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Western Canada's largest distributor of pottery materials and supplies. Clays, raw materials, tools, wheels, kilns, slabrollers, books & much more. Our continuing goal is to supply artists, potters and crafts people with great quality products, knowledge and customer service. Our staff is familiar with all the items we stock and can help you through the selection and ordering process. We will also see that your order is shipped according to your directions, or put together for pick up at our retail store in Surrey, BC. Career Available - Invoicing and A/R's - as of Sep 15, 2023
Hi Everyone, Greenbarn is looking for a full time staff member to help us with office work such as invoicing, A/R's, and other duties as required. We are happy to provide training, and we are looking for someone with an easy going personality, someone who can work well with our customers, and who also fits in with our friendly, long term staff. Greenbarn offers you a chance to:
* learn more about this wonderful art form, increase your skills, use staff discounts
* competitive pay, vacation days, benefits package
* a Christmas/New Year's break so that you can be with your family
* and a great place to work where both our friendly customers and staff have been consistent for many years
If you, or someone you know, might be interested, please have them send us their resume to sales@greenbarn.com, and we would be happy to meet with them! Thank you for your support and for reading! Kilns for Sale - oddballs need good homes! The following two kilns are in stock, brand new in the box, and are now discounted until each are sold! 1. Skutt Scarab, Flameworking Glass Kiln, 27x16x12" inside, 240volt/1phase. $8335 reg.- now on sale at 40% less. $5001 + tax 2. Skutt Scarab Mini, Flameworking Glass Kiln, 12x16x12" inside, 240volt/1phase. $6055 reg. - now on sale at 40% less. $3633 + tax
Sculpture Materials on Sale! The following items are now discounted while stock remains! 1. Roma Plastilina, Grey/Green, oil based clay, offered in soft/med/firm- now at 25% discount. Sale priced at $19.19/2Lb block + tax 2. Armature Wire (not intended for firing within a kiln): - 1/16" by 32' roll: now at 25% discount. Sale priced at $6.19/roll + tax - 3/16" by 10' roll: now at 25% discount. Sale priced at $11.49/roll + tax - 3/8" by 10' roll: now at 25% discount. Sale priced at $17.89/roll + tax
Technical Tips BlogTwo methods to make your own low SG brushing glaze.![]() Dipping glaze applies and dries in seconds. Brushing glazes dry slowly and dry hard. Brushing glazes simply have gum in the recipe, dipping glazes typically do not. This is the Alberta Slip cone 6 base, made jet black with 4% black ceramic stain (our code G3914A). We normally mix this as a dipping glaze but I have made a 500ml jar of low SG brushing version using both of the following methods. These methods will work for almost any glaze recipe (for those having exceptionally high clay content less Veegum is needed). Context: Cone 6 oil-spot glaze.., Two black cone 6.., Alberta Slip based black.., Why would I use.., Here is my setup.., Base Glaze, Blender Mixing Sunday 1st October 2023 A bucket of glaze smells totally rank! What to do?![]() In some places and climates, this is more of a problem than in others. It is often not something that can just be ignored because the rheology of the slurry will likely be affected. Is there a magic chemical one can dump in to fix it? Not really. The subject of microorganisms in glaze slurries can be as complicated as you want to make it. This is because there are just so many different things that could be causing the stink. And there is no one chemical that treats them all. Even if there was, it's use would be focussed on prevention rather than fixing a problem. And, it would being its own issues, hazards and specific procedures. There are some simple things to know about dealing with microorganisms in glazes that should enable to you keep relatively free of this issue. Context: Micro Organisms Sunday 24th September 2023 Here is my setup to make brushing glazes by-the-jar![]() To make a low SG version of G2934BL I have already weighed out a 340g batch (it contains 5g each of Veegum and CMC gum to gel the slurry and slow the drying). I use 440g of water initially (adjusting that according to experience in brushing behaviour). After shake-mixing all the powder in the plastic bag I pour it into the water on low speed and finish with 20 seconds on high speed. This produces a low specific gravity brushing glaze, it just fills this 500ml jar. In subsequent batches, I adjust the Veegum for more or less gel and the CMC for slower or faster drying. Later I also assess whether the CMC gum is being degraded by microbial attack - often evident if the slurry thins and loses its gel. Since each glaze recipe responds differently and changes differently over time, good notes are essential. We are working on dozens of these at any given time, each is code-numbered in our group account at Insight-live.com. This is so worthwhile doing that I make quality custom labels for each jar! Context: CMC Gum, Two methods to make.., Learn to mix any.., Control gel by adding.., Brushing Glaze, Blender Mixing Wednesday 20th September 2023 Ravenscrag Slip + 10% talc = fantastic cone 10R silky matte glaze![]() The clays are Plainsman H450 and H550. Firing is cone 10 reduction. A 50:50 mix of roasted and raw Ravenscrag slip was used. L3954N black engobe was applied at leather hard stage (on the insides and partway down the outsides). We call this recipe GR10-C Ravenscrag Talc Matte, it is on the insides of both and on the outside of the one on the left. The outside of the other is G2571A Bamboo, it is also an excellent