Monthly Tech-Tip | No tracking! No ads! |
The tiles are made from 45F, an iron stained feldspathic sand layer in a nearby quarry (it also contains kaolinite). I add 4% Veegum to give it enough plasticity for rolling, stamping and cookie cutting. This material has already experienced the weathering and transport process that our sand-making planet knows how to do. The next step is millions of years of being buried deep enough to get compaction and some heat, then enough dissolution to form precipitates capable of cementing the quartz grains together. I am cheating by using more heat, enough to soften the feldspar to enable it to bond the quartz grain contact-points and fill pore space between them. The trick is to fire low enough that it does not become a metamorpic but high enough for good bonding. 2000F is doing that, giving this tan color and sandstone surface. Almost 4% shrinkage is also occurring during the firing, synthesizing the compaction process of the natural material.
Projects |
Cookie Cutting clay with 3D printed cutters
We are finding more and more applications for this simple process of cookie-cutting shapes in ceramics. You won't believe whats possible and how easy it is to get started. |
---|
Buy me a coffee and we can talk