MGBase7 - Raspberry Cone 6 (Mastering Glazes)

Modified: 2025-12-30 03:29:50

From page 102 in Mastering Glazes book

Material	Amount
Whiting	20.00
Nepheline Syenite	18.00
Ferro Frit 3134	14.00
OM-4 Ball Clay	18.00
Silica	30.00
Added
Tin Oxide	7.50
Chrome oxide	0.20
107.70

Notes

While most of the book focuses on earthy, variegated tones, Raspberry provides a vibrant, clean color.

Key Properties
• Visual Appearance: A bright, clean pink to burgundy color. It is a glossy, translucent-to-semi-opaque glaze.
• The Science: This glaze relies on the Chrome-Tin Pink effect (high calcium, no zinc, and low boron).
• Surface: Smooth and glass-like. It "breaks" clear or white over sharp edges and highlights surface texture by pooling in crevices to create a deeper, more concentrated color.
• Expansion/Fit: This recipe has the highest thermal expansion of the major glazes in the book. This means it is more prone to crazing (tiny cracks) if the clay body isn't a perfect match.

Likes (Pros)
• Exceptional Color: This recipe delivers a "true" raspberry color that doesn't look like a flat, plastic commercial stain.
• Beautiful on Texture: Because it is translucent, it looks stunning on carved porcelain or white stoneware. It behaves like a "celadon" but in a pink palette.
• Durability: Like all Hesselberth/Roy recipes, it is formulated to be acid-resistant and food-safe.
• Temperature Sensitivity (Bonus Effect): Some potters like that it becomes more matte and "true pink" at Cone 5, while becoming glossier and slightly more purple at a full Cone 6.

Dislikes (Cons)
• Expense: This is the most expensive glaze in the book to mix. It requires a high percentage of Tin Oxide.
• Crazing Risk: If you use a clay body with low silica, you are almost guaranteed to see crazing over time.
• Fuming/Contamination: Chrome is volatile. If you fire Raspberry next to a white glaze that contains tin, the chrome fume and turn areas of your white pots a faint, accidental pink.
• Clay Body Sensitivity: It looks vibrant on white clay but can look muddy or "dirty" on dark, iron-rich stoneware. It really needs a clean, light canvas to shine.

Related Information

Links

Firing Schedules	Mastering Glazes Cone 6 Six-step with controlled drops to 1000C and 760C
Typecodes	Recipes from Mastering Glazes Book Descriptions of these glazes often contain over-the-top adjectives like “scientifically formulated”, “perfect”, “exceptional”, “beautifully”, “engineered”, “specifically designed”, “sophisticated”, etc. Of course there are no perfect recipes to be discovered, they all inhabit spaces balancing a dozen different properties, tuning one most often affects one or more of the others. And, recipe is only one thing affecting the finished product, process factors can have even more influence on finished appearance and properties.
Typecodes	Medium Temperature Glaze Recipes Normally fired at cone 5-7 in electric kilns.

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By Tony Hansen
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