In it's simplified state a glaze is made up of 3 components: A glass, (most commonly used is silica also referred to as flint), a flux, (designed to melt the glass), and a stabilizer, (usually clay). Color and opacity are added through the addition of metals and or other chemicals.

At The Ceramic Shop we carry close to 100 different chemicals that are used for clay and glaze manufacturing. Learning how to make your own glaze can seem overwhelming. The best way to get started is to take a short class at your local ceramic studio and ask the teacher to go into more depth about glaze making. At the larger studio's you may even find a class dedicated to glaze making.

If you are interested in learning on your own, you will need the following: a good respirator, a scale sensitive enough to measure in 1 gram incriments, a variety of plastic buckets, scoops, a 60 mesh sieve, large batter mixer, a mixer that can be installed in a drill, rubber gloves, and a rubber rib is helpful to pass the chemicals through the sieve. The smart way to begin is to find a receipe in a book or magazine. After ordering the chemicals needed start with the largest volume materials and work your way smaller dry mixing them once complete. Add water in a seperate bucket and slowly sift your materials into the water. How much water to use is important. A glaze that is too thick may run and one that is too thin may not come out at all. Glaze is typically 50% water so start with slightly less water then you think you will need. If a glaze is too thin you can add more materials to thicken or leave the lid off for a few days until the glaze settles so you can siffen off some top water. Glazes that settle to much can be a problem. Some chemicals can become hard as a rock when combined with others. Cornwall stone can harden up as well as some frits, which are used for glass melting. Here are a few remedies, Epson salt which can be purchased at any pharmacy will help defloculate the glaze. use only as much as you need to get the job done. Desolve the salt with hot water and then mix it in. Bentonite in a receipe is also serving this purpose, Vee Gum T, or macaloid has also been found to work well.

Testing your glaze.

Most potters usually throw a short cylinder and then cut it up into small tiles. The best way to test your glaze is to apply it to an actual piece. This will give you the most information. How it looks when it puddles thick, how and if it runs, can it be thin, how it breaks on edges, and will it work with other glazes.

Glazes that you will make yourself from found receipes will most likely need to be sprayed, dipped or poured on your work. Commercial glazes include a brushing medium additive to allow for brushing on glaze. Ask your local supplier if they carry it.

You may find you really love the chemistry side of ceramics and in that case there are many great books on glaze calculation and theory to further your knowledge. You may also find in a short time you will know more than your local teacher. At The Ceramic Shop we manufacture and sell a small home studio chemical lab table that can hold as many as 60 chemicals. Organizing safely and labeling your chemicals is important, and of course read all MSDS sheets before using any chemicals.

There is an amazing amount of information to learn on the art of glazing and the best way to begin is to start some where. take good notes and record even the clay body you are using. Different clay bodies can dramatically efffect the same glaze.

What is an underglaze? An underglaze is not a glaze. It is essentially colored clay, thinned out. A clear glaze will be needed on top to give your work a finished look. Underglazes are often refered to as slips.

Ok so what is an engobe? Engobes are somewhere inbetween a glaze and an underglaze. They will be slightly more vitreous or glass like then an underglaze.

Have fun, wash your hands when your done and call us with your questions. Really! We actually use the products we sell.

215-427-9665.