Brock]

Well, the Bullseye I have is pink (I'm not aware that BE ever made anything but pink), the Hotline I have is blue (but they make two Hotlines, regular and high-fire, so one could be blue and one could be pink, I don't know), and the Primo I have is orange (I think we all agree on that).

I also have about half a dozen other kiln washes and they're all uncolored. As far as I can tell, color doesn't make a difference. And bubbles are possible with all of them.

And probable with lots of them.

BE kiln wash has no equal that I have found.

brock

[jim simmons]

No, don't prefire it. The pink colour is to let you know that it has not been fired, and you can use it. It will lighten up a bit when it is dry, but will still be pink. After you fire it it loses the pink and turns almost a cream colour.
Joan

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I don't prefire mine either. I leave one on top of the kiln until I am ready to use it, and have had no bubble problem. However I am not in a big production mode. Just one firing about every other day.
Jim

[Lisa Allen]

Well, I am actually not fusing on it. What I am planning on doing is using it to get a fused piece flat that my warped fiber shelf distorted a bit. So I am just taking a 1/2" 14x14 piece up to 1170 for 20 minutes. Do you think that would be ok on the unfired shelf?

Lisa

Yes, the glass won't become soft enough to become vulnerable to shelf/air bubbles.

Of course you'll go slowly considering the thickness. Brock

Going 100dph to 1170. Its in now, hope that's slow enough!

[Bob]

Now I thought the pink/blue dye was in the wash so that you could see when the wash completely covered the surface of the shelf. As the first few layers of wash go on (rotating the shelf 90degrees after each coat) the dye on the mullite shelf makes a tartan pattern. With successive coats the beige of the mullite becomes more faint as the thickness of the wash increases.

I don't prefire my shelves... but I do try to let them sit and air dry for several days, or I place them on kiln posts on the lid of my kiln while it is heating or annealing. The shelf does get toasty warm.

I wonder what the Egyptians did?

Cheers,

Bob

[rodney]

KITTY WRITES,,,,Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2003 8:41 pm Post subject:

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i meant to say i would try it on large work.

i dont use BE on jewelry.
i dont like the feel of the pieces fired on it.
i like 50/50 kaolin & alumina hyd. for jewelry. i think it produces a buttery finish, pleasing to the touch.

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I MAKE jewelry as well,,,,,on your 50/50 mix, do you just mix with water like the BE,,,,,ive been using the BE, and like it, but im using lots more now, and the price just went up, so if the 50/50 gives a better surface maybe i need to give it a try,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,i dont prefire the shelf, but what im doing now is coated shelves, and putting them on top of my kiln during the firing, and this DRYS THEM OUT, to the point sometimes where the pink is almost gone,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,also, does anyone use the BE and water mixture at a place that allows for the BE to go a little further, im using it about about 1 to 4 now,,,,thanks, and glad the canadian group didnt disband,,rodney

[Peg]

..well I prefire to 250 deg celcius, with the door ajar - not sure what that is in old money. At this point it is still pink, but dry.
Never had a bubble problem (except when ramping up way too fast). I use kilnwash for items up to 35 x 35 cm sq - about 200 sq in. Larger than that and I prefer thinfire. I also prefer thinfire for jewellery - I get a softer feel and fewer needles.
I thought kilnwash was pink so you can see what you're painting onto ceramic moulds - but then after it's been used once for slumping you can't tell just by looking whether you've prepped the mould or not.

[cjley]

So, I've read all the posts in this thread and I think I'm reading that I should pre-fire my shelves to set the KW before use.

So far I have dried them in the kiln at 500 F. They're still pink. This is my very first time ever using a kiln --- newbee --- so I'm a little apprehensive. I don't want to bugger up my shelves, or the kiln for that matter.

So having fired them to 500 F and let them cool for 5 hours am I ready to lay glass on the shelf and fuse it?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Lynne Chappell]

Well, I wouldn't prefire my shelves. Maybe heat them up a bit to dry them (I go up to 300F if I don't have time to let them air dry). Since I recoat my shelves every time they are fired over 1350F, prefiring to 1450 would sort of defeat the purpose of recoating. Every time I have fired opal glass on shelves that have been previously fired to fusing temperatures, I get kilnwash stuck on the back. Doesn't matter what kind of kilnwash. I don't get airbubbles under my glass anymore because my shelves are absolutely flat and I fire slowly through the softening range.

I seem to remember that Bullseye once posted that their kilnwash was 50/50 kaolin/alumina. I think the differences in kilnwashes are mostly from the quality of the ingredients, although I suspect that the Hotline is a higher alumina content since it is finer and softer than the Bullseye. Oddly though, brush textures are more noticeable than with Bullseye.