Glaze Course - Lesson Summaries
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Taking a Closer Look at Raw Materials.
Lesson Number 4
The focus in Lesson 3 was the chemical entity called an oxide. We noted that apart from other components "suspended" in the liquid, this kind of molecule is to be found almost exclusively in a fired glaze or glass. It was also pointed out that the work-heat (temperature fired to over time) together with the balance of flux oxides and glass-former are the three critical factors which determine the melting of a the glaze recipe. We concluded by noting that a knowledge of the chemistry of raw materials is vital to the understanding of how the material will behave when heated in a recipe.

In this lesson we will look more closely at the raw materials we use in our glaze recipes and consider the differences between an "empirical" and an "analytical" approach to working with glaze.

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New Zealand
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