Reverse-engineer a commercial transparent glaze to get the recipeThe commercial cone 04 clear brushing glaze on the left works really well on our bodies so I sent it away to be analyzed (about $130). From that information and using my account at insight-live.com I was able to create a recipe, having the same chemistry, employing two Fusion frits (which amazingly ... more The commercial cone 04 clear brushing glaze on the left works really well on our bodies so I sent it away to be analyzed (about $130). From that information and using my account at insight-live.com I was able to create a recipe, having the same chemistry, employing two Fusion frits (which amazingly supplied all of the fluxing oxides). In this amazing cone 04 melt fluidity comparison they are almost identical (mine, G3879, has a little more surface tension). The Al2O3 and SiO2 levels would make, even a cone 6 glaze, jealous! So it should be very durable. And it has low thermal expansion (no crazing). With the bucket of dipping-slurry I made I can glaze a piece perfectly evenly in seconds rather than the normal 10 minutes of fiddling with a brush and three coats! I have used it on dozens of pieces, it's amazing. I can't wait to start adding stains! Context: G3879 - Cone 04 Transparent Low-Expansion Base Glaze, A Low Cost Tester of Glaze Melt Fluidity, Getting a chemical analysis of your ceramic powder, How and where to have a glaze tested to learn its chemical analysis, This mug has waterlogged because it is not vitrified, Five low fire glazes: Which is the best?, Frit Thursday 5th September 2019 
How and where to have a glaze tested to learn its chemical analysisHere are some of the papers I had to deal with to have a mystery colourless transparent glaze analyzed (so I can calculate a mix of my own materials to produce this chemistry). Since no one test will find all the 13 common oxides that may be present in low temperature colorless glazes I had to order ... more Here are some of the papers I had to deal with to have a mystery colourless transparent glaze analyzed (so I can calculate a mix of my own materials to produce this chemistry). Since no one test will find all the 13 common oxides that may be present in low temperature colorless glazes I had to order three different ones (I also asked for bismuth). It ended up costing about $130. I found this lab was the best one to deal with (because ceramic materials are outside their experience, others worried about ruining their platinum crucibles). A couple of things to remember: Emphasize that you want the results in oxide format (not elemental). To avoid sample preparation costs, dry out some of the glaze slurry and crush in into a homogenous powder sample using a mortar and pestle (they only need a few grams, I did 20). Context: Reverse-engineer a commercial transparent glaze to get the recipe, Glaze Chemistry, Analysis Thursday 5th September 2019 
Trafficked online recipes waiting for a victim to try them!You found some recipes. Their photos looked great, you bought $500 of materials to try them, but none worked! Why? Consider these recipes. Many have 50+% feldspar/Cornwall/nepheline (with little dolomite or talc to counteract their high thermal expansion, they will craze). Many are high in Gerstley ... more You found some recipes. Their photos looked great, you bought $500 of materials to try them, but none worked! Why? Consider these recipes. Many have 50+% feldspar/Cornwall/nepheline (with little dolomite or talc to counteract their high thermal expansion, they will craze). Many are high in Gerstley Borate (it will turn the slurry into a bucket of jelly, cause crawling). Others waste high percentages of expensive tin, lithium and cobalt in crappy base recipes. Metal carbonates in some encourage blistering. Some melt too much and run onto the kiln shelf. Some contain almost no clay (they will settle like a rock in the bucket). A better way? Find, or develop, fritted, stable base transparent glossy and matte base recipes that fit your body, have good slurry properties, resist leaching and cutlery marking. Identify the mechanisms (colorants, opacifiers and variegators) in a recipe you want to try and transplant these into your own base (or mix of bases). And use stains for color (instead of metal oxides). Context: Trafficking in Glaze Recipes, Glaze Recipes, Mechanism, Base Glaze, Limit Recipe Monday 2nd September 2019 
Can you throw zircopax on the potters wheel? Yes!These crucibles are thrown from a mixture of 97% Zircopax (zirconium silicate) and 3% Veegum T. The consistency of the material is good for rolling and making tiles but is not quite plastic enough to throw very thin (so I would try 4% Veegum next time). It takes alot of time to dewater on a plaster ... more These crucibles are thrown from a mixture of 97% Zircopax (zirconium silicate) and 3% Veegum T. The consistency of the material is good for rolling and making tiles but is not quite plastic enough to throw very thin (so I would try 4% Veegum next time). It takes alot of time to dewater on a plaster bat. But, these are like nothing I could make from any other material. They are incredibly refractory (fired to cone 10 they look like bisqued porcelain). However I have had mixed results for thermal shock resistance. Context: Zircopax, Thermal shock, Refractory, Plasticity Friday 30th August 2019 
High LOI materials can turn your glaze into Aero chocolate!The smooth surface of this blistering glaze has been ground off to reveal how serious the bubble problem really is. If the body or glaze itself is generating gases of decomposition at the wrong time, and the glaze has too little melt fluidity to pass the bubbles, this can happen. Opacifiers ... more The smooth surface of this blistering glaze has been ground off to reveal how serious the bubble problem really is. If the body or glaze itself is generating gases of decomposition at the wrong time, and the glaze has too little melt fluidity to pass the bubbles, this can happen. Opacifiers (especially zircon) and stains can reduce melt fluidity dramatically. Even glossy smooth glazes can have bubbles lurking just below the surface, wear and tear on a piece can open them up, creating micro holes that roughen the surface. Context: LOI, Glaze Bubbles Thursday 8th August 2019 
