[Clayart] Hal's Satin Matt

[Snail Scott]

On May 29, 2018, at 10:48 AM, ronroy at ca.inter.net wrote:
> I'm assuming this is a cone 6 glaze!
> It's way over in alumina so it will be under fired. It's not high in calcium at all so it's not matte because of that. I added 11 wollastonite  and also 11 more whiting and 11 barium but all result in shiny glazes. I can't think of what else to add.

It’s labeled as ^4-6 ox or redux. Interesting that neither more calcium nor barium will push it to matte…I’d been thinking that one of those might be missing, but apparently not. I kinda threw it onto the testing list on a whim. I think I will just cross this one off the list and not mess with it further. There are too many other recipes with potential, including yours. Thanks for checking the numbers for me!

I have no idea where I originally found this recipe, but it’s probably been in my files since maybe the late ’80’s, when I was still picking things up fairly indiscriminately. Maybe an old CM?

I’m ideally seeking a semi-flat or somewhat buttery matte. A bit more satiny would be OK, but not semi-glossy. I am revisiting some old strontium favorites from the past as well as some barium recipes that I never bothered with before, though I’m not sure I can nail the surface I want with barium…I’ll find out, I suppose. I haven’t much explored calcium mattes before, either  - always stuck with the magnesium mattes - but for blue, it seems preferable to avoid magnesium. This is for sculpture, so I don’t really need the high chemical stability of a foodware glaze nor the hardness/smoothness of something subjected to utensils. However, if it’s too rough or under-melted (like some of my usual engobes) it will be less graffiti-resistant and cleanable, so i still prefer a fully vitrified microcrystalline surface. 

I don’t consider ‘high-alumina’ glazes to be glazes at all…those are engobes, as far as I am concerned!  I love me a nice versatile engobe, but not for this application.   Ah, research…it’s a long slog to the right outcome, if I’m gonna be this fussy. So it goes...

Snail Scott
claywork at flying-snail.com
www.snailscott.com