Monthly Tech-Tip | No tracking! No ads! |
If you are interested in the most functional possible surface, consider a 2% zircon addition to your transparent glaze recipe (the outside glaze on these mugs is a copper blue, but that is not the one we are interested in). The clear glaze on the insides of these two identical cone 6 porcelain mugs has 3% and 2% zircon added. It is not being added to opacify, it is being added to toughen the surface and reduce the thermal expansion. The presence of the 2% zircon has not affected the gloss or transparency of the glaze on the right. However, the 3% on the left has opacified it just slightly and made the surface a little silky. So that is too much for this glaze (although it might be OK if the melt fluidity was higher).
Materials |
Zircon
|
---|---|
Materials |
Zircopax
|
Glossary |
Glaze Durability
Ceramic glazes vary widely in their resistance to wear and leaching by acids and bases. The principle factors that determine durability are the glaze chemistry and firing temperature. |
Recipes |
G2926B - Cone 6 Whiteware/Porcelain transparent glaze
A base transparent glaze recipe created by Tony Hansen for Plainsman Clays, it fires high gloss and ultra clear with low melt mobility. |
Buy me a coffee and we can talk