MGBase4 - Glossy Base 2 Cone 6 (Mastering Glazes)

Modified: 2025-12-30 04:03:07

From page 96 in Mastering Glazes book

Material	Amount
Ferro Frit 3134	26.00
Custer Feldspar	22.00
Talc	5.00
Whiting	4.00
EPK	17.00
Silica	26.00
100.00

Notes

The Glossy Clear Liner from Mastering Cone 6 Glazes is arguably the most important recipe in the book. While other glazes are designed for "personality," this one is designed for performance. It is the "control" glaze against which all others are measured, specifically engineered to be the most stable, food-safe, and durable interior surface possible.

Key Properties
• Visual Appearance: Transparent and colorless. It is designed to be a "clear window" to the clay body underneath, adding a high-gloss shine without any cloudiness, milkiness, or blue-tinted "opalescence."
• The Science: This glaze is a balanced Borosilicate glass, ensuring it won't leach chemicals into food or craze over time.
• Surface: A hard, glass-like finish that is extremely smooth. It is specifically designed to be easy to clean and resistant to the "etching" effects of dishwashers and acidic foods.
• Thermal Fit: It is formulated with a "middle-of-the-road" thermal expansion, meaning it fits the widest variety of commercial Cone 6 stoneware and porcelain bodies without cracking (crazing) or shivering.

Likes (Pros)
• Ultimate Food Safety: It is chemically inert and has been tested rigorously.
• Clarity: Unlike many commercial clears that can look "milky" when applied thickly, this recipe stays remarkably clear, making it the best choice for protecting underglaze designs or highlighting a beautiful white porcelain.
• Easy to Use: It has excellent suspension properties (it doesn't turn into a "brick" at the bottom of the bucket) and a very wide firing range. It looks just as good at a soft Cone 6 as it does at a hot Cone 7.
• High Gloss: The surface is brilliantly reflective, which helps brighten the interior of mugs and bowls, making the food or drink inside look more appealing.

Dislikes (Cons)
• Application Bubbles: Because it is a "stiff" clear (meaning it doesn't move much), if you have tiny pinholes in your clay or if you dip it too fast, it can occasionally trap tiny micro-bubbles that look like "dust" inside the glass.
• "Boring" on its own: It provides zero visual "movement." It won't break over edges or change color; it is purely functional.
• Shows Every Flaw: Any smudge, fingerprint, or iron spot on the raw clay will be magnified once fired.
• Dust Sensitivity: Like all clear glazes, any dust on the bisque ware before dipping can show up as a permanent blemish.

Related Information

Links

Articles	G1214M Cone 5-7 20x5 glossy transparent glaze This is a base transparent glaze recipe developed for cone 6. It is known as the 20x5 or 20 by 5 recipe. It is a simple 5 material at 20% each mix and it makes a good home base from which to rationalize adjustments.
Articles	G1214W Cone 6 transparent glaze The process we used to improve the 20x5 base cone 6 glaze recipe to produce G1214W.
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.
Typecodes	Transparent Glaze Recipe Transparent recipes can be difficult to develop because entrained bubbles, crystals and crazing are not hidden by color and opacity. In addition, they must be well melted to give good results. Generally transparent recipes are sought after as liner glazes or bases to which to add opacifiers and colors. Typically work is required to match a transparent glaze to a specific clay body.

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