Bentone EW - Glaze Suspender

In the process of trouble shooting recent crystalline glaze spraying problems I found and carefully read posts by John Tilton regarding his experience using Bentone EW. Concluding it must be finer 'n frog's hair I thought I would give a try—until I found none of our suppliers stocked or had even heard of it.

A prolonged Google search revealed Elementis as the source of Bentone EW which in New England is distributed by TMC Materials INC. At $6.52 per lb I briefly thought my supply problem solved until I learned of their 50 lb minimum. Since they were not able to suggest a small quantity supplier I briefly considered selling small lots of the 50 lb bag on our eBay store. Fortunately my continued search identified Dallas based Trinity Ceramic Supply as stocking and selling small quantities of this elusive powder. A quick call confirmed a 1 lb order @ $10.50 + shipping. As far as I can determine (my determination is definitely fallable) Trinity is the only domestic company supplying small quantities of Bentone EW?

Bentone EW — Supreme Suspender ?

For the technically inclined— DigitalFire publishes the following analysis as well as a detailed description of the product which is probably not derived from actual use.

C.E.C.: 78 me/100 gm
Principle Exchange Ion: Na
pH (5% solids slurry): 8.5
Hectorite Content: 90%
Minus 50 mesh: 90%
Minus 325 mesh: 99.5%
Surface Area: 600 sq. meter/gram
Bulk Density (not compacted): 0.24-0.37 g/cc

Perhaps this supplier information will assist those wishing to purchase and test the use of Bentone EW.