Stephani Stephenson on tue 27 sep 11
May wrote:
"A friend enquired about crackled tiles. She said the crackle tiles are
so much more expensive than the non-crackled one (in same color) and
wonder if I can crackle perfect tiles up for her in the kiln. After
saying no, I told her, to my knowledge, the fancy artistic / rustic
tiles are more expensive because it is hard to make them look
handmade-like and still durable and pass the industrial tile tests.
According to your research, it has to do with fail rate being factored
into the cost too, it seems."
May, I don't know anything about the specific tiles your friend had but =
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I
think you were wise to pass on 'crackling ' them for her ..and...can i gu=
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ess
you mean 'crazing' as in a crazing 'crackle ' glaze?
i am going to go out on a limb though and say
1. the 'crackle' glazed tiles are more expensive because that look is
popular right now
2. maybe there is an extra step or expense in producing this particular '=
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crackle' effect...maybe not
as an aside, i always wondered about the extremely crazed glazed which ha=
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ve
been highly popular with mainstream/high end distributors. I even see van=
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ity
sinks with this type of highly crazed glaze. i talked to a man who
actually was involved with the making of those for a larger company and i=
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asked him straight out about it....about the durability of the glaze with=
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regard to seepage of moisture, etc. i am sure it is fine for art tile ,bu=
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t i
really started wondering about it when i saw it on sinks.
he only told me they rely heavily on a post firing sealant.=3D20=3D20
the industrial standards vary quite a bit depending on what the tile is u=
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sed
for , how the tile is classified and where the tile is installed.=3D20
for most of us making art tile, or interior wall tile,etc. , try for th=
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e
best fit possible in choosing clay body, glaze and firing temp, but ther=
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e
is no need or requirement to subject the tile to industrial testing, unl=
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ess
it is appropriate for a particular large project or for your own needs. i=
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t
is kind of interesting to read the guidelines and understand some of the=
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tests .
.
Stephani Stephenson on tue 27 sep 11
P.S.
yes could be something in process including fail rate, marketing, extra
glazing steps, extra time, anything that adds to production costs, could =
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be
demand. If it is commercial tile : that is a different world. If it is sm=
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all
scale tile,whew.who knows how it is priced., there are so many people mak=
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ing
tile.....
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