A runny glaze is blistering on the inside of a large bowlThe glaze is running down on the inside, so it has a high melt fluidity. "High melt fluidity" is another way of saying that it is being over fired to get the visual effect. It is percolating at top temperature (during the temperature-hold period), forming bubbles. There is enough surface tension to ... more The glaze is running down on the inside, so it has a high melt fluidity. "High melt fluidity" is another way of saying that it is being over fired to get the visual effect. It is percolating at top temperature (during the temperature-hold period), forming bubbles. There is enough surface tension to maintain them all the way down to the body, and for as long as the temperature is held. To break the bubbles and heal up after them the kiln needs to be cooled to a point where decreasing melt fluidity can overcome the surface tension. The hold temperature needs to be high enough that the glaze is still fluid enough to run in and and heal the residual craters. A typical drop temperature is 100F. Context: Melt Fluidity, Fluid Melt Glazes, Blisters, Glaze Blisters Thursday 8th August 2019 
Two batches of EPK tested quite differently in 2018The kaolin has been mixed 70:30 with nepheline syenite to create a body that matures below cone 6. This enables comparing the degree to which the two kaolins influence vitrification. The darker one is more plastic, has higher drying shrinkage more soluble salts. These dry test bars were fired at ... more The kaolin has been mixed 70:30 with nepheline syenite to create a body that matures below cone 6. This enables comparing the degree to which the two kaolins influence vitrification. The darker one is more plastic, has higher drying shrinkage more soluble salts. These dry test bars were fired at cone 4-8 and had similar fired shrinkages and porosities. However the one on the right fired whiter at all temperatures. Context: EP Kaolin Sunday 4th August 2019 
White majolica bases have very, very low melt fluidityThis is Linda Arbuckle's base recipe (66% frit 3124, 23% feldspar, 13 kaolin/bentonite, 9 zircon, 4 tin oxide mixed to 1.62 specific gravity). It is fired at cone 05 creating a super gloss. This is applied very, very thickly (double the thickness of what a stoneware glaze would be). Yet notice how ... more This is Linda Arbuckle's base recipe (66% frit 3124, 23% feldspar, 13 kaolin/bentonite, 9 zircon, 4 tin oxide mixed to 1.62 specific gravity). It is fired at cone 05 creating a super gloss. This is applied very, very thickly (double the thickness of what a stoneware glaze would be). Yet notice how the air-vent holes did not heal during firing, these would have filled in easily had this been on stoneware or porcelain. For this reason, majolica glazes must be applied to ware not having any abrupt concave contours (this also happened on the handle-joins and where foot-meets-wall inside). Bisque must be clean to assure good adherence. Any glaze coverage issues must be repaired carefully before firing. This piece was bisque fired at cone 06, that is the reason for the air vent holes. Had it been bisque fired at cone 04 (higher than the glaze firing) these would not have occurred. However that would have extended the dip-time, this one was held under 10 seconds whereas a cone 04 bisque would have required 20 seconds. Context: For even coverage white majolica glazes must be applied by dipping, Melt Fluidity, Majolica Wednesday 31st July 2019 
For even coverage white majolica glazes must be applied by dippingThe mug on the left has three coats of Spectrum majolica base, painted on by brush from a pint jar. Drying was required after doing the inside coats, so the total glazing time was several hours. The glaze layer is way too thin and it is not even at all! The one on the right was dipped in a 5 gallon ... more The mug on the left has three coats of Spectrum majolica base, painted on by brush from a pint jar. Drying was required after doing the inside coats, so the total glazing time was several hours. The glaze layer is way too thin and it is not even at all! The one on the right was dipped in a 5 gallon bucket-full of Arbuckle white (that was weighed out according to a recipe and slurried at 1.62 specific gravity). It took seconds to dip-apply, the thickness is good and I got very even coverage. As is obvious, it makes sense to make your own base white. Then, you can decorate using the overglaze colors (I use the Spectrum Majolica series). Another advantage of making your own white is that you can splurge on the amount of opacifier (in this case 9% zircon and 4% tin oxide), to achieve maximum whiteness and opacity. And, you can proportion a mix of two frits (having higher and lower thermal expansion) to fine tune the fit with the body (a big issue at low fire). Context: White majolica bases have very, very low melt fluidity, Majolica, Brushing Glazes, Base-Coat Dipping Glazes Wednesday 31st July 2019 
BEWARE of leaving outsides of functional ware unglazedThis mug is made from the strongest porcelain I have, it is so vitreous that the bare fired surface does not even coffee-stain. So I glazed it only on the inside. That created a time-bomb waiting for hot coffee! Three others did exactly the same. Four other mugs glazed on the outside were fine. Why? ... more This mug is made from the strongest porcelain I have, it is so vitreous that the bare fired surface does not even coffee-stain. So I glazed it only on the inside. That created a time-bomb waiting for hot coffee! Three others did exactly the same. Four other mugs glazed on the outside were fine. Why? Glazes need to have a lower thermal expansion than the body so they do not craze over time. When ware is glazed inside and the compressive forces the glaze finds itself under keep it crack free and also significantly strengthens the piece (like pre-stressed concrete). But here there is no outside glaze to be counteract the inside one pushing outward. When suddenly heated it pushes even harder. Structural weak points, outside surface imperfections or pronounced contour or thickness changes provide crack-initiation-points to relieve the stress. The only way to make this inside-only-glazed technique work is carefully tuning the thermal expansion of the inside glaze. That means a lot of testing and a lot of broken pieces. Context: Glaze Compression Wednesday 24th July 2019 | Contact Us:
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