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Potter goes full DIY and makes her own porcelain
The best thing happens: Failure on the third mix!
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Super white translucent porcelains are expensive, approaching $200/box in some countries! Even so, variation in properties is common (certainly not good for a "tipping point body" that is difficult to make). The idea of making your own clay body is actually feasible here. Yet Kirsty Kash, maker of this mug, told me that this amount of DIY was something she had never really considered, thinking it would be too complicated without guidance. But ongoing issues with the commercial clay gave her the motivation to give it a try (using a recipe similar to L3778D). She weighed out the materials, slurried up the mix using a propeller mixer, finished by blender mixing and then dewatered on a super-clean plaster bat.
By the third batch, something good happened: The porcelain blistered (tiny bumps on the surface). Subsequent correspondence brought the realization that this type of body is "walking a recipe tightrope" that requires control of the percentage of the key ingredient: Feldspar. It determines the maturity of the fired product. Too much brings blisters, too little and translucency is lost. Simple testing is all that is needed to determine the needed amount. More good news: The change enabled increasing the kaolin percentage by the same amount. That, in turn, enabled reducing the percentage of veegum (reducing the cost).
Her comment a few days ago was inspiring: "I'm getting to know my material so intimately. I have been learning SO much." When I suggested she might end up buying commercial again she responded: "I just bought large bags of all the materials and plan to keep going. I like having the control and being less reliant on the boxed clay. You've converted me!".
Another compelling reason for DIY casting bodies and glazes
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These are four different cone 6 commercial glazes made by a popular US manufacturer. The body is a cone 6 casting porcelain made by another popular manufacturer. They are all crazing! This is visible because the glaze is transparent, but most often it is much more difficult to see. Guess what many people are doing? Ignoring the problem and selling the ware! Assuming you are not one of them - which company is at fault? Neither. They cannot assure their product fits those of others. Mid-fire porcelains craze glazes if they lack sufficient silica (20% is minimum) or don't vitrify. Unfortunately, the recipe of the porcelain is proprietary. Wait a minute - no, it isn't. These recipes are well-known. You already have a propeller mixer and scale to mix casting slip, why not mix your own porcelain from a recipe (e.g. L3778D or derivative)? Or, why not mix your own transparent brushing glaze or dipping glaze? Start with the G2926B recipe, it has lots of documentation, and the recipe can be adjusted to deal with fit issues on any clay body.
DIY clay bodies via slurry mixing:
Consider the advantages.
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Consider the advantages of making your own clay bodies using a propeller mixer and plaster table.
-Independence: You control product availability, quality and consistency.
-Flexibility: You control the recipe (with our help if needed). Fine-tune and adjust it over time to fit your needs and compensate for variations in material properties and supply.
-Special-purpose clay bodies are possible, ones that ceramic suppliers do not or cannot make.
-The slurry up process achieves better mixing and deairing than any pugmill. No aging needed.
-A mixer and plaster table are useful for so many other things in a pottery studio.
-Achieving the right stiffness is an integral part of the process.
-Recycling scrap, by slaking, fits the process.
-Local native clays: Slurries enable the use of a magnet to remove iron, a sieve to remove particulates and a settling process to remove soluble salts.
-Cleanup is easy so many kinds of clay can be made without cross contamination.
-It is rewarding - you will own the whole process, the bragging rights alone make it worthwhile for me!
There’s DIY magic in the ground beneath your feet!
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Place: Vernon, Alabama.
Story: Potter's friend sends a picture of an outcrop of white clay in the ditch near his driveway.
Result: A DIY claybody is born.
This planet is full of accessible clay deposits. Many can be used as-is for stoneware, earthenware and even porcelain. Characterizing this clay is the first step. How plastic is it? What does it look like when fired at different temperatures? Does it contain impurities that need to be sieved out? Does it dry without cracking? Does it work with glazes? Etc.
A journey of clay discovery to a finished piece is one of the most rewarding experiences you can have as a potter. And be more self-reliant. You don’t need special gear, just curiosity, eyes that notice, a few simple tools, and a willingness to experiment and learn to characterize clays. And one more thing: An organized way to keep records of your testing. Think of an insight-live account as a commitment to building experience; it is your memory of everything that worked. And didn't.
A 2oz jar of underglaze:
It dries down to 21g of powder!
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At current prices, that is 75 cents/g! Only half is actual stain powder. Before considering cost, note that the high water content of these is actually a benefit; the thixotropic gel has excellent brushing properties, enabling very thin layering. However, more than one layer is needed to achieve opacity and even color.
Because I am all-in on DIY, the elephant in the room is price. In one scenario, using encapsulated red stain and assuming 50% in my underglaze recipe, I calculated a 1500% saving (assuming the same specific gravity)! But it gets better. I make mine with a higher specific gravity and a much lower stain percentage (e.g. 20%) to get the same result. It goes on in one coat. I also fine-tune the degree-of-melt adjusting the feldspar. And I optimize bisque hardness, and thus overpaintability, by adjusting the clay percentage. With my setup, I can weigh and make a 1-pint jar of underglaze in ten minutes. Another bonus: When I find ways to improve, I edit the notes in its recipe record in insight-live (and adjust the procedure or recipe for next time).
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