When a DIY black underglaze makes sense

Black brushwork needs to go on thick enough in one brushstroke. Commercial products we have don't do that - thus my motivation to work on this. Another issue is that they try to cover too wide a firing range (thus they melt too much at the high end and not enough at the low end). I am experimenting on cone 6 Polar Ice porcelain jiggered bowls using G2926B dipping glaze. The base underglaze recipe here is a 90:10 MNP:nepheline syenite mix (you could use your own porcelain instead of MNP and feldspar instead of nepheline). To that, I add 15% black stain, 1.5% CMC gum and 5% bentonite. With the CMC gum and bentonite, and blender mixing, a brushable consistency that stays put can be achieved at a fairly low water content compared to commercial products (enabling it to go on thicker in a single brush stroke). Assuming application at leather hard state, the drying and firing shrinkage can be matched to the body by varying the plasticity of the porcelain used (e.g. the percentage of bentonite it contains). And the percentage of stain can be tuned for enough color but no bleeding, bubble clouding or crystallization. And we can adjust the degree of maturity by varying the proportions of MNP and Nepheline (commercial underglazes often melt too much by cone 6 and fade and diffuse as a result), this one stays opaque black.

Underglazes suitable for making silk screen transfers are another special case. The ideal one needs to cover well like this one. But it also needs to gel and harden enough to hang onto the paper but not so hard that it does not separate and transfer to the ware. Commercial products for brushing are unlikely to be optimal so it makes sense to mix your own and experiment with different amounts of gum.

Related Pictures

Our own black underglaze better accepts the clear overglaze

The commercial product has two serious issues. First, it is just not covering well enough, to get jet black requires three or four coats. Second, it is intended for transparent brushing glazes over top - dipping glazes do not cover well over it, even when the underglaze is bisque fired (upper left). By contrast, our own black (90% MNP, 10% Nepheline Syenite, 10% black stain, 1.5% CMC gum, 5% bentonite) overglazes perfectly (upper right). And one brush stroke almost covers enough (we later settled on 15% stain).

This underglaze red is not working at all. Why?

Underglazes should normally be made as high specific gravity slurries. This is so that they will go on as thick as possible with one brush stroke (an obvious need for fluid brushwork designs). Something went wrong with this commercial red product, it is painting on far too thin and has very poor physical covering power and adhesion compared to the black underneath (of the same brand). Why? Because the specific gravity is only 1.22! A practical solution is to allow it to evaporate for a few days to raise that as high as possible while still being brushable.

Very low specific gravities on two commercial underglazes

Commercial underglazes with low specific gravities

AMACO and Crysanthos. 1.26 (67.5% water) and 1.22 (68% water)! The former is well below their recommended specific gravity of 1.4 (it still paints well but needs more coats and more time to dry and apply them). The Crysanthos, although having a lower specific gravity is more viscous and goes on thicker (so it likely contains more gelling agent). When doing underglaze decorative brushwork it is important to get adequate thickness with each brush stroke, so a higher specific gravity is better. This may be reason enough to consider making your own (by adding stain powders to a base and using Veegum CER to gel the slurry, slow down its drying and harden it well at the dried state).

This is what happens when applying a non-gummed engobe or underglaze to bisque ware

The drying shrinkage of engobes and underglazes (and stickiness that goes with that) are important for adherence for application at the leather hard stage (they do not melt like glazes so do not glass-bond to the body). Wet adherence and shrinking together with the body during drying enhance the otherwise fragile interface. But not on bisque ware. If, however, the engobe is gummed it can appear to adhere to the bisque - but the fired bond with the body will not be as good as when applied at leather hard stage. Some underglazes employ calcined clays to minimize shrinkage for better compatibility with bisque, but it is still difficult to understand how they could develop any sort of quality fired bond!

Here is motivation to make your own underglazes!

Underglazes melting to different degrees

Commercial hobby underglazes are high in stain and very expensive. But does expensive mean suitable? To help answer we have over-fired these commercial products in a melt fluidity tester (to cone 8). They are recommended for use from cone 06-6 (some can go higher e.g. the green). Underglazes need to melt enough to bond with the underlying body, but not so much that opacity is lost (any melting loses opacity). Excessive melt can also cause design edges to bleed. To work well at greater thicknesses, underglazes need to have a firing shrinkage similar to the body (an ill-fitted underglaze and body forced into marriage are eventually going to divorce, in the form of flaking or cracking at their interface). Thus, while a regular glaze would melt enough to go well down the runway on this tester, an underglaze should not flow at all. At this temperature, none of these have achieved the right degree of maturity (the green is too refractory, the others over-melt to varying degrees). The only one that has a chance of suitability at cone 6, two cones lower than this, is the blue. Clearly, the base recipe and stain percentage in each underglaze recipe color needs attention, if that can be achieved all of these would mature to the same degree.

Is it impossible to get a good clear over-glaze for cone 6 brush decorated stoneware?

The mug on the right is terra cotta slipware firing at cone 04 using underglazes and a leaded transparent over-glaze (lead glazes are still commonly used in many parts of the world and considered safe). Mug on the left: This potter wants to use the same technique on cone 6 stoneware. Pretty well all cone 6 transparents depend on a boron frit (or Gerstley Borate or Ulexite) to melt them, this is no different. But it produces micro-bubble clouding and boron blue even though it is only slightly thick. Also, there are many more surface defects. The colors are washed out, partly because of the clouding but also because these commercial underglazes are overfired by cone 6, they are beginning to melt and diffuse into the clear overglaze (lightening their color). Achieving the warm brown color thus requires a more refractory underglaze (possibly with an addition of some terra-cotta colored stain). A better transparent glaze, better able to shed bubbles coupled with a drop-and-hold firing would also help. Finally, careful control of the glaze thickness and quality of laydown would also help. Preparing it as a brushing glaze, at least for application on the outsides, would enable tight control of thickness being applied and enable dense laydown.

Silk screening using a professionally-made screen

Silk screening is a popular decorating method. There is no better way to get a quality screen than having an aluminum-framed one made at a shop that specializes in this process (e.g. t-shirt printers). You can buy those hinges from a supplier online. This screen is 16x20 inches and I have multiple designs on it - I made them in Adobe Illustrator, which enables a vector graphic original that gives superior quality. I am about to screen lettering and a logo onto a tile. Although companies like Speedball, Amaco and Mayco make inks for this purpose, I am using an ink I made by mixing a black stain into a ceramic medium and adding enough water to achieve a viscous gel.

Links

Projects	A cereal bowl jigger mold made using 3D printing A new way to 3D-print your way to making jigger molds and templates. The molds are encased in a 3D printed shell that makes them fit perfectly into the cuphead. And the template is precise and very effectivwe.
Glossary	Silk screen printing Silk screen printing is one of the best options for hobbyists and potters to reproduce crisp and detailed decoration. But there are many details to know.
Glossary	Ceramic Transfer
Glossary	Underglaze An intensely pigmented highly opaque non-melting ceramic material mix meant to adhere best to leather hard pottery and fire-fit the body. Often transparently overglazed. Starter recipes.

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