Ceramic Testing Labs

There is much physical testing you can do using simple procedures and equipment (as described on this site) to compare ceramic bodies, glazes, engobes, etc. Such testing, for example, shows you that one clay is more plastic than another, one glaze has more melt fluidity than another or one engobe has a higher firing shrinkage than another. But if you want data to represent the absolute value of a specific property (e.g. coefficient of thermal expansion, chemical or mineralogical analysis) you may need the services of a testing lab. Most labs have grown over time and offer a wide array of services for many industries, so it can be difficult to locate the specific test you need. Effectively using their services is about knowing exactly what you want, finding their sample preparation instructions for the specific test needed and then following these closely to get the desired result at the expected cost. Having just one test done to answer one question is not typical, normally one has a specific test done on multiple samples, learning to interpret the data over time.

If you want to test for leaching in a ceramic glaze consider carefully if you will be able to interpret the results they give you. There is a good chance they will give you a report full of numbers but decline to make any technical assessments or interpretation regarding it.

Read our articles on this (listed below) for alternatives that may be more practical.

Related Information

Links

URLs	https://www.drvbceramicresearch.com/index.php Dr. VB's Ceramic Research Centre - Chennai, India A division of VB Ceramic Consultants. They do comprehensive testing of mechanical, physical, chemical and thermal properties of raw materials as well as finished ceramic products. Facilities to synthesize and fabricate from laboratory scale to final product stage and to further upgrade to larger scale industrial level.
URLs	https://www.vbceramics.com/home.php VB Ceramic Consultants - Chennai, India Their products range from fabrication of furnaces & kilns, spray driers, humidity ovens, metal annealing furnaces, dilatometers, differential thermal analysis testers, planetary mills, extruders, uniaxial presses. A facility is available for pilot plant scale production for any ceramic product. Mechanical workshop, casting shop, mould making shop, hydraulic press, sintering facilities up to 1700°C.
URLs	https://www.ceram.com/testing British Ceramic Research, Stoke-on-Trent, UK CERAM offers an independent testing service for all materials based industries including ceramics, glass, metals and raw materials.
URLs	https://www.lucideon.com/ Lucideon, Stoke-on-Trent, UK A materials testing laboratory, offering our clients a full range of analytical and consulting services such as acceptance testing, quality control, service evaluation, failure analysis and product development. We analyze materials such as metals, composites, organics and polymers for composition, structure and properties.
URLs	https://www.nslanalytical.com/ NSL Analytical Services, Cleveland, OH An independent Commercial Testing Laboratory in business since 1945, NSL is a leader in the chemical analysis of all types of materials. Whether the product is metallic or non-metallic, powdered, solid, or liquid, NSL can perform most chemical analyses, from less than 1-ppm to 99.999% using ICP, ICPMS, ICP-MS, DCAR-C, Wet Chemistry and Spectrographic Analysis.
URLs	https://www.lambdatechs.com Lambda Research, Cincinnati, OH A broad array of x-ray diffraction and fluorescence testing capabilities are maintained for materials applications primarily in the areas of qualitative and quantitative phase analysis and texture determination. A full machine shop with modern CNC tooling supports the surface integrity studies of manufacturing methods.
URLs	https://www.alfred.edu/cact/analytical-testing-capabilities.cfm Alfred Analytical Laboratory, Alfred Station, NY, USA A wide range of ceramic, glass and kiln firing test services are available.
URLs	https://www.bsclab.com Brandywine Science Center, Inc., Kennett Square, PA, USA Leach testing for extractable metals in fired glazes. An independent analytical laboratory providing a broad range of sampling and testing. Services to industry, municipalities, real estate and private sector water supplies.
URLs	https://www.contractlaboratory.com Norwest Labs, Alberta, Canada Locations in Western Canada, Thailand, Bangladesh and Turkey. They can do chemical analysis on clays and rock. They can handle boron. The test is called WRA1 (Whole Rock Analaysis 1).
URLs	https://www.loringlabs.net/ Loring Laboratories Ltd., Calgary, Alberta, Canada Analysis of mining and conventional exploration samples.
URLs	https://www.sgs.ca/ SGS Canada Inc, Lakefield, Ontario, Canada Established in Canada since 1948. Provide auditing, monitoring, inspection, sampling and laboratory testing for raw materials, bulk, containerized and finished products.
URLs	https://www.alsglobal.com ALS Minerals, Reno, NV, USA ALS is a global leader in providing laboratory testing, inspection, certification and verification solutions.
Glossary	Physical Testing In ceramics, glazes, engobes and bodies have chemistries and physics. To fix, formulate and adjust their relative importances in each situation need to be understood.
Glossary	Leaching Ceramic glazes can leach heavy metals into food and drink. This subject is not complex, there are many things anyone can do to deal with this issue
Articles	Are Your Glazes Food Safe or are They Leachable? Many potters do not think about leaching, but times are changing. What is the chemistry of stability? There are simple ways to check for leaching, and fix crazing.
Articles	Is Your Fired Ware Safe? Glazed ware can be a safety hazard to end users because it may leach metals into food and drink, it could harbor bacteria and it could flake of in knife-edged pieces.

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