Introducing Crack Pot crack filler!

Over the past few years, The Ceramic Shop has taken on the task of developing innovative new products for the pottery world under our in-house brand name ‘Mr. Mark’. Because our company got its start due to this sort of innovation with Mark’s development of the ever-popular Hydro-Bat, we’ve always considered product development to be a part of The Ceramic Shop’s DNA. In 2012, we introduced Mr. Mark’s Wax On and Wax Off; 2013 saw the introduction of our popular Ware Repair. We may have just topped ourselves with our most recent product, though – we’re very excited to tell you all about our brand-new Crack Pots! The following post will give you a little bit of background of the product, as well as detailed instructions on how to use it and what kind of results you can expect.

Crack Pot is a crack filler that you can actually fire and glaze. We came up with the idea after receiving call upon call inquiring if our Ware Repair (which we tout as a greenware or bisque glue) could be used to fill cracks. While Ware Repair is an awesome product, it can’t really be used for that – but we were confident that we could formulate something that could meet the needs of our customers. We got to work testing, and firing, and glazing, and re-firing – our head tech, Rachel, worked VERY hard to get this product just right! In the end, we found that the best way to make a reliable product was to offer several different versions, so Crack Pot is available in different firing ranges, AND different colors!

We currently make Crack Pot in four different firing colors – white, red, brown, and buff – and in two different firing ranges – low- and high-fire. This means if you work with low-fire white clay in your classroom, you may want to try our lowfire white Crack Pot; if you work with a cone 6 red clay, such as Standard 308 Brooklyn Red, you’ll want to use our high-fire red Crack Pot.

Part 1: Application

Crack Pot works on wares that are green OR bisque; however, the product works best on pots that have already been bisque fired -- one of the applications we thought potters might find useful is an S-crack filler. To prepare to fill a crack in one of your pots, we suggest assembling the following materials:

-- Crack Pot crack filler

-- Pot to be repaired

-- Small bowl of water

-- Small sponge

-- Small sculpting tool (we like this one!)

Open your jar of Crack Pot, and using your sculpting tool, scoop some out. You will see that it has a putty-like consistency; simply work it into your pot's cracked area. Once you have filled the crack sufficiently, use your small sponge and bowl of water to smooth the application. We suggest smoothing with a damp, not soaking wet, sponge. This is also a good time to clean off your sculpting tool. 

Part 2: Drying/Firing:

After you complete applying Crack Pot to your soon-to-be-saved pot, let it dry completely before moving on to the next step. Crack Pot is a versatile product; if you apply it to bisqueware, you may opt to simply glaze right over it once it is dry. However, we do recommend re-bisquing your pot, simply because your glazed results will be more consistent if you are able to do that. 

 Above, our buff Crack Pot was added to a bisqued tile (center), re-bisqued, and glazed 

with The Ceramic Shop's Golden Tan and fired to Cone 6.

The reason for this is basic clay science -- by firing Crack Pot before glazing it, you will make the material have the same level of absorbency as the rest of your bisqued clay, and therefore glaze will behave in a more consistent way across both your crack-filled section, and the rest of your piece. However, we understand that not everyone has the time and space to re-bisque their work, so we do want to let you know that yes, glaze can work on unfired Crack Pot. However, please note that your results may not be quite as seamless as the example above:

 

Above, our brown Crack Pot crack filler (center), filling a crack in a bisqued tile, and glazed without an intermediate bisque firing. Non-bisqued Crack Pot does absorb glaze, just not with the same consistency as bisqued Crack Pot.

If you are able to bisque firing your Crack Pot after applying, there is an additional advantage: You can sand your piece's surface before glazing, which can really refine the formerly-broken area. 

Part 3: You're done!

That's right -- using Crack Pot is VERY easy. Just a couple of steps, really! If you have further questions about this product, or anythign else in the Mr. mark line, don't hesitate to get in touch. We're happy to help. Just send us an email at info@theceramicshop.com, or give our shop a call at 215-427-9665. 

Axner Colored Porcelain

We just recently started carrying Axner's new colored porcelain samplers here at The Ceramic Shop, and already we are in love. These 5-lb. blocks of clay come in a wide variety of colors -- 14 in total! -- and they can easily be fired to cone 6. 

A porce of many colors

If you've ever attempted to tint your own porcelain, you probably know how immediately rewarding it can be -- but you also probably know how difficult it can be to repeat specific results if you've gone the route of just folding in some stains with your already-mixed porcelain. These sampler packs, though, are bright, color-soaked, consistent batches -- which is a great quality if you're a production potter looking to add just a subtle detail of color to your work, or if you're a jewelry artist who wants to achieve the same colorful outcome with each firing. 

