One very valuable technique available to potters researching glaze melts is the Volumetric Blend
Using this technique complex blends can be created by weighing and mixing only the recipes at each end of the a line blend or at the corners of a triaxial or biaxial/quadraxial grid. The blend is then created through mixing liquid samples by volume rather than by dry weight.
In order to do this the researcher needs to be able not only design appropriate recipes for the "corners" or "ends" of the blend but also needs to be able to calculate the necessary blending proportions and the actual recipe and unity formula for each individual blend sample.
This is where computers come into their own enabling such complex information to be generated in a few seconds providing data which enables a potential blend to be evaluated before the blend is even mixed and fired by examining the unity formula for the individual recipes in the blend.
Although Matrix can create volumetric blend data for line blends as well as triaxial and biaxial/quadraxial grids this week we are going to look at how Matrixcan create a special biaxial recipe grid in which changes to the clay and silica (material) content of a chosen recipe can be explored. From a unity formula perspective this kind of grid essentially reveals the importance of the balance and quantity of Al2O3 and SiO2 in the base glaze.
The image is of a recipe grid created from a glaze called "Waterfall Brown". This glaze originally came from John Hesselberth's "Mastering Cone 6 Glazes".
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Contact: Lawrence Ewing - 1015 Ellis Rd, Five Rivers, RD3, Lumsden, Northern Southland,
New Zealand Email: lawrenceewing8@gmail.com
One very valuable technique available to potters researching glaze melts is the Volumetric Blend
