- Paperback: 128 pages
- Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press (Jun 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0812217829
- ISBN-13: 978-0812217827
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 15.5 x 1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,090,135 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Synopsis
Traditionally potters fired their work either at low temperatures, as for earthenware, or at the high temperature that stoneware requires. However, a growing number of potters, particularly those who use electric kilns, are firing to a middle-range temperature, of which cone 6 is typical. Using middle range temperatures saves fuel and expense, reduces wear on electric elements, and yet allows the potter to achieve features shared by earthenware and stoneware. Because of the popularity of this technique, pottery suppliers have recently begun developing clay bodies and glazes suitable for the temperature range. In "Glazes Cone 6" Mike Bailey surveys the growing trend in middle-temperature firing and guides the reader by practical knowledge. He discusses a range of different glazes, including special effects, glaze stains, and underglaze colors, giving both recipes and tips for ensuring success.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Everything you need to know about low-fired stoneware glazes,
By
This review is from: Glazes Cone 6: 1240[Degrees]C/2264[Degrees]F / Michael Bailey. (Ceramics Handbook) (Paperback)
This is a well written book, probably the best there is on the subject. The book is exclusively about those glazes which are suitable for lower temperature stoneware pottery fired in an oxidizing kiln, probably electric, perhaps gas or wood, between 1220 and 1240 C (= 2228-2264 F), commonly known as cone 6. There are some glazes suitable for porcelain, but naturally there is nothing about reduction firing which can damage electric kiln elements.
Stoneware glazes are traditionally fired to cone 8 or 9 or 10 (1260-1300 C) but Michael Bailey convincingly argues that stoneware can be fired very successfully at a lower temperature, lowering electricity and other fuel costs, extending the life of the kiln, as well as being environmentally greener. The book is an insightful investigation into the chemistry and technical practices of low-fired stoneware written in a knowledgeable concise style. Michael Bailey has a methodical scientific mind and has undertaken a vast amount of experimentation with glaze recipes to discover which glazes work well and which tend to end in failure. The author has consulted potters world-wide on their glaze composition and firing schedules, some of whose thoughts, and photos of their pottery, appear in the final chapter: "The Gallery, cone 6 in action". The early chapters of the book develop several basic glazes: transparent, satin, matt, crystalline, high-alumina, high-alkaline earth, high-alkali, high-silicon, boric oxide glazes, Chun etc - all of which the potter-reader can then, if desired, develop further into their own unique glazes by the addition of varying percentages of colouring oxides to these base recipes. The remarkable results possible are demonstrated by 275 full-colour photos of test tiles. There are also a number of photos of thumb pots and slab dishes that have been dipped in the relevant glazes. Although glazing is essentially a scientific subject, and often quite complex, Michael Bailey explains everything in a clear precise language that is fully comprehensible, equally to the amateur and professional potter. The mysterious scientific principles governing glaze formulation are revealed. Recipes are given in two formats: by percentage weights/ as an unitary formula. Coefficients of expansion are given which are helpful in getting glaze and clay body to fit each other well. There are a number of graphs, called scattergrams, which display the silica-alumina component balance or imbalance, essential both to reveal and predict the optimum variation range for best-fit, least crazing glazes, and the avoidance of other problems. Technically this book gives you everything you need to know about problem free glazes, but it also provides recipes for glazes of a very high aesthetic quality. Later in the book there are chapters on orange-red iron glazes, lustre glazes, and raw or "once-fired" glazes. There is an appendix containing a thorough chemical analysis of pottery materials as well as a glossary which explains all the specialist pottery terminology. The book is crammed with facts, insights, analysis, explanations, and detailed advice. This is a book well worth reading because, by developing your understanding of the principles of glaze composition, you will save yourself from those many sadnesses and disappointments upon opening the kiln after firing and discovering disasters, both major and minor. Alternatively you can ignore all the scientific explanations and simply use the many beautiful recipes in the book for trouble-free glazing. This book is a benevolent gift of years, perhaps lifetimes, of patient development work by Michael Bailey and his generous colleagues, sharing their knowledge with the aspiring potters of the world. It is a quite brilliant book.