When these sampler packs showed up in our shop, I was impressed with the packaging -- they all come in a resealable plastic container, so you know each block of clay will stay workable for a long time, and it's basically ready-made for long-term studio storage. I know in my own studio, I have all of these weird little deli containers labeled with different clay types that I use for 'detailing', which means adding little botanical-looking flourishes to my forms, so I am definitely looking forward to adding these to my own lineup.

We've had a few questions about the finish of these porcelains -- the chips shown above show what the clays look like bare (top left corner of each sample), and then clear glazed (lower right corner of each sample). As you can see, they are sharp both glazed and unglazed. The colors are bright enough to rival polymer clay, so if you are a Sculpey or Fimo enthusiast and are looking for a more durable, less expensive, and cleaner-firing material, you might really enjoy working with this product.

If you are interested in our Axner cone 6 colored porcelains, you can click here to check out all of our offerings!

The Ceramic Shop's Holiday Gift Guide

Hey! It's December, which means it's holiday season! On my end, the only seasonal flavor I've experienced thus far has been a few 'accidental' listenings of Mariah Carey's classic, "All I Want for Christmas is You.' That's about to change, though, as I present to you The Ceramic Shop's Holiday Gift Guide!

All I want for Christmas is THIS MUG.

The potter in your life can be, in turns, both easy and difficult to shop for. I've broken down our holiday guide by prices -- $25 and under, $100 and under, 'Fancy', and 'SUPER FANCY' to cover all of your bases, from your workplace Secret Santa who happens to be a potter, to your spouse/child/favorite human. I also have a list of stocking stuffers at the end of the post, which I built with a few of the other potters on our staff. As always, we welcome YOUR suggestions, too! If you're a potter, and you've ever received a particularly thoughtful gift, we would love to hear about it.

I'll open with the obvious -- the Gift Certificate. We carry these in virtually any amount, and you can order them online very easily. We just send you a PDF of the certificate and you can print it out before you go to your next holiday party! 

$25 and under

This is a good price range in which to purchase those cool tools that the ceramic artist might not think to purchase for themselves -- heck, they may not even know that some of this stuff is out there! 

Seger's Pottery Tools are just, well, SO NICE. These silky-smooth wooden implements all feature beautiful grains and innovative designs that are just awesome to use on the wheel. One of these tiny tools will really make your potter pal feel like they are being treated. 

In our brick-and-mortar storefront in Philly, we keep a well-stocked jar of underglaze pencils at our front desk. At least once a day, we have an incredulous customer see them, grab a handful, and proclaim 'I've been looking everywhere for these!' One of the great things about this gift is that the pencils work at a wide variety of temperatures, so if you're not sure if the potter in your life works with low-fire or mid-range clays and glazes, you will be covered by this gift! Great for the practical -- signing work -- to the decorative, pretty much any potter will find a fun use for these. Grab a few different colors!

One of our favorite, sassiest companies out there is Dirty Girl Tools. They make a wide variety of tools that are great for both wheel-throwers and hand builders, and most of them clock in under $25. Well-made and well-thought, these tools are also hilarious. From their 'foot fetish' and 'lip service' ribs intended for wheel finishing, to their 'spanker' series that works great for slab work, these tools -- which, by the way, are all designed by potters -- are a great way to inject some humor into your holiday shopping.

Handbuilders will love love love this gridded canvas -- with this, cutting accurate slabs is a breeze. Because this is just fabric, it can be rolled up and carried right to the studio! 

How about the nicest slip applicator on the market? Xiem's 3-oz. applicator comes with a variety of tips for maximum versatility. This silicone bulb fits comfortably in the hand and can be very tightly controlled, which is great for the serious slip decorator.

$100 and under

If you have a friend who is a wheel-thrower, you might ask them to see if they have a VersaBat system-- because if they do not, ohhhh man, does that make a great gift! This is a bat that fits on to any standard wheel, and has interchangeable inserts that can pop in and pop out for production. You know how round bats take up a ton of space on work shelves? These square inserts pop out of the plastic bat, making storage easy. You also have option to purchase the system with either Hydro-Stone or Medex bats.

The Ceramic Shop's own uWedge work mat is great for anyone working on the wheel or in handbuilding -- and it's a particularly nice gift for the artist working out of a home studio, as it allows them to transforms any stable surface into a wedging area. At $36, this is a reasonably-priced gift that still leaves room in your budget for some extras.

