[Clayart] glaze science

[mel jacobson]

In my post this morning I talked of "freewheeling" my glaze
calc. It is for me, and me alone.

I have made thousands of glazes and have received help galore from
Ron Roy, and many other ceramic engineers. Nils was very
important in my early years to teach me "what is glass,glaze."

Joe Koons was a perfectionist with glaze calc. But, I had the courage
to fire the kiln hotter then I had ever gone. Cone 12 in a flat top.
I had to push the limits or fail in the project.  He was emotionally
AW'd at the results.

My favorite rant it is about pushing the limits, fire a cone higher, or
a cone lower. Fire your kiln to melt the glazes. Don't fire to get close.
Nail it on the wall.
There are an awful lot of people that fire the kiln to be careful of the kiln.
If the coils burn out, and they will, put in new coils.
If your kitchen light burns out, replace the bulb.

But the bottom line is "learn from quality glaze experts. Follow their recipes
as well as you can. But, understand what and why you are doing it..

Years back we had chemistry fights on clayart that were world class. I stayed away
from that stuff. But, they sure had fun.  The great lines.."Did you fail college
chemistry you dork????"
mel  just clearing the air.

website: www.melpots.com
www.melpots.com/CLAYART.HTML