Low Fire Talc:Ball Clay Casting Mix
No longer available as of Feb 2022.
Description
Standard low fire ceramic casting body. This is the same recipe as L213.
News
September 2021: The entire industry is phasing out of the use of talc, it is happening suddenly. That means we must change this body. You can find more information on our work at this page (as you will see, this is a work-in-progress, it is not ready for you to just order and expect everything to work as before). Since the new mix described uses dolomite instead of talc, the whiting is not needed (since dolomite contains significant whiting). It is also likely that the amount of sodium silicate (or Darvan) will need adjustment to achieve the desired rheology.
Preparation
Traditionally people have used sodium silicate and soda ash to deflocculate their slip. However, Darvan is a superior product. We recommend understanding the principles of deflocculation so that you can measure specific gravity and recognize whether a slurry is under or over deflocculated. This will enable you to adjust the recipe for variations in water, materials, climate, etc.
For a 50 lb bag of talc/clay mix (25 talc, 25 ball clay):
- Add 10 litres of the water to the mixing tank.
- Add 40g soda ash, 120g sodium silicate. Mix for 5 minutes.
- Add the 50lb bag of powder, mix for 15 minutes.
- Check the specific gravity and add water if it is above 1.8.
- Add 1200g of whiting and mix 5 minutes more.
The longer you can mix the slurry there better its properties will be.
Gallery
Low temperature whites have incredible casting properties. This bowl is 13cm across yet has a wall thickness of less than 2mm and weighs only 101g! It released from the mold with no problems and dried perfectly round. And when fired at cone 04-06 it will stay round!
Safety Data Sheet
Click here for web view.We Are Rationalizing Our Product Line
Plainsman manufactures bodies by grinding and pugging clays that we mine (native bodies) and by batch mixing bagged minerals and materials that we import (refined bodies). We stock about 10,000 boxes of 50+ clays (some in multiple stiffnesses) and need to reduce the warehousing and production burden of small-run bodies and remove obsolete and legacy products. For bodies being discontinued: We have migration paths and can assist with issues. Some changes involve increased cost. In certain cases you might consider having us custom-mix a body so you can continue to get it, but please work with us on trying to adapt to alternatives first.