Because I work at the Ceramic Shop, I've been able to slowly add to my ever-growing arsenal of Hydro-Bat hump molds, and it's pretty much been the best thing to happen to my studio practice. I do it all -- I throw on a wheel, I handbuild, I make tiny stuff, I make large stuff -- and these molds are by far the most versatile tools I have in my space. You can use them on a wheel, of course -- they all come with attached grommets for easy fixing to a wheel head -- but you definitely don't have to do that. In fact, I largely just use them on their own, as hump molds. I roll out a slab, slam it over the mold, cut out a cool irregular edge, and with that I am able to produce several large platters each week with VERY little hassle. At any rate, these molds are a great gift for anyone who makes functional work, regardless of their preference for handbuilding or wheel-throwing.

FANCY

Around this time of year, we get approached by a lot of parents and spouses looking for good 'starter' wheels or kilns for their loved ones. This usually presumes someone will be working out of a home studio, so here are some good pottery wheel choices: 

I have a Shimpo VL Lite wheel and I LOVE IT. Like any Shimpo product, it's reliable and works incredibly well, but one of the things I really love about it is mentioned in its name -- it's a fairly lightweight piece of equipment. You can throw a pretty decent amount of clay on it, yet it's still light enough to carry around -- or, in my case, carry by yourself. You will find the price of this wheel to be on the less expensive end of pottery wheels, because it is a more lightweight piece of equipment -- but honestly, for most potters (and especially for beginner potters!), that's really all they will need. Also note that we can do free shipping on these wheels within the continental US!

Another popular 'starter wheel' is the Artista. This is a tabletop wheel, meaning it's a bit smaller than the typical pottery wheel -- so you can set it up pretty much anywhere! Like the VL Lite, this wheel also ships for free within the continental US. This wheel can be as simple or as fancy as you want it to be -- add-ons include a foot pedal and a set of legs.

Another thoughtful gift for the wheel fanatic is the classic Giffin Grip. This allows for nearly-instantaneous centering on the wheel for trimming your pots, and it really great for trimming off-center or distorted vessels. This is the kind of tool that studios may have as a shared item, so it's particularly awesome when you have one of your own. 

For the ceramic artist who has the studio space to accommodate this, our North Star Ultimate Extruder Package is sure to be a very welcome addition. This is a 4" extruder made by a company that specializes in extruders and slab rollers, and it comes with a pile of dies for endless project possibilities. For installation, this can be drilled into a wall stud or a support beam.

SUPER-FANCY

OK. This section is kind of filled with the most awesome stuff you could get for the potter in your life -- namely, high-end equipment. Maybe I'm influenced by all of these seasonal commercials where people are giving cars as gifts; for the potter who has the space, there is -- of course! -- one very solid, very awesome gift:

A serious kiln. 

So, if someone special in your life has been hinting at a kiln, and you are awesome enough to buy that for them, there's a few things you should know. In the first place, you'll need to know the space that the kiln will be going into -- gotta make sure it will fit through the doorway, and everything! -- and you will also need to know the VOLTAGE and PHASING of said space. You definitely want to have the correct specs on this before you order any kiln. By now, you're probably getting the idea that kilns are custom-built, and yes, that's the case -- as such, they usually take about four weeks to fabricate. While this may mean you won't get to physically pass off someone a kiln in time for the actual holiday season, you can just wrap up a card with an image of your purchased kiln and you'll be a true Holiday Hero. 

Now, because a high-end kiln is such a particular thing, I do have to suggest giving us a call at 215-427-9665. One of our knowledgeable sales staff members will be happy to help you choose the right kiln for your epic surprise. We'll discuss different size options, controller options, and shape options, with a line of questioning tailored to the artist's work. We help customers select the perfect kiln on a daily basis, so if you are considering this for a gift, don't hesitate to give us a call!

This category also contains some items that don't require the same degree of customization -- provided your gift recipient has the space for the items I've listed below, you don't need to know any special specs to purchase them!

You'll often hear potters drool over the awesomeness of Brent wheels. Indeed, they are strong, sturdy workhorses that perform wonderfully and last for years and years. One of the most popular models is the strong and silent type, the Brent B Pottery Wheel. Able to handle 150 lbs of clay -- which is a LOT -- this wheel is kind of like an awesome new car -- complete with a 10-year warranty. We do carry several Brent wheel models, though, so if you look through them and are unsure which one might be right, please don't hesitate to give us a call, and we will be happy to help! Again, our number is 215-427-9665.

Much like a Brent wheel, a Brent slab roller is also quite the coveted studio equipment. While our slab rollers come in a variety of sizes, I have always loved the Brent SR-20, which allows you to roll out slabs with a healthy 20" width. This makes everything from large-scale slab building to mass production of tiny tiles a breeze, and the overall unit is so well-built and sturdy that is can be used as a work surface on its own. Like any large piece of equipment, we suggest taking the specs listed on the product page seriously, and ensuring that this will fit in the intended space.

