I had enough ware to have a glaze fire the other day in my electric kiln. I used one of my new favorite clear ^6 glaze recipes, courtesy of a Lana Wilson. Though it’s not on her website. The clear is so easy to make and gives consistent results. It also brushes on quite nicely so that one doesn’t have to make a big bucket batch if space is limited. I sieved it 2 times in an 80 mesh sieve before using.
| Clear ^6 Glaze | |
| Gerstley Borate | 50 | Kaolin | 20 | Silica | 30 | Totals | 100 |
I had my glaze fire on Monday, and yesterday morning when I cracked open the kiln to let it continue cooling, I was super excited. I noticed that the cake platter had not warped and was intact. Boy, was I happy! Later in the day, when I unloaded the kiln, I noticed a hairline crack on the interior rim. Sniff, sniff, I was so sad. I’m trying to think how I can avoid this in the future. Maybe, I need to use stoneware instead of porcelain for objects that consistently have issues. So, I’ll try again. I think it takes a certain masochism to work with a material that isn’t always guaranteed to come out perfectly everytime. What’s that old saying, “That which doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger.” I’m holding out hope.
On another note, the smaller porcelain platters that I had expected to warp or slump in the firing came out great! Don’t have photos yet, maybe later today. I had intended to take my photographs yesterday, but it rained all afternoon and I shoot all my photos outside.
On the bright side, I have lots and lots of porcelain pendants and earrings! That seems to be what has been selling lately in my Etsy Shop.
Happy Wednesday everyone!
Tags: cake platter, ceramic jewelry, cone 6 clear glaze recipe, porcelain, sgraffito 
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