clayshapes Posted October 18, 2014 Report Share Posted October 18, 2014 Does anyone know why some glazed porcelain and stoneware is easily marked by silverware use - and others not? I use various types of commercial glazes in my work - and notice that some are marked by spoons forks etc, - and others are not. Curious to know the reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted October 18, 2014 Report Share Posted October 18, 2014 The softness and hardness is very different for many glazes-some are very strong others no so much. You can also see this when grinding these glazes-for example-my cone 10 reds are very soft and grinds easy as well as scratches easy-my matt green is very hard and is harder to grind with a bench grinder. These all depend on ingredients used to make the glaze hence the hardness factor. Since you are using commercial glazes you do not know the makeup of said glazes. hope this helps Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clayshapes Posted October 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2014 Thanks for your insight Mark. Interesting. My opaque solid color glazes are the ones that show scratches, as opposed to more "glassy" glazes - transparent - or matte glazes. I guess I just need to stop using the opaque glazes for dishware. When I say opaque, I mean commercial glazes like Mayco's Foundations or Stroke and Coat (which I use to cone 6) and some Amaco and Spectrum cone 6 glazes. Hardness makes sense. But since I can't control it, I guess I better just stop using them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted October 18, 2014 Report Share Posted October 18, 2014 Commercial glazes are formulated to create colors and textures that sell well. They do not necessarily consider hardness and durability as factors in their quality. You'll just have to test them to figure out which ones work best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clayshapes Posted October 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2014 Naturally, the manufacturers hope to sell them - but from my pov, I'm just happy that they are providing me with a huge palette with which to work. I have and use more than 40 different glaze colors, textures/finishes in my studio - Since I don't have room, time, or inclination to create 40 of my own, I'll just have to sort through and figure out which are best for what. I'm learning that some are more suited to strictly decorative work, that knives and forks don't touch. Others (most) are very functional, and can be incredibly beautiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted October 18, 2014 Report Share Posted October 18, 2014 The best reason to make your own glazes is to learn what and why they work-which gives you a though understanding of another part of the ceramic process. Which by now you know takes a long time I will not even mention cost at this point but learning to use commercial galzes takes time-I feel the same time you could be learning your own-it all takes time. I would never trade my years of working with my glazes over some commericai unknown. If you are a hobbist I can see this (commercial glazes) but for all others it makes sense to learn this as part of the whole -the whole is the entire ceramic process. The more you understand the better the potter you will be. Glaze making comes after mastering the other skills Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Woodin Posted November 20, 2014 Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 This was one of the reasons why I started to make up my own glazes. The best way to understand glazes is to buy a glaze program. It won't be long before you can spot what makes a good glaze and which are suspect glazes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hershey8 Posted November 20, 2014 Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 I used to do home improvements. I had a customer whose white, porcelain toilet had metal marks in it. I had to figure out how to remove them. She, the customer, had some silver polish at her place. I put some on with a cloth, rubbed it around a bit on the toilet and all of the marks vanished. Sometimes, plumbers tools will leave gray, pencil line looking marks on porcelain fixtures. Silver polish works on these, too. I know this doesn't help your glaze problem, but it might help remove your silverware marks. I don't know if it will damage your pot, but it sure works on toilets. ja Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clayshapes Posted November 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 Wow - that is amazing. I'm going to try silver polish! Thanks for the tip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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