STOCKING STUFFERS

Finally, here's a list of some items that make really great stocking stuffers for the potter in your life. Tiny but powerful, these small items are sure to be appreciated and used in the studio! We know that, because they were chosen by the potters on our staff. 

MKM wooden rollers!
Xiem's awesome retractable scoring tool!
Rubber ribs!
This awesome finishing sponge!
Bat pins!
Catalyst mini-blades!
Waterproof notebooks, great for the glaze room!
This classic wash brush!
This mini clay-gun extruder!

Again, we would love to hear about any gift suggestions that YOU might have! In the meantime, happy holidays!

Talc Talk

Hey, it's Tuesday, and what could usher in the new-ish week better than an expose on one of our popular glaze-room chemicals, TALC?

We do not sell talc in rock form. SORRY.

I decided to write about talc because during our recent back-to-school crush of business, we received one question pretty consistently throughout the busy school ordering season. One of our most popular clays for classrooms is Standard's low-fire White 105 (and its groggy version, 105G). Customers who have not used the clay before are sometimes surprised to see that in its wet form, it's grey -- NOT white, as it appears when it gets fired. Now, early on in any ceramics training, you sort of learn that unfired colors are often quite different from fired colors, but clays tend to be a little more close on that front than, say, glazes. 

Standard's low-fire white 105. 

It fires white, we promise!

Well, the grey color that you see in unfired 'white' clays is due to the addition of talc, or magnesium silicate, to the claybody. Talc can appear either grey or white, depending on where it's mined -- plenty is mined here in the states, where grey talc is quite common (although white talc, as seen in the image below, is also mined here). That color is a result of trapped carbon, much of which burns off in firing.

Left, Texas talc; right, Montana talc. Image courtesy digitalfire.com

Talc is an interesting material that can perform a variety of functions within clays and glazes, particularly when used for different things at different firings. That's a pretty vague description of a material, for sure, but it does serve a very specific function in low-fire claybodies: it acts as a flux, which means it aids in the melting of other materials in the claybody, leading to a more vitrified final product. This is, of course, an important factor for low-fire ceramics -- after all, you don't want to have a permanently-porous body for low-fire functional wares, right? Adding talc to a claybody, then, can force it to vitrify a bit more than it would without the additive.

But what is talc, really, and how did it come to be a ceramics staple? 

You've probably heard of soapstone -- heck, maybe you even have a knick-knack or two that has been carved out of the stuff. Soapstone's more technical name is steatite, and it can be found in many, many places throughout the world -- as evidenced by those aforementioned knick-knacks being fairly ubiquitous, right?

The Ceramic Shop is based in Philly, though, and this corner of the world has a very interesting relationship with steatite and ceramics. I'm not even talking about an historic relationship here -- more like PREHISTORIC. Yes, steatite artifacts and steatite-tempered ceramics are a very important part of the prehistoric archaeological record in the NE United States -- and that presence speaks to a more widespread technology that, in a mind-blowing turn, we still use today.

Pennsylvania and the surrounding areas were home to indigenous groups that go so far back, archaeologists can't even identify them as belonging to any specific Native American groups -- but needless to say, they were indeed ancestors of more easily-identifiable groups we see in this area at a later date. And on that note, when I say these groups went far back, I mean like 8,000 or 9,000 years ago. People living in this area, at that time, are generally referred to as Paleo-Indians. Their technology, which we see in the archaeological record, was a lot of worked stone and some ceramics here and there. Of course they worked in many other materials, but given the moist, seasonal, acidic conditions of the northeast, many organic remains (such as wood and leather) have simply decayed over time. Not so for our archaeological inorganics, however -- that's stone and fired clay.

Beginning in what archaeologists call the 'Transitional Period' - about 3900 years ago - steatite was used to make stone bowls by these people, and those stone bowls had a few things going for them. In the first place, soapstone is very soft -- the softest, easiest-to-carve stone there is, really - so working it was much easier than trying to make a bowl out of, say, magnetite (or some other very hard stone). In the second place, soapstone bowls had this wonderful quality of not just cracking and failing immediately when they were placed in direct heat, such as an open fire. This made the bowls wonderful vessels for cooking.

This is a pretty typical, well-preserved steatite, or soapstone, bowl. 

It could take the heat. Ohhh, it could take the heat.

