BlackDogPottery

Tupperware containers of glaze and slip, vintage mustard jar packed with brushes, trays of tools for throwing/trimming. Studio isn't sectioned off for different things but everything is in reach by the wheel. 

Tupperware containers of glaze and slip, vintage mustard jar packed with brushes, trays of tools for throwing/trimming. Studio isn't sectioned off for different things but everything is in reach by the wheel. 

Tupperware containers of glaze and slip, vintage mustard jar packed with brushes, trays of tools for throwing/trimming. Studio isn't sectioned off for different things but everything is in reach by the wheel. 

hahaha. I can imagine doing that. I now think of everything in terms of volume + dry mixing. Now that I have the ability to calculate a ratio of wet to dry in a mix. I can easily estimate the dry amount needed to add. It is fantastic what a little work will lead you to discover improvements in your processes. When I used to mix glazes for testing colorants. I would weigh out 5 batches individually.... now I just mix up a batch, and do a certain ml into each one, calculate the dry ingredients in that cup and mix the appropriate % I want to add. So much better. 
I am really enjoying the exploration aspect. I recently decided to give up any real pursuit of being a production potter in order to be a glaze and surface scientist potter profession thingy?! I am actually studying chemistry makeups of ingredients now in my Out of Earth Into Fire book. That isn't to say I don't think production pottery isn't awesome, it is. It just isn't where my heart is in this world of ceramics. I was talking to a friend about his business and stuff and I was telling him to quit beating his head against the wall trying to force something that he doesn't want to do, and just adapt to what he wants to do. Then on the way home I realized that I am not even taking my own advice.
The whole idea of electric kilns and what they can do is still in its infancy. They are beautiful machines that produce consistent glaze results, it is up to us to figure out the rest of the glaze equations.
My slab roller should arrive this coming week I think. I estimate I will be making hundreds of tiles very soon. Lots of testing!

@Min I read through his document several times. Lots of really good information.
That last sentence you pasted: "I found that as the silicon carbide size became smaller, there was more glaze melt, less surface texture from the glaze bubbling while giving off oxygen during the chemical processes and weaker reduction." 
I think this has a lot of merit to look into. I am curious if I can increase the SiC amounts greatly since the surface is suffering from less bubbling from the finer meshes of SiC. I wonder if you can increase it and still have a smoother surface but start to get the same reduction effects. Eventually I will test this. Maybe in the coming weeks. Particularly around the perfect Silica and Alumina ratios that seem to promote the reduction but not the surface bubbles.
For the others:
Is there a general interest for me to continue posting these SiC grids? I am going to be running a bunch of them along side normal grid test every few weeks. I will start posting the higher resolution pictures in the future however.  If people feel like I am just posting useless information by posting my grids I will stop linking them. I find them interesting, but maybe this isn't the place to continue to link them? 
I am also going to adapt my grid this week as well to have more information in the cells, some type of vertical change. Also they will be more uniform thanks to my new slab roller coming.