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Richard La Londe's
"Liquid Glass" Medium
Here's the formula Richard La Londe uses to make his "liquid
glass" medium. A full gallon costs only a few dollars.
Start by obtaining a bag of carboxyl methyl cellulose (CMC)
powder, which is available from most ceramic supply stores.
CMC has been used by the ceramic industry for
decades and is a common ingredient used to control viscosity in the
food industry.
Bring water to a boil. Pour one pint of boiling water into a
container, and add four to five heaping tablespoons of powdered CMC.
Stir for about 30 seconds. The amount of CMC needed varies by
manufacturer, so you will need to experiment a bit to find the exact
quantity required.
Allow the mixture to sit overnight to
cool. The next morning it should be clear and gel like; any
chunks from the previous day's mixture will have dissolved.
Thin with water if needed, but a thicker mixture is better than a
thinner one. If you make it too thin you will need to restart
the process at the beginning.
Now take glass powder (Bullseye size 08,
for example) and mix with this medium. Use a squeeze bottle to
squeeze out a "liquid glass" line. You will need to experiment
to find the right proportion of powder to CMC mixture. If the
mixture is too thin it will distort and run. If it is too
thick it will be difficult to squeeze out of the bottle.
The CMC will burn off clean when fired.
Firing to a tack fuse will produce a dimensional line; firing to
full fuse will flatten the line.
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Copyright 2005 Brad Walker.
All rights reserved.
Thanks to Richard La Londe for
sharing this formula. Richard also offers workshops on his
technique. Find about more about his work on his website,
which is located at:
http://www.richardlalonde.com/
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