At this time -- thousands of years ago -- you have to keep in mind that ceramic technology in this part of the world was fairly limited. Anything that was formed and fired was earthenware, with a low tolerance for everything. This pottery cracked and broke very easily due to the difficulty that ancient potters had in getting their open-air pit-firings as hot as they 'should' be for the clay they were using. You know how pottery in bisque form seems more fragile than fully-vitrified wares? At any rate, somewhere along the road these two materials came together -- pulverized talc, when added to a claybody, imparted some if its heat-handling properties to these ancient vessels while also acting as a powerful flux, resulting in more vitrified -- and heartier wares! Archaeologists aren't exactly sure of the where and when this took place, but you can almost picture it: thousands of years ago, and area of craft production is set up. Some people are making pottery, some might be carving, that kind of thing. Some of that super-soft soapstone dust, which might just be a byproduct of carving a soapstone bowl, winds up in someone's clay, either accidentally or intentionally -- local ancients were known to add all kinds of tempers to their clay. At any rate, maybe after firing, that soapstone-tempered bowl stood out as being slightly more durable, and the addition of that material was thus introduced into the ceramic technology.

So, bringing this little history lesson full-circle, it's amazing how ancient technology can still really be seen informing contemporary products today! Interested in more information on archaeology of Pennsylvania? Check out the great blog This Week in Pennsylvania Archaeology. 

We just mesh well.

We are always happy to answer customers' questions about these raw materials; we know that chemical knowledge in the ceramic realm is daunting in its scope, and there is a LOT of information out there. Because of this, we get a lot of phone calls! Within all of those phone calls, though, there are a handful of questions that keep popping up, and this blog is a great place to begin addressing our most frequent inquiries. Have an inquiry yourself? Leave a comment, and I'll be happy to answer!

Inches. Centimeters. Microns. 

...mesh size?...

While all of these terms are units of measure that can be particularly useful to the ceramic enthusiast, only one -- mesh size -- comes across as somewhat ambiguous, as experience in raw materials consultation has taught us. Here, I explain what mesh size is -- and, more importantly, how you can start to consider it when you have option for purchasing the same material in different mesh sizes for your clay and glaze fabrication.

Mesh size is sort of like the thread count of the pottery world -- and beyond. This is a useful macro-level measurement in the fields of geology, soil science, archaeology, and more. That's right -- this is a standardized unit of measure that is utilized in many earth-science based fields, so you can push your glasses a little further up your nose and give a nod to your newfound earth-y science-y cohorts.

Taking a cue from one of those sciences, let's look at the classic geological soil size chart. This chart explains the difference in relative sizes between three categorizations of sediments -- sand, silt, and clay. Sand is the largest particle out of the three; silt is the middle child; and finally, tiny, little clay particles are the smallest.

So the graphic above lays out the technical size range of each of these important particles -- but if you're out in 'the real world' -- and by 'real world', I simply mean a world in which you don't have immediate access to, say, a microscope -- how can you tell what size particles you are dealing with? How do you separate sand from silt from clay if you are doing a project that involves mining and levigating your own clay? On my end, I've worked extensively as a field archaeologist, and I've often been called upon to do trenchside soil analysis, which means I have pretty basic equipment to work with to determine the relative particle-size makeup of any given deposit.

So what do I use?

MESHES.

Oh man, do I love shaking some dirt in a stack of mesh screens. Basically, in the graphic above, uppermost mesh size is your largest mesh size, with the largest-sized openings through which particles can pass. Anything larger than that stays in the tray, and when you look over at it, you know roughly how much dirt didn't pass through the 10-mesh -- meaning its particle size is larger than that. This continues down the line, with increasingly finer particles distributing through increasingly finer mesh sizes. The thing is, though, as scale of measure is not entirely intuitive. For instance, what does '10 mesh' ACTUALLY mean, size-wise, for the newbie?

Perhaps if you've purchased raw materials before, you've noticed certain chemicals come with a number attached -- say, 'Silica 325' or 'SMS 200' (SMS is the brand name for Stone Mountain Silica). Those end-numbers generally refer to a mesh size -- and this is important -- the larger the number, the smaller the particle! So Silica 325 has passed through a 325-mesh screen, which consists of particles that are smaller than 0.044 mm, while a (larger-sized) 200-mesh screen passes particles smaller than 0.074 mm. Those numbers are so tiny that both of these types of silica appear exactly the same if you place them side-by-side with the naked eye; both will present as extremely fine white powder. However, although these differences are literally quite slight in most applications, understanding relative mesh sizes, and how different sizes of materials might affect your clays and glazes differently is an important corner of the physicality of ceramics. 

And with that, I'm really starting to veer into ranty, too-technical territory -- so, to sum it all up, I've compiled a neat little list of mesh size references that you are likely to come across while shopping for raw ceramic materials, as well as the typical application of each mesh size.

