Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Ceramics Glazes and Decoration

Post your glaze or decorating questions here:

13 Comments:

Blogger tjhspi said...

Hi,
You will have to be more specific about your kiln. What is the make and model? Does it have an electronic controller on it?
Tjh

5:13 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi,
We are a high school learning our way through the kiln firing. We are using low firing glazes. We are also firing our bisque ware and glazed pieces together. Mainly for effeciency. Can you help me with the firing times and tempertures for these firings?
We have the standard school electric kiln.Any help is appreciated as this is a total learning environment. Thanks

2:02 PM  
Blogger tjhspi said...

Hi,
the firing temps and schedule will dupend on your clay and exactly which glazes you are using.
If you are using MassWhite earthenware clay you would bisque fire at 06slow and then glaze 05Fast.
Give me a bit more info such as what clay you are using. If your kiln has an electronic controller on it (as opposed to a kiln sitter with cones) your times will be preprogrammed into the unit.
Tjh

1:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have a cone 6 clay body that I would like to glaze with an 07 glaze. I know the safe approach would be to bisque to 04 then glaze fire to 07 and leave the body under-fired. The ware is going to be left outside and the full vitrification of the body would be desirable. Would it be hair-brained to bisque to cone 6 then glaze to 07. Would the glaze run off the ware?

7:32 PM  
Blogger tjhspi said...

Hi That may work...
I've seen some stoneware bisque which is already fully vitrified to cone 6 and you then use low-fire 02 glazes.
The glaze should not stick as well but could be totally fine.
You may want to try this stuff APTII.
It claims to help glaze stick better in this kind of situation (among 100 other things it says it does)
Probably worth a try...
No matter what it may be trial and error...
hopefully not tooo much error
TJH

9:07 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello!
I am in the process of making morrocan tile designs for a friend of mine. I have all the glazes I need but one. I am looking for a great black glaze that I can use to outline all the different colors I will be using. I tried a glaze pencil but that looks like crap. My other black underglaze wont look great either. I want so have a solid smooth black line that will blend with my high-fire underglazes. Any suggestions? Also, I've never used high-fire underglazes before and I'm kind of skeptical of getting bright colors... is this going to work?

Any advice is truly appreciated.

Thanks,

Nikki

www.NikkiDamico.com

10:14 PM  
Blogger tjhspi said...

HI,
How about doing it with potter's slip?
That might give the definition you seek.
Or the Amaco Velvet Underglaze Black. It's a cone 6 that is supposed to hold it's color well:
Velvet Under Glaze

8:06 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi
Just wondering if you can tell me how many coats of Sheffield High Fire (cone 6) glaze I should be applying?
Thanks
tm

5:08 PM  
Blogger tjhspi said...

HI,
Try 3 coats brushed or one dipped.
Thanks!
tim

6:20 AM  
Blogger TomsPots said...

I have a old Duncan kiln (late 70's) model DK 1020-2.I bisque fire to 04 and glaze fire to 05 or 06.I'am getting pin holes in the glaze of some picecs.Is there anybody out there that can help.
Thanks, tomspots

12:54 PM  
Blogger tjhspi said...

Hi,
That could be from cooling too quickly... are you running it with a light load? If so try putting all your extr shelves and post in there, they work as a heat sink to keep it hot longer after it shuts off.
Could be an adhesion problem too... did youtry misting the peices before glazing?

1:15 PM  
Anonymous Munky said...

Hi, I am working with a porcelain 06 clay body and would like to know if I should glaze before or after firing. The piece has fragile parts and I am worried about it breaking. I thought that the glaze would help it stay together.

10:23 AM  
Blogger tjhspi said...

HI,
Do you mean cone 6 porcelain?
Porcelain is always cone 10 or 6.
Either way, you want to bisque on slow to 06 then glaze with cone 6 glazes and fire to 6.
You should double check the cone of the clay you are using: if it's 06 and white then it is probably an earthenware and not a porcelain in which case you might bisque to 06 slow, then glaze slow to 05.
Double check... big problems if you have a mismatch there.
tjk

11:58 AM  

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