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TF - Tin Foil II Fara Shimbo Crystalline Glaze

Modified: 2013-03-25 08:44:38

Low Titanium Cone 6-9 Glaze

Notes

Purpose: To alter the shape of the crystals from broad "geranium" petals to
narrow "dandelion" or "aster" petals by using tin.

Tin Foil 2 is an excellent low-titanium glaze; in fact, it makes an excellent
no-titanium glaze if you just leave the titanium out. On porcelain it
has a very transparent ground, though this does not necessarily hold true
on stoneware. I decided to try adding tin to the glaze when I noticed the
very interesting effect that chrome-tin pinks had on the crystals; the nearly
complete change in character from a flower to a lily-pad. Most of this effect
is due to chrome, but with chrome being a powerful colorant I didn't
want to use it. Tin is generally thought of as an opacifier, but in small
amounts like this its only real effect is to change the shape of the crystals,
so instead of a daisy one has a dandelion. Tin Foil 2 crystals are very
opaque which makes this an excellent glaze for use with copper colorants.
The ground is often slightly yellowish by itself, often varying the color response
of cobalt toward cyan.

Tin Foil has always been an exceptionally reliable glaze for me. I
found out that the original would go down to D5 quite by accident one day
when the power went out at that temperature. After two hours soaking at
1000°C, I had lovely crystals about 2 cm in diameter.
It's been my experience that crystal growth slows down proportionally
to the amount of tin in the glaze; so much so that if you add about 4%
tin you can grow only a few crystals no more than a centimeter in diameter
even after a three hour soak.

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By Tony Hansen

Monthly Tech-Tip from Tony Hansen

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