20 mesh -- These larger-sized particles -- just under 1 mm -- are considered coarse for the ceramics world. You will likely see this size in association with coarse grogs. This mesh size is too large to be attached to any fine powdered pulverized materials. To give you an idea as to what 20-mesh feels like, playground sand is a pretty good visual. This is generally the roughest stuff you can (commercially) add to your claybody, so if you are new to clay formulation and want something smooth for the wheel, I'd recommend a smaller mesh size (but larger mesh-size number). 20-mesh grog is a great additive for large-scale sculptural works -- it will give your claybody a great, rough skeleton, and often contributes to a beautiful surface texture, as well, when used in large enough quantities.

35 (or 40) mesh -- Still on the 'larger' size as far as ceramic-industry particles are concerned, 35-mesh is often seen in association with medium grog. If you are looking for a gritty (but not TOO gritty) additive for your throwing claybody -- one that isn't so rough that it will chop up your hands -- I'd recommend this. This mesh size, as a grog, will also serve sculptural claybodies well.

80 mesh -- Perhaps you've seen this as a suggested mesh size to use when mixing glazes. 'Sieve twice through 80-mesh (or higher)" is typically seen on dry glaze mixes. That size is usually sufficient for breaking down the clumped-together materials in a glaze, but for recipes containing commercial colorants such as Mason Stains, I usually recommend using a smaller sieve, such as a 100-mesh. When I worked as a studio tech, my 80-mesh test sieve was one of my go-to items. It fits right in the top of a deli container and is the perfect size for small test batches of, say, 200 grams.

200 mesh -- This is where clay additives and glaze additives start to overlap, in general. This is a mesh size that results in a fine powder -- baby-powder consistency, really -- 

200-mesh is also the standard mesh size of fine grog. I mention this because people frequently order fine grog -- which pretty much looks and feels like a very fine powder -- when they actually want the toothier, larger medium grog. Fine grog is just that -- fiiiiiiiiine. And, for certain applications, it still largely works the same way. This pulverized refractory material lends strength and durability to your pieces, but given its powdered form, it's not the best choice for, say, large-scaled sculpture or wheelthrowing. It does add great strength to fine claybodies without detracting from detailed-working qualities, though. 

325 mesh -- This is the smallest/highest mesh size that you will see on ceramic products, for the most part. There are some 400-mesh products on the market, but 325 -- that's pret-ty small. 

So, if mesh sizes like '200' and '325' are so small -- small enough that by handling or looking at them, people cannot tell the difference -- what's the main difference between the two? How, specifically, can we observe them actually behaving differently as glaze or clay additives? There are a few different thoughts on this. In terms of adding, say, silica to a claybody, having a variety of different particle sizes in the super-tiny range can actually cut back a bit on shrinkage. So, if you're working with a high-shrinkage claybody -- say, a porcelain you are mixing yourself -- and you're having trouble with glaze fit or any other number of issues that can arise from a clay moving and shrinking a lot, sometimes mixing in a silica content of varied grain size -- such as 200 and 325-mesh powders -- can help that a bit. As far as glaze formulation is concerned, smaller particles stay in suspension longer, so most glaze-mixers prefer Siilica 325 over the (slightly) larger, (slightly) heavier SMS 200. 

These explanations, of course, are the greatly-abbreviated versions, and the staff at The Ceramic Shop always encourages further research (for ourselves, as well!). Hopefully this will provide you with a good starting point for understanding the correlation between mesh size, particle size, and practical application. Questions? Ask away in comments!

In the Philadelphia area (and beyond!), The Ceramic Shop has really filled a niche of supplying raw ceramic materials to studio potters, university classrooms, and independent artists alike. We pretty much sell it all, in dry form, by the pound. So whether you are just learning how to make and test your own glazes, or you're a seasoned pro, we have a VERY stocked warehouse that has pretty much everything you need.

Hello, summer!

Or, how to maintain your studio practice when you no longer have a studio... 

 Goths on the beach. Yay summer!

At The Ceramic Shop, we deal with schools of all kinds -- from elementary art programs to university ceramic departments, we spend much of the academic year servicing these programs in Philadelphia and beyond. When school ends for the year, though -- no matter if it's college or pre-K -- ceramic work doesn't have to stop, even if you no longer have access to your school's art studios. We often speak with students who aren't always sure about how to proceed with continuing to make work without a kiln, or a large array of glazes, or that ever-abundant studio clay.  Granted, that's one aspect of ceramics that can, indeed, be difficult -- your work and progress can be so access-dependent. Well, many of us on The Ceramic Shop staff have been there, and as such, we have plenty of suggestions for keeping your practice alive during those moths when school is out.

In the first place, keep an open mind here -- you may have to get creative! Luckily, if you're embedded in the arts, you probably ARE creative, so that part won't be hard. Also, be willing to alter or expand your practice to materials/spaces/scales/etc. Below, I've posted a quick guide to products, home-studio suggestions, and resources (focused on Philly, because that's where we're located) for the ceramic artist on summer sabbatical. 

