Oct 22, 2026: We are working on protecting our servers against the PHP2Shell vulnerability just discovered. The CDN download server is back online. The digitalfire and insight-live servers were patched on Oct 21.
Reactive glazes don't melt into a homogeneous melt, and they don't freeze as a typical glass. The physical nature of the material powders (e.g. their particle size and the individual nature of how they respond to heat, soften, melt and interact with their own kind and others) creates a melt that does not solidify into a homogeneous glass. These glazes are said to be dynamic. And unpredictable (or at least less controllable) effects often occur during firing, like color variegation, speckles, streaks, mottled and flowing textures, crystallization, pooling, etc. The outcome is influenced by factors such as the materials chosen to source the oxides, kiln atmosphere, cooling or heating cycle (firing schedule), etc. These glazes are at their best when each piece has a unique, artistic character. But this is also their worst feature, making them "tipping point glazes", ones whose visual character is a product of fragile and less understood features of the materials and process. Small changes typically produce big changes in fired appearance (often to the chagrin of the potter).
AI generated with the prompt: A porcelain bowl with layered iron red and rutile blue glazes. AI Policy
| Glossary |
Tipping point
Why do ceramic processes seem to work for years and then suddenly fail? Obvious and not-so-obvious tipping points in recipes, materials and methods can trigger production disasters. |
| Glossary |
Reactive Glazes
In ceramics, reactive glazes have variegated surfaces that are a product of more melt fluidity and the presence of opacifiers, crystallizers and phase changers. |
![]() PayPal | No tracking, No ads, No paywall, No transient content! Just organized, concise information constantly updated and improved. Was this helpful? Consider supporting me. |
Buy me a coffee and we can talk