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July 2006 Issue #40 In This Issue *
Crackle, Crackle, where art thou Crackle Jean
writes: I have bought your Raku Glaze ebook www.rakuglazes.com and
have a question. How do you achieve more crackle when using
the clear crackle glazes? -
- - I
love a good crackle glaze too, and there several factors that
affect the results you achieve. The
primary factor is the
glaze-to-clay "fit". How
well the glaze shrinkage matches
the clay shrinkage – or in the case of crackle glazes
how they don't match. A
crackle glaze actually shrinks slightly more than the clay
body does during the firing and reduction process. If the
glaze and clay body shrink the same, you won't get much crackle.
If the glaze shrinks more than the clay body you should
get more crackle. So
the first thing you can try is either a different clay body
or a different glaze. There
are dozens and dozens of glazes
out there so it might be easier to start with a different
glaze. Now
there are a couple addition techniques you can try to influence
the crackle effect. Thicker
is generally better. Normally a crackle glaze should
be applied a little thicker – maybe two are three coats
of glaze if you are brushing instead of just one. Cooling
fast is normally better. Generally
the faster the glaze
cools the more likely it will crackle.
That pinging sound
you hear is the glaze crackling. You
can speed the cooling by leaving the piece outside the kiln
for a longer period of time before you place it in the reduction
chamber. You can ever hit the
piece with some compressed
air to very quickly cool a piece. Finally,
smoke is good. In some cases, if you look real close,
a glaze will have crackled but the lines are not dark.
You need lots of smoke in the reduction chamber to color
the clay in the cracks. ~-~-~ "Our
class fired again last night, and the instructor followed
your tips and voila. Boy do we have copper. Its great
knowing we can do it, and I really appreciate your help. Thanks again!"-Shannon P. http://www.rakusecrets.com ~-~-~ . |
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Gary R. Ferguson - Raku Artist (c) Copyright 2006, Gary R. Ferguson |
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