matte base. The silky matte surfaces produced by these two are both functional (they are very durable and do not stain or cutlery mark). And they are very pleasant to the touch. Context: Ravenscrag Slip 19 F.., Ravenscrag Slip, GR10-C, Ravenscrag Slip 1 F.., Dolomite Matte Tuesday 19th September 2023 This titanium blue fails when we switch frits![]() The L4655 floating blue recipe is on the outside of the mug. It adds titanium to the GA6-A base. We wanted to reduce the thermal expansion to minimize the likelihood of crazing. So the obvious question was: Could we substitute the Ferro Frit 3134 for Frit 3195 in the base (effectively using GA6-B instead of GA6-A)? The calculation showed that the thermal expansion should drop from 7.6 to 7.2. Unfortunately, it did not work. The two tiles in the front show that (the one on the right adds 2% iron, we thought that might enhance the rutile blue effect). Why did this fail? Likely the raising of the Al2O3 makes the melt stiffer, that is preventing the freedom of movement needed to form the crystalline phases. Context: Crystallization of this glaze.. Friday 15th September 2023 Sometimes it is better to replace the base in a production glaze recipe![]() Almost all ceramic glazes are a base recipe with additions of colors, opacifiers, variegators, etc. Our traditional G3933 oatmeal glaze is a good example (recipe on the left). It can produce rich brown silky matte surfaces, especially on dark burning bodies. But one problem has emerged: The tendency to crawl. Much testing has yet to reveal the reason. Would it be possible to base the recipe on Ravenscrag Slip and achieve the same chemistry? Yes. And some unexpected benefits accrued. In the recipe on the right I sourced MgO (the key to the matte surface) from dolomite and Ferro Frit frit 3249 (earlier tests sourcing from talc were unsuccessful, off-gassing from the talc was puffing up the glaze with micro-bubbles). The all-new G3933E recipe has the same chemistry (I derived it in my account at insight-live.com). It is not likely to be without problems, but it looks identical (with richer color from a little more iron oxide), it does not crawl and it's recipe and chemistry are flexible. It is glossy when cooled fast and silky matte when cooled slowly. The MgO can be increased easily to get matteness with quick cool also. The mix of calcine and raw Ravenscrag Slip also enable control over the slurry and application properties. Context: Ravenscrag Slip, Base Glaze, Glaze Chemistry Friday 15th September 2023 Making Tandoor Ovens - how is that possible without the clay cracking?![]() The making of Tandoor ovens seems ordinary to someone from a country where they are made. But it seems impossible to me (based on my lifetime experience working with clay). I would love to learn from someone in India the answers to these questions (based on the video links below), can you please message me if you can help? Context: A team handbuilding without.., A woman making a.., Man making a base.., Sunday 10th September 2023 A pottery glaze so melt-fluid it can eat through a firebrick. The fix struck boron-blue gold!![]() The melt fluidity tester was fired at cone 6. The glaze on the left is G2826A2, a 50:30:20 Gerstley Borate glaze historically used for reactive glazes. The one on the right is G2926A3, an adjusted version that cuts the B2O3 level and adds lots of SiO2. The result is much more sane, although still very melt-fluid glaze. This is also a lesson in the chemistry that produces boron-blue, the one on the left does not and the one on the right does. This is the most decorative boron-blue we have ever seen, especially on dark bodies. Why? High B2O3 is not the key, it is lower. CaO is lower but it was higher in the original 50:30:20 recipe and that had plenty of boron blue. The SiO2 appears to be the enabler, it is much higher. And we are using 325 mesh silica, so it dissolves in the melt better. Context: Example of variegation by.., Gillespie Borate is doing.., Boron Blue, Melt Fluidity Friday 8th September 2023 Example of variegation by thickness-induced boron blue![]() This is G2826A3, a transparent amber glaze at cone 6 on white (Plainsman M370), black (Plainsman 3B + 6% Mason 6666 black stain) and red (Plainsman M390) stoneware bodies. When the glaze is thinly applied it is transparent. But at a tipping-point-thickness it generates boron-blue that transforms it into a milky white. Context: A pottery glaze so.., Boron Blue, Glaze thickness Friday 8th September 2023 Here is why Gillespie Borate is crawling some glazes![]() This is a variation on the 50:30:20 cone 6 pottery glaze recipe, it contains 22% Gillespie Borate (GB) and 12% calcined kaolin. Our objective was to reduce its melt fluidity. But the crawling is so bad that it is almost unusable. The reason was not obvious until we fired a sample to 1550F and 1650F. At the former the integrity of the glaze layer is great, but by 1650F it does this (many of the edges of these are curling upward). Ulexite, which GB contains, is known for the behaviour of suddenly shrinking and then suddenly melting over a narrow range of temperatures. Since GB is plastic and suspends slurries well we thought calcined kaolin would be better than raw kaolin (to minimize drying shrinkage). However, the improvement is minimal. Context: Gillespie Borate, Gerstley Borate vs Gillespie.. Thursday 7th September 2023 SignUp For Monthly Tech-Tip EmailPlease visit https://digitalfire.com and use the Register feature at the top of the page. No art or sales language, no tracking and no ads. To find past posts please use the search bar on this page. |
Greenbarn Potter's Supply Ltd., 9548 - 192nd Street, SURREY, BC V4N 3R9
Phone: 604-888-3411, FAX: 604-888-4247, Email: sales@greenbarn.com