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.

NEW Electric Wood Ash Glazes!

As many of you know, we have a few different lines of glazes that we produce here at The Ceramic Shop. Our longest-running (and most extensive) series is our Cone 6 Pro Series, which was designed to mimic the look for reduction-fired glazes in oxidation, or electric kiln, formulas. The artists here at the company love and use the glazes, and they're popular with customers, too. Still, every now and again we encounter the typical potter's material issue -- some chemical source closes, or changes, or some product that we order just starts acting...different. Over time, this can make it necessary for us to alter the glaze formulas in order to make them better.

Well, our head tech Rachel has certainly been busy over the past few months. In addition to all of the other exciting projects that she has in the pipeline, she managed to reformulate two of our favorite glazes -- Electric Wood Ash and Electric Wood Ash Green. We like these glazes so much because they REALLY look like they've been reduction-fired, with cool, variegated surfaces that mimic the wild drips of wood ash glazes. And now, we're actually adding two NEW wood ash-style glazes to our Cone 6 pro Series offerings, too -- the deep Electric Wood Ash Brown, and the wild-textured Electric Wood Ash Blue. Check 'em out!

Electric Wood Ash Brown - NEW!

Electric Wood Ash Blue - NEW!

Each tile above is made of white stoneware -- Standard 240, to be exact. The upper right half of each tile features one dip into a glaze bath, and the lower left corner shows you two dips. These glazes can do alright on claybodies with a bit of a color, but most of our tests emerged looking just a little too dark or muddled. It's a light, iron-free body that really allows the variegated surface to develop and shine, so keep that in mind if you decide to try out these glazes. And how about our reformulated Electric Wood Ash (Classic) and Electric Wood Ash Green? I'd suggest the same for those, as well -- and here, for your viewing pleasure, are some close-up samples:

Electric Wood Ash (Classic) - reformulated!

Electric Wood Ash Green -- reformulated!

So there you have it - some new and exciting surfaces from The Ceramic Shop! If you have used any of our Cone 6 Professional glazes in your studio or classroom, we'd love to see your results! Follow us on FaceBook or email images of your awesome work to gina@theceramicshop.com and we'll be happy to share them.

Cone 6 never looked so cool!

The Ceramic Shop is excited to now carry the very latest from Coyote Clay & Color – a new line of specialty slow-cool cone 6 glazes! By adding a controlled cooling to a typical cone 6 firing, these rich glazes produce dynamic, crystalled surfaces – results that can be quite difficult to obtain, especially when using commercial glazes. Coyote has you covered, though, with their new series!

These new crystal glazes do not run or seed and can also be fired right along with your other cone 6 glazes, so you’ll have no worries about loading a special kiln just for these finishes. You will, however, need to program a special slow cool segment into your firing program – consult your kiln’s operation manual and use the following program:

Ramps: 5

Ramp 1: 100/hour to 220 (this preheat ramp is optional)

Ramp 2: 350/hour to 2000

Ramp 3: 150/hour to 2200, hold 15 minutes

Ramp 4: 500/hour to 2150, hold for 15 minutes

Ramp 5: 125/hour to 1400

Please keep in mind that thermocouples tend to vary slightly, so you may need to tweak the top temperature for your kiln. Your witness cone 5 should be all the way down, and the witness cone six should be from halfway over to the tip even with the base (between cone 5 1/2 and 6), cone seven should be mostly straight.

Coyote currently offers seven different glazes, with plans on expanding the series even more, so keep an eye out on our website for new offerings. Here are some samples:

 MBG160 Ivory Crystal

 MBG161 Crystal Celadon

 MBG162 Crystal Lagoon 

MBG170 Autumn Spice 

 MBG171 Mars Iron Red

 MBG172 Light Gold 

MBG173 Summer Spice

The Ceramic Shop currently offers these glazes in several different amounts, as well – you can choose from wet-mixed pints, 1-gallon pails, or 3-gallon pails, or if you prefer to mix your own, we also sell dry glaze in 10-lb. and 25-lb. amounts. These options are all available on each glaze’s pull-down menu. Questions? Don’t hesitate to give us a call at 215-427-9665.

Kiln Furniture for the Ages

If you’ve ever loaded a kiln of work glazes on all sides, or if you’ve worked in a clay classroom with small children and have been concerned about the glaze on their work running and sticking to kiln shelves, chances are you’ve used kiln supports produced by us here in Philadelphia. That’s right, The Ceramic Shop is more than just a supplier of your favorite studio and classroom supplies – we also have a full production set-up where we make a wide variety of kiln supports, furniture, and posts under the Roselli name. The Ceramic Shop acquired the company in 2006, and ever since then we’ve been producing stilts of all shapes and sizes.

