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Stained Plainsman Polar Ice Porcelain - With Polishing (no glaze)
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Fired to cone 6. These are not glazed. Polar Ice is very vitreous and very white, an ideal host for stains. You can make a very similar porcelain yourself using the L3778D recipe (you just need a propeller mixer and plaster table). However, there is a caution: If a stain is refractory, it can reduce the firing shrinkage of the porcelain considerably. On the other hand, some stains will flux bodies and do the opposite. That means if high and low shrinkage stained versions of Polar Ice are laminated or marbled, the firing can create a tension-time-bomb that either exits the kiln cracked or cracks down the road. Of course, a polished surface would not be suitable for food or drink surfaces if the porcelain is being stained by an inclusion pigment containing cadmium or other known hazardous metal. This work is courtesy of Robert Barritz.
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