Farideh Posted July 12, 2020 Report Share Posted July 12, 2020 Hello All, I have recently become interested in making ceramic flowers and my online search has pointed me to Bone China Clay as best clay for the job. I have not been able to find Bone China Clay in US. I live in Oregon. What is another alternative Clay best suited for this work? thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted July 12, 2020 Report Share Posted July 12, 2020 Porcelain fired to the correct temp you are firing to.These are harder to throw. Are you slip casting? Cone 10 clay for cone 10 firing cone 6 clay for cone 6 firing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farideh Posted July 12, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2020 No. I am attempting to Hand build flowers. For functional and decorative pieces I use B-Mix 5 or Laguna Porcelain Frost. I tried B-mix for flowers first, but, it seems not too well suited for larger peddles. My internet search pointed to Bone China as best clay for these pieces, but I can’t find any place that sells it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babs Posted July 12, 2020 Report Share Posted July 12, 2020 @glazenerd may help. What properties guide you to bone china? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glazenerd Posted July 12, 2020 Report Share Posted July 12, 2020 9 hours ago, Farideh said: Hello All, I have recently become interested in making ceramic flowers and my online search has pointed me to Bone China Clay as best clay for the job. I have not been able to find Bone China Clay in US. I live in Oregon. What is another alternative Clay best suited for this work? thank you! Bone China is mostly a commercial body these days: formulated as a soft paste or for jiggering/press. Some potters mix their own for specific use. FINd: Grolleg porcelain with shrinkage 13.5% or above, with preferable BentoneMA plasticizer. That formula will allow you working time, will accept stamping or detailing well. Edit add: and will fire high/bright white which will not interfere with color. T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted July 12, 2020 Report Share Posted July 12, 2020 Any porcelain of all white clay will work well. Hand building and bone china are not compatable in my thoughts. That frost should work well. Its. bit glassy at temp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liambesaw Posted July 12, 2020 Report Share Posted July 12, 2020 Bone China is for slipcasting, it has zero plasticity and even with additions of a plasticizer it is very short. I think it was invented during a time where British potters were attempting to replicate the appearance of Chinese porcelain. It is basically bone ash, primary clay and feldspar in somewhat even amounts. I have read somewhere that it's either once fired with no glaze, or if glazed it's reverse fired. Bisqued to maturity (cone 7-8) and then glaze fired to 06. I don't know if this was a requirement or an artifact of the times. If you were going to make flowers with it, I think you'd have a really bad time with cracking, falling apart and not being able to attach pieces together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callie Beller Diesel Posted July 12, 2020 Report Share Posted July 12, 2020 The only person I know who works with bone china clay has to mix it herself, and it is NOT what I would term a user friendly substance for modelling. As Liam mentioned it’s very short, and is extremely prone to warping in the kiln. I second Mark’s thoughts about using a translucent porcelain like Frost or Polar Ice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farideh Posted July 12, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2020 Thank you all for your expertise and advise. I shall give Frost a try and see how well it goes through the process steps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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