One thing that I’ve always loved about ceramics is how anything that makes it through a firing is rendered permanent – that means that the work that you put in there, as well as the stilts or furniture that you might use to support it, both have the same chance of existing somewhere in the archaeological record down the line. Of course, the history and permanence of the material is something that gets a lot of mention in ceramics-focused art curricula; it’s often the nice stuff that students and artists get to see, though.  The stilts and the furniture survive over time, too, and even though looking at that might not pack quite the punch of, say, taking in some amazing Greek vases, it still tells us a lot about how ceramics have been made over time. I love working for a place that contributes to this side of the ceramic record -- largely unseen to many but absolutely necessary.

Last summer, I took a trip just outside of Rome, Italy. The town of Arezzo was a beautiful little place that was largely built up in medieval times, but it had been established much, much earlier – it had actually been the production center of fancy glazed tablewares in Roman days, so business there had been established in roughly the 1^st century BCE -- over 2,000 years ago. There, archaeological excavations (that took place in the parking lot of a church, nonetheless!) uncovered a large-scale production studio, and you can check out all of the goodies they dug up in the town’s museum.

Much of the museum was filled with awesome, detailed press-molds that had been used to make fancy bowls and plates:

 The small press molds on the top shelf were made for handle additions; 

the bowl forms on the bottom made fancy, red-glossed tablewares.

However, a lot of the archaeological remains they found in excavations were pieces of kiln furniture – primarily, wheel-thrown donut-like spacers to separate glazed wares in a kiln, and stilts, very much like the ones produced by The Ceramic Shop today. Imagine my surprise when I looked into a display case and saw a 2,000-year-old version of a stilt we make. Here’s a picture:

Ancient tri-point stilts

Compare this to our own double-pointed stilts – it’s amazing how the design of this piece of furniture has not functionally changed in over two millennia! Here are a couple images of the stilts that we produce:

Stilts by Roselli. Unintentionally SUPER retro.

Seeing two objects made so far apart, in both time and distance, served as a very solid reminder as to just how permanent the ceramics process is.

The production studio for our modern stilts can be seen in our North Philadelphia showroom; if you’ve stopped by and never had the chance to check it out, just ask one of the employees the next time you’re in and we’ll be glad to give you a peek at production. It’s kind of cool to think that you can see a process that has been unchanged in so many ways over such a long time! Hope you enjoyed the history lesson, and I’ll leave you with one final image from my trip – a display of ancient potter’s tools, mainly made of copper, ivory, and bone.

You're making me blush!

Oh, wild and wandering copper carbonate, why must you create such a ruckus inside of a kiln during a glaze firing? Why can't you just stay put, happy to be suspended within a glaze matrix?

If I sound a little weirdly poetic, my apologies - I'm just always astounded by how much copper (and other colorants) can move during the firing process. Have you ever cracked a glaze kiln and noticed that the glaze on one piece has seemingly cause the glaze on a different piece to blush, or turn a different color? Yeah, that's not just in your head -- that's pretty much exactly what happened. And copper, it seems, is a particularly guilty party to this. Here's a great sample that we just pulled out of a kiln that demonstrates just how intense blushing can affect your glazes:

They were so much alike, until the tile on the right had a run-in with some errant copper.

So believe it or not, the two tiles posted are the exact same glaze - The Ceramic Shop's Cotton Candy, to be exact. This is a light pink translucent glaze - but that's clearly not what the tile on the right has going on.  THAT tile was placed next to a copper-heavy glaze test in the kiln, and it caused enough blow-off during firing that copper deposited on the surface of this tile, reacting as the green colorant that it is, overpowering the pink colorants and turning the whole test a pretty decent shade of green. Kind of shocking how legit this looks - like a classic celadon! However, if that is NOT the look you're going for, blushing can be quite the surprise when you unload your kiln. A note about the firing -- these results occurred in a Cone 6 electric firing, but blushing can easily happen in reduction firings, too.

Avoiding this effect is pretty easy, though -- if you have any green glazes, make an effort to fire them on a shelf together. Light- or white-colored glazes, as well as translucent and transparent glazes, are particularly susceptible to blushing, too, so just keep those away from their over-friendly coppery counterparts in a kiln and you should be all set.

Just as we love to see examples of your work with our glazes, we also love to see your weird experiments and glaze tests, too! Got any good blushing stories? Send them along as we'll post them on our FaceBook page.

