sweating pots

Hello, I'm new to this newsgroup technology but love all the info! I make
plant pots and waterfountains but have had two incidences of the pot
'sweating' from the base. I use a cone 6 plainsman white clay, and a
combination of commercial and studio made glazes. Any insights on where to
begin looking to determine the problem? (glaze? base thickness? firing
method?) Thanks for your help! JLW

On Mon, 22 Sep 2003 04:04:37 GMT, "Janet Unruh"
wrote:



Hello, I'm new to this newsgroup technology but love all the info! I make
plant pots and waterfountains but have had two incidences of the pot
'sweating' from the base. I use a cone 6 plainsman white clay, and a
combination of commercial and studio made glazes. Any insights on where to
begin looking to determine the problem? (glaze? base thickness? firing
method?) Thanks for your help! JLW


The most common reason for pots sweating is clay that is not
sufficiently vitrified. For stoneware, you want the absorption rate
in the 2-3 percent range. A good non-crazed glaze can help to
prevent sweating, but even absent glaze a well vitrified stoneware
should not sweat.

deg

I agree with deg.
Are you firing with cones or a controller? Try upping the firing temp. a
degree or ten to get the body denser.

Steve
Bath
UK


In article , Dewitt
writes
On Mon, 22 Sep 2003 04:04:37 GMT, "Janet Unruh"
wrote:



Hello, I'm new to this newsgroup technology but love all the info! I make
plant pots and waterfountains but have had two incidences of the pot
'sweating' from the base. I use a cone 6 plainsman white clay, and a
combination of commercial and studio made glazes. Any insights on where to
begin looking to determine the problem? (glaze? base thickness? firing
method?) Thanks for your help! JLW


The most common reason for pots sweating is clay that is not
sufficiently vitrified. For stoneware, you want the absorption rate
in the 2-3 percent range. A good non-crazed glaze can help to
prevent sweating, but even absent glaze a well vitrified stoneware
should not sweat.

deg


--
Steve Mills
Bath
UK

HI Janet,
I am too new at this to be much help on correcting the sweating problem, but
wanted to tell you that I have been an avid gardener all of my life and have
yet to come across a plant pot that DOESN'T sweat around the bottom. I always
assumed they were purposely made that way as plant roots need to be able to
breathe. That's why most gardeners recommend unglazed terra cotta pots. Heck,
sounds like yours are doing what they're supposed to!

As I look over the posts, I agree with all. You certainly want the clay
vitrified so it won't sweat (leak through capillary action) also, perhaps we
need to look at the fact the sweat comes two different temperatures meeting
and producing condensation. The first temp being the stuff inside the pot
whether it is water or dirt. The second temp would be the outside
temperature. Condensation will not be corrected by firing to higher cone.
Steve in Tampa, FL.


"Janet Unruh" wrote in message
newsxubb.4250$0a6.3830@edtnps84...


Hello, I'm new to this newsgroup technology but love all the info! I make
plant pots and waterfountains but have had two incidences of the pot
'sweating' from the base. I use a cone 6 plainsman white clay, and a
combination of commercial and studio made glazes. Any insights on where to
begin looking to determine the problem? (glaze? base thickness? firing
method?) Thanks for your help! JLW

Thanks for thoughts! I will up the temperature some. It's odd that only
two (that I'm aware) of ... maybe 100.. seem to sweat. It did seem that one
of the pots I kept had moisture underneath at first, but then it went away,
making me think it was just my imagination. Perhaps the theory of the
temperatures is accurate. I'll leave the water sit room and water are the
same and see if it continues to sweat.
Another problem - my original message was the first time I ever posted to a
news group. Since last night, I've had over 200 messages with viruses come
in. (virus scanner caught them) Could this be related to whatever I've done
newsgroup-wise?
janet


"Mud Dawg" wrote in message
. ..
As I look over the posts, I agree with all. You certainly want the clay
vitrified so it won't sweat (leak through capillary action) also, perhaps
we
need to look at the fact the sweat comes two different temperatures
meeting
and producing condensation. The first temp being the stuff inside the pot
whether it is water or dirt. The second temp would be the outside
temperature. Condensation will not be corrected by firing to higher cone.
Steve in Tampa, FL.


