The Magic of Fire II
by Tony HansenThis book expounds our philosophy about stepping off the textbook recipe treadmill and learning to understand recipes, control them, be more demanding about the way they work and fire and solve all kinds of problems that are normally completely beyond the average potter or technician. It will help you to develop a ‘complete quality conscience’ and a sense of accountability for the technical integrity of your ware. It will get you excited and open up a whole new world of options if you hunger to know ‘why’?
In many ways this goes in the opposite direction of both the ceramic industry and pottery community promoting an alternative to the 'know-only-what-you-need-to-know', 'supplier-dependant', and ‘recipe trafficking’ cultures and the easy-fix mentality they foster. More than any other book, it deals in great detail with the application of computers to ceramics. The Magic of Fire shows you how to use FORESIGHT and INSIGHT to solve glaze problems and manage related information; it recognizes that the computer offers new ways of doing things and new viewpoints; not just ways to automate the old. This book also contains clay body testing and formulation information that you will find no where else.
INSIGHT Software Manual
Surprisingly, this book is one of the best introductory courses on glaze chemistry you can find. It has a large lessons section that teaches you step-by-step not only how to use the software but also how to formulate and adjust glazes and trouble-shoot glaze problems. It also introduces basic concepts about materials, oxides, formulas, analyses, loss on ignition, etc. There are matching training videos on our website for each of the lessons. Following are some examples of things you will learn in the manual:
- Formulating glazes from a native material and from a feldspar
- Substituting wollastonte for whiting (calcium carbonate), feldspar for nepheline syenite
- Converting a glossy glaze into a matte
- Fixing a crazing problem
- Understanding and substituting for Gerstley Borate
- Changing the firing temperature of a glaze
- Formula to batch conversions
You can download INSIGHT and its manual for a two month free trial from this website.
Glazes and Glass Coatings
by Richard A. Eppler and Douglas R. EpplerIt is available from the American Ceramic Society at www.acers.org
This book is a good companion to INSIGHT because it fluently speaks the 'language of oxides' and how a glazes oxide chemistry directly relates to what it does in the kiln. It overviews most aspects of enamel and glaze technology and does so from the viewpoint of a typical factory engineer or technician. The authors are clearly 'ceramic chemistry evangelists'. Fired glaze properties are all discussed in relation to glaze chemistry. In fact, you cannot employ much of the knowledge in this book without being able to convert from the formulas discussed to batch recipes using your materials. The last chapter of the book suggests that the culmination of ceramic glaze science is the application of ceramic chemistry calculations that take material mineralogy and physical properties into account.
Crystal Glazes II
Understanding the Process and Materialsby Fara Shimbo
This second edition is the Bible of crystal glazes. Click here to learn more.
You cannot afford not to be aware of the research of Fara Shimbo. She is a woman possessed with crystal glazes, a real worker, a prolific tester and writer. She knows so many things about materials, recipes, clay bodies, firing, shape of ware, application of glaze, safety, finishing, etc. She has made every mistake and documented every success. Page after page of beautiful color sample tile grids and exactly what you need to do to make them. Fara does not just grow crystals, she 'farms' them. She dissects and studies them, shapes them, fringes them, seeds them, mixes them, colors them, co-ordinates them with the background, she even names them. Fara is a woman in love with crystals. She has developed a 'language of crystals' and her enthusiasm is so contagious that the readers will also entertain leaving regular pottery for the lure of crystals.
Mastering Cone 6 Glazes:
Improving fit, Durability and Aesthetics
By John Hesselberth and Ron RoyAlthough this book does not go into the kind of general detail of the above, it is likewise written by two experienced potters with a definite technical bent. Its premise is that leach resistant durable quality glazes have definite chemistry earmarks and the authors ease potters into the idea of looking beyond the visual and beginning to see their glazes from the viewpoint of their chemistry. They argue the value of and demonstrate the concepts of physical testing to validate and challenge chemistry observations. It showcases a collection of special purpose reactive glazes rationalizing their chemistries and discussing leaching and hardness test results. Many of the glazes are high boron and therefore fluid melt bases with plenty of rutile and titanium plus other colorants. Buy this book at http://www.axner.com
