Search the Community

Will post pictures as soon as I get home, but I read somewhere that one does not really have to fire greenware before glazing. I understand there is a risk, and I am increasingly frustrated with the quality of the pieces coming out of my kiln. Kiln fires to Cone 6, I bisque to Cone 06. I bought a 25lb mix of the Amaco Ironstone and have been super disappointed. Switched to clear glaze (amaco mixing clear) because I started doing work with mason stains and marbeling clay bodies together, wedging nicely, and then throwing the pieces. They turned out great, but I started experimenting with dipping greenware in the glaze, and brushing it on. The dipped pieces came out just as beautiful as the brushed pieces, but the glaze pooled and or looks slightly milky in the areas where a little extra glaze collected after dipping. (clear glaze was not cheap, I want to try making my own, and I know there are many recipes but never sure where to start... I triple checked that I measured and calculated the specific gravity properly (1.41 g/ml) and I'm wondering what the pros and cons of direct firing a greenware piece with glaze on it. The color seems to have come out the same, but dipping pieces are tough cause I cant use tongs, and small buildup seems to be inevitable with a hand held dipped piece due to awkwardness of holding while dipping. Also dont want handles to fall off into expensive glaze bucket... Brushing worked ok, but perhaps I should try spraying a light layer instead? Current picture is greenware, but hoping this shows that I'm not some n00b with terrible output. 2 marbling types to date. Ones for practice with terra cotta and stoneware, and the second with porcelain and porcelain mixed with mason stains with the same wedging and throwing process. I have lots of pictures documenting the process but I don't know if this would ever be requested for a How-To. Mostly looking for advice on: 1 - achieving a thin clear glaze (brushing vs spraying vs making my own glaze - since the 10lb bucket of mixing clear set me back $76!) 2 - pros and cons of direct glazing said greenware marbled pieces since coat will be thin and all the detail work lies within the clay so no thick / glaze run expected.

I have been experimenting with gold lustre over the past six months - simply applying it over a stoneware clear glaze. I accidentally applied it to an unglazed surface on one of my pieces but I really ended up enjoying the satin finish of the gold. I tried to replicate this finish but the gold flaked! I mean...I know all gold lustre instructions say to apply to a glazed body, but I figured it looked so good on my accident then perhaps I could replicate it, right? Wrong! I am looking for either a satin or matte clear glaze to apply onto a porcelain body so that the lustre can be have more of a satin or matte finish. This is for jewellery pieces, so I have some carving and slip detail added to the pendants, so ideally I don't want the glaze to hide the carving or slip trailing detail. It would be even better if this glaze could go in with my other pieces which I fire to 1260c, but not essential. - Ash

Hi, I’m new to the world of clay so forgive me if this sounds like a silly question. I have a pot I’d like to refire (it’s gone through a cone 10 firing ) it did not have glaze, just a white clay only slip and a bit of oxides. I want to add more slip and oxides and refire but would it be okay to apply a clear glaze on top of an unfired slip?

Hello all, Just inherited a 13litre tub of clear earthenware glaze (duncan). I'm not a studio potter, but a sculptor (ceramic). I'm dreaming of making lots of new glazes from this tub. So I'm looking for a list of additives ie. Silicon carbide to make it foam and thicken, Zirconium oxide to whiten, Tin to blush. I'll be adding oxides and stains. But I want more info on new weird behaving ingredients to test. Any other ideas folks? Thank you all for your expertise, your feedback has helped me learn so much : )

Dipped a ton of student pottery into white dipping glaze when I thought it was clear dipping glaze. Any way of taking the white glaze out without harming their work underneath?