1. Consider using materials that do NOT need to be fired.

This Marblex self-hardening clay is just one of several self-hardening clays that we offer -- in general, these are air-drying clays with a decent working time, and once they SRE dried, you can paint or sand them. As its name suggests, Marblex is fairly hard, which makes it a durable choice for the artist who may be used to working with hearty fired clays. This clay in particular is nice for jewelry, beads, smaller sculptural works, and other projects, and it comes in a 2-lb. block. Check out our other self-hardening clays here. (Look for products labeled 'self-hardening'.)

Depending on the kind of work you typically make, you may hit some limitations here -- if functional wares are your thing, self-hardening clays really aren't the best materials. Also, if you work on a larger scale and are accustomed to purchasing clay in the standard 25- or 50-lb. bag or box, self-hardening agenst are sold in smaller amounts -- usually 2-5 lbs. However, if your goal is to keep your hands busy during the summer months, it's a decent solution.

2. Catch up on your mold-making.

This, of course, only really applies if you use molds in your work, or plan to use molds, but the summertime is a wonderful time to build up your mold library. Even if you have a small space in which to work, you will be able to make some small sprig molds, which can be used to apply ceramic decorations to pottery once you re-gain access to a studio. We actually carry several already-made sprig molds, just to give you an idea of what they look like:

The mold pictured here is by Creative Paradise -- check out their other molds here.

Mold-making supplies can be reasonable affordable, depending on the type of mold you'd like to make; a spring mold like the one pictures above requires a fairly minimal amount of materials, though. First, you need something you want to cast -- I went through a big kick a few years ago where I made spring molds out of all of my old pencil toppers from the '80's, and now those creepy little plastic figures are committed to clay, permanently. Next, you need some No. 1 Pottery Plaster. This is a very fine-grained plaster that we sell by the pound or the full bag, and it's great for capturing tiny details on small (or large!) objects.  You will also need a clay that can work as a bed or a base for your mold. If you have any clay laying around -- say, reclaim-level stuff, as the mold-making process may leave plaster chunks in your clay, making it unusable -- you can use that. You can also use plasticine, which also serves as a sealant for when you pour your plaster into the mold. Hey, we sell that too! I like this stuff.

You will also need something to pour your mold into -- for smaller projects, a tiny Tupperware-style container is usually fine. As far as further directions for mold-making are concerned, that's a whole 'nother can of worms -- and there are, of course, several resources available online. There's a great quick video tutorial from Ceramic Arts Daily -- you may have to register (for free) for the website to view, but it's worth it. Check it out here.

3. Re-fill your brain bank

Making good ceramic work isn't just about doing, of course -- it's also about reading, looking, and learning. Being 'forced' out of a studio for the summer can be a great opportunity to use a different part of your brain moreso than you might when your hands are constantly in clay. Have you been particularly resistant to, say, learning about glaze chemistry? It might be easy to brush that off when you have access to a studio -- after all, you have to take advantage of that time, right?!? No studio means no excuses! Be hard on yourself in the nicest possible way. And, hey, it's summer after all, which means that in many parts of the world it is AWESOME outside. Catch up on your reading in the great outdoors! 

At The Ceramic Shop, we stay stocked with ceramics-focused books covering a wide variety of topics -- from the technical to the aesthetic, beef up your clay library here.

4. Temporarily join a new art space

It can be really easy to get super comfortable in your school-based studio set-up, but one really wonderful thing about the ceramics community is this: No matter where you hang your clay-encrusted hat, chances are there will be like-minded people who are also just as interested in 

Resources for this suggestion vary quite widely from region to region, but here in Philadelphia, for example, I can lay out what a temporary studio join might look like. One of the most awesome resources that we have in town here is The Clay Studio. This is a ceramics education-based nonprofit here in town that offers a VERY wide range of classes and workshops. In the summer, programming is expanded to offer even more options for both adults and children of all ages. Registering for a wheelthrowing, moldmaking, or handbuilding class comes with studio access -- and a great reason to hang out with brand-new studio pals. 

If class when school is out isn't really your thing, though, and if you just want studio access, plain and simple, The Clay Studio does also offer studio rentals, which can be a nice solutions for your summer productivity.

Although The Clay Studio is kind of the cream of the crop, plenty of local art centers and community centers feature ceramics departments that may have similar summertime offerings -- check out the resources in your area to see what's out there. In my experience, the people you tend to meet in these settings are an incredibly varied group -- from my own days in community studios, I have friends that I have NOTHING in common with aside from a mutual love of clay -- and that's pretty awesome.

