Searching for Iron Oxide
I've been wondering how to colour the clay and ceramic pieces I have, and of course I could go to the pottery supply store and pick up some glazes, but a) it's very far away and I don't have a car, and b) it seems more interesting to do something more 'primitive'. What could I use from around my house that would make an interesting mark?
A few days ago I was out on the deck and noticed some rust stains on the wood beside the legs of a metal chair we have. Rust... iron oxide... of course!
The theme then became how to get iron oxide. So I put some steel wool in a can with a bit of water and let it sit for a while. I also scraped some rust flakes off the lid of a metal can that coincidentally we're going to use when we do our raku firing next week. And lastly, after doing some internet trawling, I burned some steel wool because that apparently produces iron oxide.*
The whole week long I saw rust everywhere. Everytime I walked my dog was a chance to find some and to study its variations and gradations. It's interesting when a waste product suddenly becomes a value - the world turns upside down...
I had two bone-dry pieces of clay to work with - a pot and a trivet. The pot I sponged with rusty liquid from the steel wool in the can that I had filtered through a coffee filter and let dry. On the back left side of the trivet I put the residual rust from the can (with a bit of water); on the right I put the rust flakes (mixed with a bit of water). On the front of the trivet I put a fine wash made from some of the burnt steel wool.
And we'll see what happens...
*Upon further investigation I think I've concluded that burning steel wool produces magnetite, a kind of iron oxide denominated as Fe3O4, but not that nice rusty-red I was after (Fe2O3). I say "I think" because unfortunately I know nothing about chemistry, so correct me if I'm wrong.
A few days ago I was out on the deck and noticed some rust stains on the wood beside the legs of a metal chair we have. Rust... iron oxide... of course!
The theme then became how to get iron oxide. So I put some steel wool in a can with a bit of water and let it sit for a while. I also scraped some rust flakes off the lid of a metal can that coincidentally we're going to use when we do our raku firing next week. And lastly, after doing some internet trawling, I burned some steel wool because that apparently produces iron oxide.*
The whole week long I saw rust everywhere. Everytime I walked my dog was a chance to find some and to study its variations and gradations. It's interesting when a waste product suddenly becomes a value - the world turns upside down...
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I had two bone-dry pieces of clay to work with - a pot and a trivet. The pot I sponged with rusty liquid from the steel wool in the can that I had filtered through a coffee filter and let dry. On the back left side of the trivet I put the residual rust from the can (with a bit of water); on the right I put the rust flakes (mixed with a bit of water). On the front of the trivet I put a fine wash made from some of the burnt steel wool.
And we'll see what happens...
*Upon further investigation I think I've concluded that burning steel wool produces magnetite, a kind of iron oxide denominated as Fe3O4, but not that nice rusty-red I was after (Fe2O3). I say "I think" because unfortunately I know nothing about chemistry, so correct me if I'm wrong.
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