Back
when I first started making pots I would work with ash glazes until my fingers
were red, split and sore from the caustic nature of the material, same goes
with iron glazes in which my hands and forearms were covered in a rash from the
glaze. Within a short time all that folly came to an abrupt halt as I delved
into the nature of the materials I was using and how to properly work with them
and insure my safety and the safety of the potential user. Since I started
making pots a number of materials have been reclassified and their safety
questioned and guidelines established for percentage of use in glazes for these
materials as well as creating a eutectic where the glaze melt is met and all
the materials are in suspension, trapped within a solid. There are exceptions
to what materials I will use and among those I will not and never have gone
near are materials like various leads, uranium and several others but the most
important thing about making pots is understanding the risk, reward and safety
of what you work with. I always come from the viewpoint that ever material I
use has some potential risk from the inhalation of particulate matter to heavy
metal oxides that are best not absorbed by the body.
I
assumed it went without saying that before you try anything, especially that
you read off of a blog or a random page with a glaze formula that you
investigate the nature of each constituent and understand how to properly
handle the material. Since way back in my Old West approach to making and
testing glazes, I have created a series of steps that are meant to ensure my
safety and (yours) the user of my pots including not using materials that are deemed
harmful on the food contact surfaces of pots, casting aside certain materials
where the jury is still out on their safety and for myself, I always use an
approved respirator, never a paper mask and wear latex gloves and sleeve
protectors when using glazes that are not friendly in their liquid state
(manganese and iron glazes spring to mind). All this being said, the bulk of my
glazes/slips are made using pretty innocuous stuff like ball clay, feldspar,
kaolin, whiting, neph sy, red art and gerstley borate with the additions of
iron oxide, copper and cobalt. It is always best to err on the side of caution
to keep you and your customers 100% safe and bear in mind, just because you
read that someone else is willing to make use of specific materials doesn't
mean that you should. Do your homework.
As
another pottery observation, while looking at this stack of over a ton of
materials isn't amazing that what ever you are ever looking for is inevitably at
the bottom back of the pile. How does this always happen is it a law of physics?
.JPG)