Christine Campbell on tue 29 jul 08
Way, way back in the time before
inexpensive imports, I used to make
Holiday Ornaments.
One year I made an "Icon Angel" with
a crackle glaze to make it look old
and worn.
Glaze worked perfectly on the prototype,
so I went ahead full blast and took
orders for at least 1,500 of them.
Tried to re-order the glaze and was
told they no longer make it.
OK, no problem, I can mix one myself
... right?
Every single glaze I made or bought
would NOT CRACKLE! The ornaments were
as hard and smooth as glass. High fire,
low fire and everything in between.
No joy.
If you want to hear a glaze expert
laugh, tell them a glaze won't crackle.
Had help from Ron Roy and Pete Pinnell.
More recipes and more frits.
No crackle and time is flying by.
In total frustration I layered every
different glaze I had, in every cone and
in any old order and fired them.
Finally, crackles!
Those pings were the sweetest sounds I
ever heard.
After three years of trying I never
did find a single glaze that would make
them crackle and gave up.
Chris Campbell - in North Carolina
--
Chris Campbell Pottery LLC
9417 Koupela Drive
Raleigh NC 27615-2233
Designs in Colored Porcelain
1-800-652-1008
Fax : 919-676-2062
website: www.ccpottery.com
wholesale : www.wholesalecrafts.com
Chip Richards on wed 30 jul 08
On Tue, Jul 29, 2008 at 09:02:25PM +0000, Christine Campbell wrote:
> Every single glaze I made or bought
> would NOT CRACKLE! The ornaments were
> as hard and smooth as glass. High fire,
> low fire and everything in between.
> No joy.
>
> If you want to hear a glaze expert
> laugh, tell them a glaze won't crackle.
Thou art surely a Witch, and must be Burned!
But before we burn her, can I spend a few months with her, learning how to be
a witch too? You can burn me afterward as well, I promise.
That's a great story, Chris, and just points up how contrary this stuff can
be. Whatever it is one wants/needs, here comes the exact opposite! I'm just
now at the stage of my learning that I'm becoming aware of the 23 Factors Most
Likely to Cause Crackles, and what to do to avoid most of them most of the
time. I'm sure that knowledge will be very handy when the day comes that I
*want* crackles. Then I'll think back on your story and smile ruefully.
Oh, and if you should ever happen to find yourself in similar circumstances
again (unlikely, I know), just give me a holler. For I am the CrazeMaster! I
have one recipe, long ago discarded, that I swear crazes while it's still
molten in the kiln. Well okay, maybe not, but by jiminy it's already
*planning* to. The pings from that stuff were like Poe's Telltale Heart ...
woke me up in the middle of the night.
--
Chip
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