LeslieV Posted July 29 Report Share Posted July 29 (edited) i have just read the following forum post and rather than restart it I thought it would be better to start a new thread. Hope this is the best choice. https://community.ceramicartsdaily.org/profile/63409-leeu/ I am hoping to fire fully glazed plates to midfire temps cone 4-6. At those temps i have had problems with the pieces sagging over the stilts used to keep the fully glazed piece off the shelf. I have read many recommendations advising an unglazed foot is the best option and while that is very good advice it doesnt achieve the artistic result i want. I have Villeroy & Bosch porcelain dinner plate set with all pieces fully glazed and no unglazed foot so my question is how do they fire these pieces without stilts yet fully glazed. Hoping someone here may have experience in an industrial China manufacturing industry and can advise. Thank you in advance. Edited July 29 by LeslieV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick White Posted July 29 Report Share Posted July 29 It's possible that the commercial plate has tiny imperceptible stilt marks somewhere on the bottom that are hard to find. Also, some commercial whiteware is "bisque" fired to full vitrification without glaze, fully supported in the kiln so there is no slumping, and then glazed at a lower temperature on stilts of some sort. Because the glaze firing is at a lower temperature, there is still no slumping. Magnolia Mud Research, Russ, rox54 and 5 others 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly in AK Posted July 30 Report Share Posted July 30 It’s a great question, “How do they do that?” @Dick White’s response covers the bases. If industrial ware is fired twice, it’s likely the bisque temperature is higher than the glaze temperature. Stilts wont fuse into the clay. Single firing is also common in industry, in which case it’s possible the clay your dinner plates are made of is not completely vitrified so it can be stilted without sinking in. This works only with a perfectly fitting glaze, and imperceptible stilt marks only happen with a thin coating of glaze. Those two factors are easily in reach of industry (working at enormous scale, with paid consultants and engineers), they’re more difficult for the hobbyist (or even producing studio) potter to achieve. I’m sure there are some tricks I don’t know about. I don’t get paid for this stuff, haha! I have some restaurant ware that has stilt marks that are practically invisible. They’re smaller than pinholes and only visible holding the plates at a certain angle to the light. Not the typical scar stilts leave. One of those plates finally failed after 20 years of use, it suddenly got hot in the microwave. I broke it to pieces and tested the ceramic, not vitreous at all. Challenged my ceramic worldview a bit. LeslieV, PeterH, Pres and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted August 1 Report Share Posted August 1 (I have Villeroy & Bosch porcelain dinner plate set with all pieces fully glazed and no unglazed foot so my question is how do they fire these pieces without stilts yet fully glazed. ) they are stilted you just cannot find the marks-many ways to polish them out LeslieV 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted August 1 Report Share Posted August 1 My most recent set of commercial white plates had an unglazed foot ring, but it was not noticeable. The foot was glassy porcelain, very white and polished, and just a very narrow strip was left unglazed so you couldn't tell unless you looked very closely. Mark C., Bill Kielb and LeslieV 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.