Does this poodle belong in this team? Does the frit you use belong in your glaze recipe?
Tuesday 14th February 2017
In industry, it is normal to use insight-live.com/glossary/43">frits whose chemistry is either unknown or approximate. The manufacturer has designed them for a specific use, so in many cases they comprise 80%+ of recipes used for that purpose. However, potters more commonly use them as minor additions to recipes, they source needed oxides to the chemical formulas of raw materials.
Substituting a new frit into a recipe, without paying attention to how its chemistry compares, is like adding a dog of unknown abilities to a team like this. It’s a dog, but is it a sled dog? Ceramic glazes fire the way they do because of their oxide chemistry. Frits contribute oxides. Not knowing the chemical makeup of a key ingredient your recipe robs you of the single biggest DIY tool for understanding the fired properties: glaze chemistry.
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