Hand building Hand building is a method of making artistic and functional ceramic products by the use of hands without the involvement of the potter’s throwing wheel. Hand building comprises three major techniques and formation methods which include slab building, coiling, and pinching pots. With these hand-building techniques, any pottery artist can make anything out…
Glaze fit In pottery production, this is the term used to define the compatibility of the glaze and the clay within an acceptable range. Various problems such as glaze cracks, glaze flaking off the clay, or various cracks in the claybody (dunting) may occur if there is a mismatch between the glaze and the clay….
Learn what glaze is in pottery, what it does, how glaze fit affects results, and why firing temperature matters for durability and color.
Learn what firing means in pottery, why it changes clay permanently, and how bisque, glaze firing, temperature, and atmosphere affect results.
Dunting Stress during the fire and chilling process causes cracking in ceramics. Clay goes through a “silica inversion” at just over 400 degrees Fahrenheit and then again at slightly over 1000 degrees Fahrenheit during the fire process. The clay is put under a lot of strain throughout this process. Another factor might be the difference…
Contraction A temperature shift causes a reduction in size. It is not to be confused with shrinking, which is a permanent condition. With a change in temperature, contraction can be reversed. A chunk of ceramic expands and compresses as it heats and cools. A glaze’s rate of expansion and contraction must be consistent with that…
Learn what ceramic cones measure, how cone numbers work, and why cones matter more than temperature alone when you fire pottery.
Learn what clay is in pottery, why plasticity matters, how clay bodies differ, and which related terms help beginners understand ceramic materials better.
Cheesehard The drying of a piece of pottery while it is still soft is the first stage. Green ware, leather-hard, black Hardin, white-haired, and bisque are other terms for different conditions of clay.
Ceramic change When clay is heated to around 1100 ° F or higher, it transforms. Chemically linked water molecules are removed from clay particles at such temperatures. The clay particles are conjoined together, resulting in a lasting modification in the ceramic piece. When clay items are re-introduced to water before transformation, the clay particles slake…