 Tony Hansen's Thousand-Post TimeLineI am the creator of Digitalfire Insight, the Digitalfire Reference Database and Insight-live.com. ... more 
Kiln Firing Curve Recorder - Coming SoonSo many glazes appear as they do because of the firing schedule (especially the cooling curve). Imagine getting an awesome result out of a kiln and not knowing (or being able to replicate) the exact firing schedule that produced it. This device reads and records the temperature once per minute. It ... more Context: Firing Schedule Tuesday 4th December 2018 
Transparent glazes often work poorly on dark stoneware bodiesThese are fired in cone 6 oxidation. They are all the same clay body (Plainsman M390). The center mug is clear-glazed with G2926B (and is full of bubble clouds). This dark body is exposed inside and out (the other two mugs have a white engobe inside and midway down the outside). G2926B clear glaze ... more Context: Transparent Glazes Sunday 2nd December 2018 
A cone 6 clear glaze plus iron vs. Alberta Slip amber baseThese two mugs are made from a dark red burning stoneware and fired in a cool-and-soak firing schedule. A white engobe (L3954A) has been applied on the inside and half way down the outside. Both are glazed inside with G2926B whiteware transparent glaze. The outside glaze on the left is the same ... more Context: GA6-A - Alberta Slip Cone 6 Amber Base Glaze, L3954B - White Cone 6 Engobe for Plainsman M390, M340, Iron oxide vacuums up glaze bubble clouds at cone 6, Plainsman Cone 6 Slow Cool (Reactive glazes) Sunday 2nd December 2018 
Testing your own native clays is easier that you might thinkSome simple equipment is all you need. It is amazing how much you can learn from characterizing a body or clay material. You need a gram scale accurate to 0.01 grams (very inexpensive at your ceramic supplier). A set of callipers (again, not expensive these days). Some metal sieves (expensive, so ... more Context: DFAC Drying Factor, SHAB Shrinkage/Absorption Test, SIEV Sieve Analysis 35-325 Wet, A must-have: Laboratory variable speed propeller mixer, Home-made propeller mixer with mount and switch, Heavy duty mixer mounted on a steel pole, It Starts With a Lump of Clay: How to Assess a Native Clay, Physical Testing, Digitalfire Insight-Live Saturday 1st December 2018 
Printing a prototype propeller for my Lightnin lab mixerAn example of how handy the ability to print in 3D can be. The worn-out stainless propeller costs $300 to replace. But the size and pitch of the blades is not ideal for the work I do. I print them in PLA plastic, this enables experimenting with different sizes and pitches. When one works well then I ... more Context: A must-have: Laboratory variable speed propeller mixer, 3D Printing Ceramics, Propeller Mixer Saturday 1st December 2018 
A must-have: Laboratory variable speed propeller mixerIf you are at all serious about testing glazes and clay bodies, you need one of these. There are other methods, but nothing else comes close to this. It is the most valuable and frequently used tool in any ceramic bodies and glazes testing lab or classroom. These are expensive new, this Lightnin ... more Context: Understanding the Deflocculation Process in Slip Casting, Testing your own native clays is easier that you might think, Home-made propeller mixer with mount and switch, Printing a prototype propeller for my Lightnin lab mixer, Engobe, Propeller Mixer, Blunging, mixing Saturday 1st December 2018 
CMC Gum is magic for multi-layering, even for raw Alberta SlipThe glaze on the left is 85% of a calcine:raw Alberta Slip mix (40:60). It was on too thick so it cracked on drying (even if not too thick, if others are layered over everything will flake off). The solution? The centre piece has the same recipe but uses 85% pure raw Alberta Slip, yet it sports no ... more Context: CMC Gum, Alberta Slip, Dipping Glazes, Glaze Crawling Thursday 29th November 2018 
A problem with super-white porcelain mugsThese are made from Plainsman Polar Ice translucent NZ porcelain. The one on the right was used in the coffee room of the plant and washed between uses in a common manner (which is: not very much!). The stains are obviously not nearly as visible on a stoneware mug. Context: Porcelain Monday 26th November 2018 
Just enough iron in this celadon to highlight the designThere is only 0.35% iron oxide in this recipe, as much as ten time less than normal. But this is just enough to provide a darker shadow (where the glaze is thicker) at the edges of the design. This is porcelain fired at cone 10 reduction by Janel Jacobson. Context: Celadon Glaze Friday 23rd November 2018 
Gum does not work in a glaze if an important ingredient is missingThese brush-strokes of gummed glaze are painted onto an already-fired glaze. Gummed glazes can do this, they will adhere and dry without cracking. And dry hard and resist washing off. Brush strokes hold their character. The brown glaze has 1.6 specific gravity (SG) and about 1.5% CMC gum. The white ... more Context: CMC Gum, Bentonite, Brushing Glazes Friday 23rd November 2018 | Contact Us:Use the contact pages within or outside your account at Insight-Live.com 
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Still available for Mac, PC, Linux Interactive glaze chemistry calculations (legacy, no longer supported) What people have said about digitalfire• What an awesome list of videos you have here, and the info on your site is invaluable. • I normally do not comment on articles I find, but this is amazing. Thank you so much for providing this information! I am a ceramics student in my BFA year, and this is the most comprehensive and helpful information I have found on creating a porcelain casting slip. • I am a builder / developer / consumer of ceramic tiles. You have a sea of information on your site. • I want to also thank you for all you have done for the ceramic and pottery industry. • Tony Hanson is like the person that is always waiting to answer my questions. He is very thoughtful and quick with response. I wish he was my neighbor. • Your advice is always helpful and well thought out. • I have found the glaze information on your site really helpful for quite some time now. I like the way that there is an emphasis on problem solving and understanding how things work, rather than just offering recipes that might work. Click here to see all 191 What people have said about Insight-Live• Your site, I think, is the best source of information on ceramics that I have found. I have always wanted to know how things work rather than just doing it because someone said so. Your site gives reasons why and how to apply what you have learned, and I have learned a lot from you and want to thank you! I love the Digitalfire site. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge. • I just want to say THANK YOU for this incredible database of information. Thank you, thank you, thank you! • I have really been enjoying using insight. • Just read your page and I am awestruck! • Thank you for all of the information you publish on your website. Digitalfire has been my primary resource for researching raw materials and I will be soon be subscribing to Insight. Thank you so much for all of your work. My fellow students and I refer to your website almost daily. • My glazes activities are seasonal anyway. In the summer i make pots in winter I think about chemistry and sit at a PC. I looked at your pricing again and it is indeed reasonable. • You are brilliant .. You have provided so much info that is great. I have been a full time potter for 44 years and am still learning. Thank you so much for your generosity in sending this very pertinent information to me. It certainly has me thinking I should sign on to Digital Fire. Thanks again. Click here to see all 104 |
