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The cone 03 porcelain cup on the left has 10% Cerdec encapsulated stain 239416 in the G2931K clear base (this is not an underglaze with a transparent over it). The surface is badly orange-peeled because the glass is full of micro-bubbles that developed during the firing. Notice that the insides of the cups are crystal-clear, no bubbles. So here, they are a direct product of the presence of the stain. The glaze on the right has even more stain, 15%. Why isn't it even worse? It also has a 3% addition of Zircopax (zircon), which acts as a fining agent. As you can see, this makes a dramatic difference. Suppliers of encapsulated stains even recommend a zircon addition, but are often unclear about why. This is the reason.
The yellow on the right could be improved further with a slow-cool or drop-and-hold firing. And if the glaze was reformulated to use a later melting frit (so fewer bubbles even get trapped).

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This is a buff stoneware body, Plainsman M340. A L3954F black engobe was applied inside and upper-outside at leather hard. The piece was fired at cone 6 using the PLC6DS schedule. The inside, totally clouded glaze, is G2926B. Outside is GA6-B Alberta Slip amber transparent. This inside glaze is crystal-clear on other bodies (and on this one without the black engobe). The black stain in the engobe appears to be the issue. How?
Underglazes (or engobes) become a semi-dense layer and impede LOI by slowing gas diffusion. If the glaze then melts early and lacks viscosity, remaining channels of escape are sealed (increasing bubbling dramatically). Double-melt interfaces can form between vitreous engobes and glaze when the former softens, the clear glaze begins melting. Gases get trapped at the boundary, being generated at the exact wrong time during the firing.
Look at the outside amber transparent glaze, GA6-B. Although also early melting and on the same engobe, it has very little micro-bubble clouding! Why? It contains a lot of Alberta Slip, a material that is not finely ground like others. Particles across the range from 60-200 mesh are present; these are likely acting as a fining agent that enables bubble merging. The larger bubbles break at the surface because of sufficient melt mobility and lower melt surface tension.
| Materials |
Zircopax
Zirconium silicate, its principle use in ceramics is as an opacifier in glazes. It is an expensive material, but less so than tin oxide. |
| Materials |
Zircon
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| Troubles |
Orange Peel Surface
Orange peel is a defect or physical property of ceramic glazes |
| Glossary |
Glaze Bubbles
Suspended micro-bubbles in ceramic glazes affect their transparency and depth. Sometimes they add to to aesthetics. Often not. What causes them and what to do to remove them. |
| Glossary |
Fining Agent
Individual tiny bubbles in a glaze melt can coalesce around the undissolved particles of a fining agent, the growing bubble swallowing others around it and finally exiting at the surface. |
| Glossary |
Encapsulated Stain
This is a type of stain manufacture that enables the use of metal oxides (like cadmium) under temperature conditions in which they would normally fail. |
| Glossary |
Ceramic Stain
Ceramic stains are manufactured powders. They are used as an alternative to employing metal oxide powders and have many advantages. |
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