Hi everyone I am the tech at a small studio and introduced a Zakin clear (cone6) to them as a new clear glaze. They had been using Ron Meyers recipe and wanted something they could dip. It seem to be working just fine until a studio member put it over a slip colored with Raven Black mason stain. It changed from black to a rusty chocolate brown. Has anyone else run into this issue? Any advice or ideas would be great. Thanks! Slip recipe: Raven Black mason stain porcelain sodium sicate soda ash Zakin clear: Silica 18 kona F4 40 wollastonite 10 Gerstley borate 16 OM4 12 Zinc 4

Help! I am having issues with underglazes disappearing in spots during glaze firings. I paint the underglazes (usually Duncan or Speedball) onto greenware and fire in a bisque kiln to cone 06. Then I dip my pieces in a clear glaze and fire to cone 6. When the pieces come out of the bisque firing, they are totally fine. After the glaze firing however, some pieces will have small round spots that look like the clear glaze and colored underglaze just JUMPED right off the pot. All my pieces are wiped down before applying the clear glaze, and as I already stated, they look perfect after the first firing.. I have had this happen on the inside of bowls, as well as the outside. Why would this be happening? Thanks in advance!

Hello, I'm new to these forums and would appreciate some help! This isn't a new problem but I still don't know what causes it. On this particular problem piece, I used: Flint Hills "Porcelain" ^5-6 slip made with mason 6308 (Delphinium) mixed with the Flint Hills clay body Amaco HF-9 Clear Glaze. I do an 8-10 hour bisque to ^04; glaze firing is ^5 or ^6. I'm attaching a photo that shows a sample of bubbles that formed all along the edge of this platter. It happens most often on blue underglaze or slip, but I've had the problem with other colors. Sometimes a mug's rim will come out all bubbly and rarely the bubbles are on the main section of the piece. I dip glaze my work and carefully smooth out any pinholes or bubbles - and as far as I can tell, THESE bubbles along the rim are not visible before firing. Everything else in the kiln with this platter came out great! Here's what I've done so far: I've tried other colorants - several blue underglazes from Amaco & Mayco. I tried clay body slip with mason stain. I've tried other clay bodies. I slowed my bisque time to 8-10 hours. Called Amaco, but they weren't able to help. Does this look like out-gassing that didn't complete during bisque? Do larger pieces require longer bisque firings? Do you have a clear glaze recipe or suggestion that might "fix" it? I'm really hoping you all can figure this out - offer some advise or a solution (yes!) Usually it happens on platters that I've spent hours carving (I sgraffito the work) and I'm so frustrated and tired of re-making work - Please, can you offer advise or a solution? Thanks so much! Carol R

Hi there, I have been using Laguna 65 for years now and have enjoyed throwing with it and love the color once fired. I have been having serious issues with crazing from the beginning, and now with my new surface designs I would really prefer a good glaze fit. I have tried several different clears on this clay body including commercial Amaco HF-9 and several clears that I mixed on my own. ALL OF THEM have crazing. Normally delayed crazing. Of course this indicates that there is a poor fit with the glaze. But after all of the glazes I have tested I am wondering if there is something I am missing with the clay body itself? I fire to cone 6. I was wondering if anyone else uses 65 and has either A)found a clear glaze that works successfully for them or has suggestions for what I might be able to do to solve my issue.

I was using masking tape to mask an area and put it under a heat lamp to speed my process, but managed to melt a little of the adhesive onto the bisque. Do I need to fire the plate once with the underglaze to get the adhesive off and then add the clear glaze? Do I need to treat this adhesive like wax? You can see the adhesive in the picture below. I attempted scraping it off and was able to get some of it up, but not all. THANK YOU!

Hi! I used Salt buff Glaze and a clear glaze together and the results were a bunch of semi sharp bubbles all over the clay body! The Clay I used was a brown clay. ( I can ask at the studio if needed) What do you think the problem might be? Do the glazes not go together? If so why not? Thanks!! I can upload pictures if needed, ~Lena

I am looking for a good stable clear liner glaze that does not have a tendency to craze. I found this in a past post with a reply from John Britt but its for cone 6 Mastering Cone 6 Glazes GLOSSY CLEAR LINER cone 6 20.00 G-200 Potash Feldspar 20.00 Ferro 3134 15.00 Wollastonite 20.00 EPK China Clay 6.00 Talc 19.00 Silica Does anyone know its range. If I take it to cone 7 - 8 will it still be stable? I am really searching for a good stable non crazing clear liner type glaze for this temperature.