Technology and interesting things that I have learnt;
Glaze;
- “Rutile” refers to a shape of crystal , a
pierceing shape that often injects into quartz; ie rutilated quartz. And it is found naturally as an ore of iron and
lithium. (I do get lithium and titanium confused, it is the fluxy one,
whichever it is.
- I know that wine
bottles melt at about 600 degrees.
- Nails disintegrate at and around 1000, and
melt at 1100.
- Alumina rich glazes, 80%+ (or so) is so
dry that it is still powder, even after stoneware firing.
- chrome in miniscule amounts will go acid yellow if soda is also present
in the glaze… or lead.
- Nickle goes purple, even in large amounts
- Cadmium bought glaze needs to be thick to be red, if its thin it goes
black and bubbly
- lead will make beautiful pools of colour if
put on top of dry glazes
- tin goes pink if
there is chrome in the kiln
- kaolin rich glazes will crawl like a
motherfucker
- Lamb shank bones didn’t burn away after
1080 degrees
- bone ash and alumina affects the surface
tension, and when its out of balance it beads, crawls and depending on the
chemical composition of the components can make different crawling shapes , in
a similar way to crystals
- tin acts as a great opacifier, and if you need
to make an oxide wash paler, without losing texture, it is perfect
- terra-sigillata can give a glazed looking
surface without need-ing to worry about glaze
- copper reduction glazes at stoneware look
boring if on their own
- crystals are formed at any temperature if
in a glassy glaze and lead, zinc, lithium or rutile are present (probably
others too but these are the ones I have discovered as reliable) and there is a
crashed soak time.
-A glaze pool in a wadding well shrinks an
incredible amount. The well was full pre firing; the well is barely full after
firing. Even if the clay is not thick to
soak up the mass of the glaze and the mix has little water; ie minerals
condense.
- Three glazes seems to be a great balance
of colour, because they interact with themselves and create a possible infinite
amount glazes, or at least 27 clear distinctions (33)
- glass marbles do
nothing but melt mostly clear
-Dry glazes at 1000 degrees are effectively
satin glazes at 1100, and glassy at 1280.
structural
discoveries;
- hanging pieces need a counter support at
the bottom and a loop / hook at the top
most point so that the piece doesn’t lean forward or back
- standing pieces that have back stands
warp funny ways if glaze fired at a different angle
-hanging pieces need hooks or loops or
holes to glue in nails so that attatching cord is simple- stick on plate
hook-pad thingos are available (safensure.com.au) but structurally safer to
make it whole
- wide clay tiles crack if balanced like a
kiln shelf
- silica adhesive takes a week to dry, not
24 hours
-The depth and texture of the edges of the
painting, the shape, and the perceived weight determine the feeling conveyed in
the piece
- drilling
into ceramic is easiest when low bisque fired, not glaze fired (too
solid), or leatherhard (too brittle)
-drilling ceramics needs a specifically
designed drill bit which looks like a normal drill bit but at the tip the edge
of the thread is tapered slightly to look like a wing, it is also made out of
diamond.
- Araldite™ is the best thing in the world
-The crystals that are produced when mortar
or concrete fuse are the same shape as PVA glue when it dries, so adding PVA to
these materials will make them stronger.
- If a part is weak, glassy glaze that
doesn’t move will make it strong.