5. Really can't stand to be away from a kiln? If you're in Philly, use our firing service!

That's right. Sometimes, you just need a kiln. Maybe you have the time and space to continue your ceramic production but you don't have a place to fire work. If you're in the Philadelphia area, come to us! We have several different kiln sizes in which to fit your work, and we can carry out any type of oxidation firing you may need, from decal to high-fire cone 10. Check out our firing services details here and please feel free to give us a call at 215-427-9665 if you have any questions at all about how we can help you to finish your work. 

So there you have it -- these are just a few suggestions to help you stay creative during the summer downtime months. If you've found some tricks that work for you during times when studio access might be limited or non-existent, we would love to hear from you! In the meantime -- stay cool!

In ceramics, zero DOES have value!

This blog post is intended for anyone new to the field of ceramics and pottery - it's just a quick explanation of how to interpret cone-speak. 

When I first got into pottery, I have to admit that a very specific (yet very important!) corner of pottery jargon tripped me up -- the use of the word 'cone' to describe heat accumulation. I seem to recall thinking that saying you fired a kiln to cone 6 was kind of like asking someone the time and having them tell you 'banana'. Until I understood cone calibration, there was just a total disconnect between the words and the meaning.

So why the blog post? To reiterate a very important point that is VERY important to those new to ceramics to grasp -- that Cone 06 and Cone 6 are NOT the same thing.  See that '0'? That makes all the difference, and this blog post explains why.

In the first place, a cone is exactly what it sounds like - a small, cone-shaped object that is made from ceramic materials that have been formulated to melt or slump at a particular accumulation of heat -- here, heat being the interaction of temperature and time. These cones have been assigned standardized numbers that correspond to a particular accumulation of heat. 

Self-supporting cones, sold in boxes of 50.

These cones bend when they melt, which tells you - the person firing the kiln - just how hot the kiln is inside. Cone 06 (say it like 'cone oh six) melts at 1830 degrees F when fired at a rate of 150 degrees per hour, where cone 6 (say it 'cone six') melts at a higher temperature - 2232 degrees F - when fired at the same rate. So, there IS a significant difference as indicated by the inclusion of that '0'.

 

The slumped cone of the left is a Cone 08, which melts at a lower point than 

Cone 06 (center) and Cone 8 (right) 

So that all makes sense, right? Basic concept, basic explanation -- so why dedicate a whole blog post to this? Well, one funny thing about the commercial ceramic industry is the fact that many clays and glazes tend to be formulated for two very popular firing ranges -- Cone 06, and Cone 6. 

For anyone who works in the low-fire clay and/or glaze range, that roughly translates to Cone 06. Popular low-fire glaze lines, like Mayco Stroke & Coats, Duncan's Pure Brilliance clear glazes, and Amaco's Liquid Gloss series are all formulated to be fired around Cone 06. 

Another very popular firing range is mid-range, or right around Cone 6. Amaco's Potter's Choice line, for example, is a pretty well-known mid-range line. 

So while it's just sort of an interesting coincidence that the two cone ranges that happen to be standards within the industry sound an awful lot alike, it does need to be mentioned again that 'Cone 06' and 'Cone 6' are NOT interchangable! If you fire a low-fire (or, say, something in the Cone 06 range) clay or glaze at a mid-range (Cone 6) temperature, you run the risk of drastically OVER-firing (and likely ruining) your work. You'll see low-fire clays slump and melt when too much heat is applied; low-fire glazes can run right off of your piece and even wreck your kiln shelving!

Check out the image above, taken from Joe Kowalczyk's Adventures in Kiln Repair blog. That disgusting mass you see up there is actually over-fired clay -- yep, that's what can happen when you muddle '06' and '6'. Yikes!

Mixing up the cones in the opposite direction is not typically quite so destructive, but you can still end up with a lot of weird-looking pottery. When you fire a mid-range glaze intended for Cone 6 at a much lower temperature, like Cone 06, you UNDER-fire your pots. This can result in chalky, un-vitrified surfaces that are often just not very attractive.

This example of underfired work comes from the blog Paul the Potter. See how the surfaces are dull and chalky? Because the kiln didn't get hot enough to melt the glassy elements in the glaze that would form a slick, gloss surface, the end result just looks kind of unfinished. Classic underfiring -- and pretty much what you might expect when you place a Cone 6 glaze in a Cone 06 firing (although, it should be noted, the image above was the result of a much more nebulous firing issue). Of course, with under-fired work, you can always just re-fire it at the proper range, but it's still a net loss of time and energy.

So! In conclusion, know your firing ranges for the clays and glazes you use. Know that the small '0' you see on glaze instructions should definitely not be ignored! Know there is a difference between the low-range Cone 06 and the mid-range Cone 6. I'll leave you with a handy, techy-looking firing chart, so this post looks even more official: