Revealing
GlazesBy
Ian Currie
Bootstrap
Press
Click
here to read the Copyright Curse
All
Rights Reserved
First
Edition, June 2000
Soft
Cover: ISBN 0 9589275 3 7
Printed
in Australia
Every attempt has been make to find the copyright owners of material quoted. If any original source has not been acknowledged, please notify the author so that it can be noted in future editions.
Published
by Bootstrap Press
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here to buy Ian
Currie's books.
Introduction
The
introduction explores the origins of the grid method and presents some really
basic glaze theory including a one-minute chemistry course - all that is
necessary to understand the method presented in the book.
What
is a Glaze?
Ian
Currie's Blue-in-the-Face Chemistry Course.
Raw
Materials
An
Approach to Studying Glazes
Origins
Some
Standards
Extending the Range
1
Gradients and Variables
The
use of gradients and variables in glaze research and problem solving is
outlined. The author shows how to
design an experiment so as to reveal hidden cause-and-effect principles.
Some basic information on line blending etc. is given.
The
Holy Grail
Isolating Variables
Line
Blends
Biaxial
Blends and Quadraxials
Blending
and Trending - A Puzzle
2
Outline of the Grid Method
This
outline refers particularly to the recipe-based standard grid method, the main
subject of this book. Much of it
applies also to the Seger-based grid method as outlined in Ian Currie's first
book: "Stoneware Glazes - A Systematic Approach".
Click here to read this chapter in
full.
The
Standard Grid
Starting
Point
Varying
Alumina and Silica
Working
out the Flux Material Breakup
One
Glaze Recipe Explains the Whole Set
Colourants
and Opacifiers in the Standard Grid
Revealing
Glaze Principles
3
Choosing a Starting Point
This
method shows how to design your own experiment to explore new and exciting
areas. This chapter provides a
number of methods for designing a set of glazes.
Example
Sets
Glaze
C Recipes
Rules
of Thumb for Choosing a Flux Set
Broad
Principles
Table
- List of Flux Materials
Advanced
Principles
Divine
Joke
Family
Set
To
get Glaze C:
Example
Developing
the Set Further
Random
Choice
4
Working out the 35 Glaze Recipes
The
individual recipes for the 35-glaze grid are easily obtained from the book or
from the Calculations Page at this web site.
1.
Using the Calculations Page at the web site
2.
Using the Flux Breakup Tables
The
Recipe Table
3.
Using the Recipe Grid Diagram
4.
Glaze Calculation Software
5.
Guided Tour - Colour Plates
For
anyone wishing to understand how glazes work, this is the core of the book.
Dozens of high quality colour photographs show the different glaze types
and show how they are related. Many
important glaze principles are illustrated here.
Also shown are a number of ways the grid method directs one towards the
desired result and better understanding.
1.
Isolating Variables
2.
Standard Limestone Set (The 0.7 Limestone Set)
3.
Corner A Glazes - High Alumina
4.
Corner B Glazes - High Alumina and High Silica
5.
Corner C Glazes - High Flux
6.
Corner D Glazes - High Silica
7.
Magnesia Glazes, Strontium Glazes
8.
Barium Glazes, Zinc Glazes
9.
Feldspathic Glazes
10.
Alkaline Glazes
11.
Volumetric Addition
12.
Clay Body and Firing
13.
Using the Grid
14.
Family Set
15.
Exploring the Limits
6
Preparing, Firing and Assessing a Grid Set
This
is the detailed experimental procedure to use in preparing, firing and assessing
a grid set of glazes.
Glaze
Preparation - Volumetric Blending
300
gram Batch Recipes
Precautions
in the Preparation Stage
Applying
the Glazes to the Grid Tiles
Adjusting
Water Content
ID
Layout
Glaze
Application
Tips
Applying
Colouring Oxides (Optional)
Firing
the Grid Tiles
Virtually
Identical Firing Conditions
Bring
out the Differences
Assessing
the Results
Dealing
with Runny Glazes
The
Next Step
Unusable
or Dangerous Glazes
7
Volumetric Addition to a Set
This
chapter details how the volumetric measuring technique can be extended to gain
more in-depth understanding of glazes with minimal work.
A
new set of glazes with very little effort
Method
Summary
Quantities
Addition
Procedure
8
Using the Grid Method with Natural Materials
The
recipe-based grid method outlined in this book actually arose from a
consideration of how to use the grid method with materials whose composition or
chemical formula is unknown. Here
we see how to introduce unanalysed materials like wood ashes and powdered rock
materials into a grid set.
Origins
Wood
Ashes
Alumina
Sources
Clays
Alumina
etc.
Quartz,
Silica, Flint
Opal
Using
Natural Materials in Glaze C
Appendices
Appendix
1 Equipment
and Materials
List
of Equipment and Materials
Glaze
Materials
Making
Grid Tiles
Appendix
2 Safety
and Health
My
First Glaze - A cautionary tale
Legal
Obligations
Hazards
from Raw Materials
Non-poisonous
Materials
Utilitarian
Risk
Children
Occupational
Health and Safety Resources
Appendix
3 Useful
Maths and Chemistry
Reading
a Chemical Formula
Some
Raw Materials
Three
Ways to Look at a Glaze
Recipe
Oxide
Weight %
Seger
Formula
Comparing
Recipe and Seger Formula for 3 Standard Recipe Grids
Reformulating
Glazes
Chemically
Identical Glazes from Different Materials
Essential
Maths
Percentages
Percentage
Calculation
Ratios
and Proportions
Volumetric
Addition to a Set
Loss
on Ignition - Calcining Calculations
Calculating L.O.I.
Calcining
Calculations
The
Standard Grid
Appendix
4 The Recipe Table and Flux Breakup
Tables
1.
The Recipe Table
2.
Flux Breakup Tables
Index