This high-Alberta-Slip glaze is shrinking too much on drying. Thus it is going to crawl during firing. This common issue happens because there is too much plastic clay in the glaze recipe (common with slip glazes). Clay is needed to suspend the other particles, but too much causes the excessive shrinkage. The easiest way to fix this is to use a mix of raw and calcined Alberta Slip (explained at albertaslip.com). The calcined Alberta Slip has no plasticity and thus much less shrinkage (but it still has the same chemistry). Many matte glazes have high kaolin contents and recipes will often contain both raw and calcined kaolin for the same reason.
Glossary |
Crawling
A ceramic glaze fault that occurs during firing of the ware, islands of glaze form as it crawls, leaving bare patches of body. |
---|---|
Glossary |
Calcination
Calcining is simply firing a ceramic material to create a powder of new physical properties. Often it is done to kill the plasticity or burn away the hydrates, carbonates, sulfates of a clay or refractory material. |
Materials | Ravenscrag Slip |
Materials | Alberta Slip |
Materials | Alberta Slip 1900F Calcined |
Materials | Alberta Slip 1000F Roasted |
Troubles |
Powdering, Cracking and Settling Glazes
Powdering and dusting glazes are difficult and a dust hazard. Shrinking and cracking glazes fall off and crawl. The cause is the wrong amount or type of clay. |