How to stop low fire clays from waterlogging


Saturday 10th August 2019

Being fired at insight-live.com/glossary/119">cone 04, this talc body is quite porous. Water is entering through the unglazed base. During an overnight immersion it penetrated upward to about 1 cm from the rim (and even travelled two-thirds of the way up the handle). So, is this clay and temperature practical for functional ware? Yes. The base can be glazed or siliconed, completely stopping water entry. Heating this in the microwave for an extended period did not fracture it. And even though the mug got incredibly hot the G3879 glaze did not craze - that gives reasonable assurance it will hold up over time. Low-fire bodies have plenty of advantages and they are certainly practical for functional use. Additionally, handmade items deserve common sense care during use (e.g. not leaving pieces in water for extended periods, even hand washing).

Pages that reference this post in the Digitalfire Reference Library:

G3879 - Cone 04 Transparent Low-Expansion transparent glaze, Stilts not always needed when firing artware pieces with glazed bottoms, Clay Body Porosity, Microwave Safe


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