How much mason stain

Purple Mason Stains. Spectrum Industrial Stregnth Dry Stains. White Mason Stains. Yellow Mason Stains. Mason Stains Mason Stains are the best way to add color to your ceramics. They are used to color glazes, underglazes, slip, and clay. These lead-free ceramic stains are fritted raw materials. Frit is essentially one or more colorants encased in glass then powdered. This makes the colorants such as oxides and carbonates insoluble to your body hence much safer to use. All Mason Stains are also lead-free.

Mason carefully formulates and tests their batches to ensure you get the same results time after time. Raw material colorants can vary greatly from bag to bag, but Mason Stains are trustworthy and consistent. Each Mason Stain is rated for low-fire, mid-fire and high-fire temperatures up to cone 10 except tin-antimony-lead yellows and pinks Cone You can expect full color from these ceramic stains when firing in oxidation over white and buff color clays.

The sieve size should be at least mesh, but preferably mesh. Body Stains Some stains are more satisfactory body stains than others. Please refer to stain composition data prior to use. Varying the percentage of a stain added to a body or a slip will give varied strength of colour.

It is most important that when a stain is added, the slip should be sieved through the finest sieve practical to minimize specking; mesh is recommended.

In some cases the addition of the stain will alter the glaze-to-body fit, this should be tested first. In other cases, for example with the cobalt stains, it can effect the fluxing temperature of the body. Again this should be sample tested first. Adding stains to a plastic body is slightly more difficult.

You can mix the stain with water and paint the stain on to layers of plastic body then join and hand wedge them together. The more you wedge the better the colour blends through the plastic clay. Prior to painting the stain it would be best to run this mix through a sieve to minimize specking; mesh is recommended. Properly stored the clay will last forever and it is very easy to knead in some white clay to get the color you want. Some of my favorite Mason Stains with percentages. How do you measure the stain?

As long as you make tests of your colors and keep records, you will be able to repeat the results no matter how you mix it. Even though it is a messy job, it is also a very simple job. Do no breathe the dust from Mason Stains or dry sand the finished colored clay without a proper N95 breathing mask. In order to avoid the dust problem, mix the Mason stains in a sealed plastic bag with just enough water to create a creamy solution. Then create a well in your clay and pour in the mixture.

Knead the clay until you like the color result. Messy, but easy. You want the finished clay to be soft as cookie dough. Some potters buy an old stand mixer and use it in the studio to mix a very thick slip. Stick to cake batter thickness. Once you use a mixer in the studio, it never goes back in the kitchen. Keep the colored clay wrapped in a damp cloth and double bagged in plastic, or in sealed plastic containers.