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3.9 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews) 132 of 133 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Cone six glaze theory made simple.,
By FlyingSnail - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Glazes Cone 6: 1240[Degrees]C/2264[Degrees]F / Michael Bailey. (Ceramics Handbook) (Paperback)
This is not a recipe book or a catalog of glazes, nor is it a chemistry textbook. It focuses specifically on cone six oxidation (electrically-fired) glazes, with easy-to-understand charts of glaze properties, and simple explanations of the materials that create the different properties of glazes. This presentation allows the glaze creator to predict where any glaze they make may fall in terms of its firing properties, with particular emphasis on coefficient of expansion. This is an important factor in glaze design since it determines 'glaze fit': whether a particular glaze will craze or even cause cracking in the clay beneath it. This topic has seldom been explained with such clarity and simplicity. Each broad type of cone six glaze (matte, glossy, low-expansion, porcelain, etc.) is discussed, and charted for comparison with other cone six glaze types. 'Special' glaze types are also mentioned, including Chun glazes, Bristol glazes, crystalline glazes and single-firing glazes for greenware. Methods of calculating glaze formulas are reviewed in this book also, covering the conversion of a recipe to its unity formula and percentage analysis. Not an in-depth course in calculation, but a basic introduction for the novice, or a handy review for the more experienced (but not yet expert) glaze developer. Recipes are given for each glaze type, but they serve less as suggestions for glazes to use than as typical examples for comparison. Colorants are discussed in a basic way, but are not the focus of this book. Photos are given for each example discussed, featuring test tiles of each glaze arranged for easy comparison. Not many pictures of pretty pots here, just consistent, representative photos of glaze samples of the sort shown on the cover, and pictures of a few actual ceramic objects to demonstrate the appropriateness of various glazes in practice. The appendix contains a useful chart of the chemical compositions of many common ceramic materials used in the US and UK (where the author resides). This book is an excellent aid to making cone six glazes from scratch. It's not quite a 'start from zero' book, but a useful supplement to the standard studio-ceramics textbooks. Easy to understand, not scary, and does not presume an extensive chemistry or mathematics education, though a high-school-level background will be helpful. This is a book for the ceramist who has been using existing glaze recipes, but is now ready to find out how they work and to develop their own. 26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Informative, but probably more useful for the UK,
By Ivy G. - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Glazes Cone 6: 1240[Degrees]C/2264[Degrees]F / Michael Bailey. (Ceramics Handbook) (Paperback)
While this book does a great job of explaining certain aspects of glaze theory, the way in which it is approached did not leave me, an American potter, with a lot of useful information.
The first half of the book goes into great detail about glaze theory, with many clear charts and graphs to illustrate the author's points. I found it to be easy to understand and very thorough. Proportions of silica, alumina, and fluxes are discussed, explained, and diagrammed. Also, there are many glaze tests illustrated. The second half of the book deals with specialty glazes and provides recipes from potters. These are also well documented and illustrated. This book was written in the UK and seems to be geared almost exclusively to the UK potter. This is not a bad thing for a UK potter, but does make it less useful in the US in terms of the way that we usually formulate glazes here. In my experience, most Cone 6 glazes in the US are formulated with boron. So learning about boron's effect on glaze analysis is essential. The author declares at the outset that he will not be explaining boron in terms of glaze theory, and it is discussed only in terms of its use in a specialty Chun-type glaze. Also in the US, we tend to avoid the use of zinc in glazes, since it has a negative effect on many colors. Almost every glaze analyzed in this book has a significant portion of zinc. Although the theory is clearly explained and this book may be a useful reference for that part, I found much of it to be useless for my work because of the exclusion of boron and the use of zinc. 16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Slightly disappointed,
By Timothy J. Joko-Veltman "Tim" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Glazes Cone 6: 1240[Degrees]C/2264[Degrees]F / Michael Bailey. (Ceramics Handbook) (Paperback)
After Snail Scott's review, there's not much to say, as she gives an excellent and in my opinion, accurate overview of the book.
I myself was disappointed, however. A few factual errors are indicative: zinc is NOT an alkaline earth, but a transition metal; and while magnesite is ideally magnesium carbonate, not all magnesium carbonate is magnesite, that is, the two are NOT synonymous. Also, I was perplexed by the insistence on using zinc oxide in nearly all the bases; not only is it expensive, but it also has a powerful (and usually undesirable) effect on most colourants. Maybe I just got used to superb glaze references, and was expecting more. Even so ... a decent buy, and it gave me a few good ideas, but I'm slightly regretting having bought it. (I would, however, recommend Clay and Glazes for the Potter and The Ceramic Spectrum: A Simplified Approach to Glaze and Color Development.) |
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