"Janet Unruh" wrote in message
newsxubb.4250$0a6.3830@edtnps84...


Hello, I'm new to this newsgroup technology but love all the info! I
make
plant pots and waterfountains but have had two incidences of the pot
'sweating' from the base. I use a cone 6 plainsman white clay, and a
combination of commercial and studio made glazes. Any insights on where
to
begin looking to determine the problem? (glaze? base thickness? firing
method?) Thanks for your help! JLW

In article , Janet Unruh
writes
Another problem - my original message was the first time I ever posted to a
news group. Since last night, I've had over 200 messages with viruses come
in. (virus scanner caught them) Could this be related to whatever I've done
newsgroup-wise?
janet

Virus and spam hits are related to your Internet activity, though which
sort I am not sure. I am active on email and occasionally on this NG and
have also had an awful lot of crap head towards my inbox. I now clean up
my mailbox on the server before downloading. saves a lot of hassle.
--
Steve Mills
Bath
UK

On Tue, 23 Sep 2003 05:32:20 GMT, "Janet Unruh"
wrote:

Another problem - my original message was the first time I ever posted to a
news group. Since last night, I've had over 200 messages with viruses come
in. (virus scanner caught them) Could this be related to whatever I've done
newsgroup-wise?
janet

Many newsgroup posters use a dummy Email address
in the header, and show their true address in "munged"
form in the signature. The idea is to make it readable
by a human, but not via a machine running a simple
algorithm such as searching for "@" and ".com".
This keeps automated name harvesting programs
from extracting your Email address and selling it
to the spammers.

Your news reader should allow you to provide any
header Email address you choose. It's
possible that some news servers require a valid
one, but I think that is not common.




Bob Masta
dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom

D A Q A R T A
Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
www.daqarta.com

Hmmmm... same thing happened to me. I used an email address I hardly ever
check in my set up for news groups. I posted my first ever yesterday.
There
were 83 new messages in that box this morning. I stopped it and running
anti virus on it as I'm writing this. I also went in to set up and put in a
bogus
email name. Lesson learned quickly.

"Janet Unruh" wrote in message
...
Thanks for thoughts! I will up the temperature some. It's odd that only
two (that I'm aware) of ... maybe 100.. seem to sweat. It did seem that
one
of the pots I kept had moisture underneath at first, but then it went
away,
making me think it was just my imagination. Perhaps the theory of the
temperatures is accurate. I'll leave the water sit room and water are the
same and see if it continues to sweat.
Another problem - my original message was the first time I ever posted to
a
news group. Since last night, I've had over 200 messages with viruses
come
in. (virus scanner caught them) Could this be related to whatever I've
done
newsgroup-wise?
janet


"Mud Dawg" wrote in message
. ..
As I look over the posts, I agree with all. You certainly want the clay
vitrified so it won't sweat (leak through capillary action) also,
perhaps
we
need to look at the fact the sweat comes two different temperatures
meeting
and producing condensation. The first temp being the stuff inside the
pot
whether it is water or dirt. The second temp would be the outside
temperature. Condensation will not be corrected by firing to higher
cone.
Steve in Tampa, FL.


"Janet Unruh" wrote in message
newsxubb.4250$0a6.3830@edtnps84...


Hello, I'm new to this newsgroup technology but love all the info! I
make
plant pots and waterfountains but have had two incidences of the pot
'sweating' from the base. I use a cone 6 plainsman white clay, and a
combination of commercial and studio made glazes. Any insights on
where
to
begin looking to determine the problem? (glaze? base thickness? firing
method?) Thanks for your help! JLW