borax/devit half solved

jerry keller · Post by **jerry keller** » Mon Apr 12, 2004 10:35 pm

A piece just fired in a clay bisqued-fired mold produced an interesting surface.The top of an entire piece, about 21x15", of plate glass ( tin side down) was fired with borax on the surface, The borax came in the form of a hand soap, and had been sitting out for a couple of weeks in a glass filled with water, but was diluted again to make a very watery solution. I brushed it onto the surface. This same compound produced great results in my smaller kiln, in terms of no devit happenenng in the tests.

When the finished piece was viewed this morning, I observed that some of it was beautifully clear, and other areas were cloudy, like no borax had been put on. The mold did have a slope to it, but I can't imagine the borax pooling, because it would have dried soon after the heat of the kiln began.

The ramp was:
350 - 1250 - 60 150 - 1425 - 60 900 - 1025 - 90

Still hoping to cure the devit blues....

Thanks , Jerry

Bert Weiss · Post by **Bert Weiss** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 7:12 am

Jerry

I have used the 20 mule team without soap with pretty good results. I do add a bit of dishsoap but probably much less than would be in a borax soap product.