Why does clay shrink when fired?

For Flux Sake

We all know that disappointing feeling. You open a kiln and see a beautiful piece that looks exactly like yours, except that its oddly smaller than you remember. On this week’s show the gang talk about the chemical process that causes clay shrinkage, as well as, the pros and cons of using manganese for speckled clay. If you have a ceramic chemistry problem you’d like help with, send us a voice memo with your question to [e-mail]. To see the supplemental info we talked about in this episode, visit Ceramic Materials Workshop.

Hello For Flux Sake Listeners! As you know, Matt and Rose do a lot of glaze testing… A lot. They’ve decided to share some of that testing in their amazing new digital glaze book Test Test Test!:7500 glaze tests from Ceramic Materials Workshop. The book features a broad spectrum of oxidation and reduction glazes including matte, gloss, and crystalline, half of which are at Cone 10 and the other half at Cone 6. Each glaze is documented with images, recipes, and chemistry giving you an opportunity to learn these glazes inside and out. Check it out and don’t forget to keep on test, test, testing! To purchase visit www.ceramicmaterialsworkshop.com.

Today’s episode is brought to you by:

For the past 100 years, AMACO Brent has been creating ceramic supplies for our community ranging from underglazes to electric kilns, and they have no plans of slowing down. www.amaco.com

The Rosenfield Collection of Functional Ceramic Art is an online source for research and inspiration, featuring images of thousands of objects made by over 900 artists. The images are high quality and can be used with no permission required, making them a great resource for students and teachers. www.Rosenfieldcollection.com.