Kristinathepotter Posted April 25, 2022 Report Share Posted April 25, 2022 Hello ceramics community! I’m relatively new to ceramics - I’ve been taking classes for almost a year - and was hoping you more experienced artists could help me out. I’m in the process of making a wearable astronaut’s helmet for my final project and realized I might have made a big blunder. I used a cone 5 porcelain but wanted a really smooth surface so I spent hours and hours burnishing it - first with slip, then with oil. It’s as smooth as a baby’s bottom!! but…. I need to put an underglaze design on the inside (that’s not burnished). Can I fire “bisque” fire the piece to cone 017 so I won’t lose the burnish? And then paint the underglaze and fire it again to come 017 to set the underglaze? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Min Posted April 25, 2022 Report Share Posted April 25, 2022 4 hours ago, Kristinathepotter said: And then paint the underglaze and fire it again to come 017 to set the underglaze? I'ld make some test tiles and experiment with those. Welcome to the forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristinathepotter Posted April 25, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2022 Thank you @Min!! when in doubt test test test !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted April 26, 2022 Report Share Posted April 26, 2022 I would definitely test the underglaze first and see how well it fuses at 017. It may be too cold for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clay17 Posted April 26, 2022 Report Share Posted April 26, 2022 It's been my experience that amaco velvet underglazes need to get to ^07 to set. Anything lower and the UG is still very dusty and can easily smudge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyewackette Posted April 26, 2022 Report Share Posted April 26, 2022 Could you use an oxide wash instead of an underglaze? It won't be pretty colors ... and I'm actually not sure how well it will set at cone 017 ... I'm into burnishing and I've never found an underglaze or anything in pretty colors that will set at low enough temp NOT to damage the burnish. You know you could also just paint it with an acrylic paint ... You might want to overspray it with something to protect the paint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rae Reich Posted April 28, 2022 Report Share Posted April 28, 2022 I agree with Pye, oxides and the many colors of Mason stains can be painted directly onto the helmet without re-firing. If you really want to wear your helmet (cool idea for a project!) without smudging the decorations you can mix the colorants with the liquid wax used by potters, thinning with water to desired consistency for brush decoration. Won’t take heavy wear, but will have a sheen. Test application on some shards first. If you really love this piece, consider doing it a second time, using what you’ve learned from this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyn Patty Posted May 1, 2022 Report Share Posted May 1, 2022 I agree with the others. You aren't going to be able to underglaze at that low a temperature - it'll remain unfused and too fragile. China paints are what fire in the 017 range and yes, you can totally use them or non-fired methods as mentioned. Just be aware that china paints aren't food safe and you don't want anything toxic. So be really sure that whatever you use is safe and non toxic if it will have any prolonged contact with your skin or hair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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