Saturday, April 19, 2014

Why Ms.B

There have been a few inquires about the name of our small gas kiln.
We named her Ms. B for a couple of reasons.
The first one is when she is good and we have a great firing she is Queen B.
The second one is that when she is bad, and the firing is not good, then she is little Ms. B, as in a female dog.

She has been an interesting kiln to work with and with the last firing we are on our way to making pots and glazes to fit this kiln. We were trying to make it work more like our production kiln, but she was having none of that.
She, in her mightiness, wants her own identity, and that is just what she is going to have.
I hope we get more Queen from her.



  Starting last week I made a fat mistake in the gluing of some of the tiles.
Let me just state right here and now that, all glue is not created equal and, just because people sell glue does not mean they know jack about it.
I have been very happy with a glue that I started using in the past 2 years. It was easy to use, glued without much fuss or mess and was working perfectly for me.
So, why change?
I didn't, they did.
I ran out of glue and looked at what I thought should be the same thing.
It was different.
I didn't buy it because it was different, I bought something else that did not set up for me. I gave it 4 days and then I took the wooden backs off, cleaned the gummy mess off both the tiles and the wood.

 I then tried another glue.... the next day I pried off the wooden backs again and cleaned all the glue off them. This time I carried them to the house and washed them in hot soapy water.
The only answer was to load Mark up in the car and carry him to the hardware chain store and get him to look at the glue with me.  We looked and read and looked and read. I picked a glue "product" took it to a floor person and asked for someone who knows glue to talk to me.
I got a person who mostly, kinda, sorta knew about glue, not really... she pawned me off on someone else who took me back to the glues and proceeded to read the backs. Hey, I just did that, get me someone who knows about glue.
We have a guy, but he is at dinner.
I finally picked a "product" to try.

We then went to another store and I picked yet another product to try.
What can I tell you.
I loved the one I had.
The 2 I brought home seem to be working, but they are fussy and messy to use.
My plan is to call the company and "talk" at them to find out if they still make the other stuff and where I can buy it.

I now have 8 tiles that I have glued, scraped, de-glued, washed dried and re-glued 3 times.
I'm not whining, I am frustrated.

If anyone has a glue or a product that they would like to recommend to me I am willing to look at it and read all the information on the back. I know how to do that.
Of course you know what I want, I want the old stuff, that worked.  

Meanwhile, I need to go pinch on the babies.....


10 comments:

Unknown said...

http://www.westsystem.com/ This is what we use building boats. They have pumps that go on the cans, and measure resin and hardener very precisely. The pumps last forever, which surprised me, and the glue never fails us.

Tracey Broome said...

Never mind that silly glue, look at those sweet angels! Look how they are touching each other, talk about bonding! Find some glue like that!

Gary's third pottery blog said...

Babies for easter :) If you talking mess, I bet you tried gorgilla glue. I use elmer's carpenter's wood glue for everything myself!

Dennis Allen said...

Seems like whenever I go to a big box store I'm the most knowledgeable person there.I hate to be led back to where I just came from only to have the clerk stare at the display I just looked at.

Linda Starr said...

the twins how sweet, happy easter to you all;

what kind of glue failed? gorilla I have a bunch stocked up and am wondering about it now

what kind of glue did you switch to?

I glued some glass ornaments at my lavender farm with GE Silicone II and it lasted out of doors for three years through cold and heat. I my switch to that instead of the gorilla.

Judy Shreve said...

I can't think about glue now that I've seen those baby girls - so sweet. So forget about those tiles. Get in the car and go pinch some grand babies!

Michèle Hastings said...

Those are the sweetest babies! What a precious photo.

I am not much help in the glue department. We bought the 2 part epoxy that Aftosa recommends for glued down soap pumps... they eventually come unglued. So much for recommendations.
I have had good luck with E6000 for gluing bails on Jewelry, but I am not sure it would hold up a tile.

Gail said...

Sorry about all the frustration, but thanks for the picture of those lovely babies. And don't pinch them, it'll make them cry...just kiss them and hold them and rock them.

smalltownme said...

Oh those babies. So beautiful!

cookingwithgas said...

I see another post on glue coming soon.
Those babies, so sweet.