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:

Same glaze, different clays

Because we're always trying to improve the products that we make here at The Ceramic Shop, we tend to do a lot of testing. Whether we're developing the perfect wax products or finessing our glaze offerings, the more we know about our our items, the more information we can pass on to you.

One question that we get VERY frequently is a very general inquiry: 'Why doesn't the glaze on my piece look like the tile/chip/picture?' This is a question that spans glaze firing temperatures, brands, application methods...name the variable, and it has come up when we field this question.  However, in many cases, the answer is quite direct -- the base upon which you put your glaze (whether you dip, paint, or spray) will have a major effect on how your glaze turns out.

To demonstrate just how intensely your claybody can affect your final  glaze outcome, we've tested our Cone 6 Professional glaze line on four different claybodies that represent a good swath of the claybody color spectrum. We narrowed down our testing on the following claybodies:

1. Standard 365, a cone 6 grolleg porcelain.

2. Standard 240, a white cone 6 stoneware -- as white stonewares do not tend to be as crisp and bright as porcelains, we thought it would be good to show them side-by-side.

3. Standard 259, a buff  cone 4-10 stoneware -- this is a stoneware that can actually get pretty toasty in reduction, but in oxidation it remains a mid-toned tan/brown color -- and a great deal of stonewares will fall into this general color range. 

4. Standard 266, a dark brown cone 4-6 stoneware.  This is definitely on the darker end of the claybody color spectrum -- and that color is delivered by various oxides that exist in the claybody. I mention this as you peruse through our results because you will notice that the examples of glazes on this claybody in particular feature some pretty drastic results -- that is a direct result of all of the 'stuff' (er....oxides and colorants) that are in this clay, and impart their qualities to objects that come into direct chemical contact with them, such as a glaze coat.

  

OK!  So, onward with our test results...

Here's a good starting point -- a side-by-side comparison of all four claybodies dipped in our Classic Clear..  

This is a clear, glossy coating that really allows the underlying claybody to show through. Fairly predictable results -- basically, a layer of clear glass has been melted over the surface of these clays, allowing their natural colors to shine through. 

If you add a bit of colorant materials or opacifiers to a clear glaze, you get a translucent glaze - and here at The Ceramic Shop, we carry plenty of these. Translucent glazes are kind of like the tinted windows of the glaze world - they cast a definite tone upon the clay that they are placed on, but that clay still shines through a bit, as well.  We have had customers who are rather surprised by just how much the underlying claybody can, indeed, affect a strongly-colored, yet translucent, glaze.  Here's an example, with our Cotton Candy:

Here, some visualization can help - say you are tasked with re-painting a room with very dark walls. If you are painting that room a significantly brighter color, you might really need a primer if you want you new shade to display its full brightness. To this end, I often suggest to people who work with darker claybodies to consider using a light-colored or white slip over the areas they might like to glaze in a bright color. And, sure, this sort of analogy makes sense when you think about the nature of translucent glazes. 

However, we also frequently have clients express their surprise at just how significantly claybody color affects opaque glazes. These are glazes that are completely solid and do not allow light to pass through; as such, it makes sense that you might think of them as less influenced by the color of the surface that they cover, right? The thing is, though, many reactions you see in a glaze surface are distinct chemical reactions that rely on the interaction of different materials -- and, for color response, this often means oxides. Red iron oxide, for example, is a very common -- and very powerful! -- material that can be found in many, many different clays and glazes. The dark stoneware that we used for these tests very likely contains this, for instance. 

When a glazed vessel goes through the firing process, it's not simply a matter of the glaze becoming fused to the clay's surface. A very small zone of mixing actually happens, where the interface between the two is a clay-glaze hybrid. This means that any oxides that the claybody might contain can indeed actually become physically enmeshed into the glaze -- and that, in turn, can alter the end-result color, even when the glaze is opaque. Here's an example with our very popular Tidal Pool glaze:

As you can see, this opaque blue-green glaze looks pretty much the same on whiter and lighter clays - but it looks completely different on the dark stoneware. The colorants that form the green/blue tones in the glaze have clearly been overpowered by the coloring oxides in the dark stoneware's claybody, resulting in a brown -- NOT green -- glaze. While we expected a degree of variation, this was one of those tests where the outcome was actually a bit more drastic than we thought it would be, which just goes to show the importance of testing your glazes whenever possible!

For a final example, I want to demonstrate just how much an underlying claybody can affect the look of an opaque, but lighter-colored, glaze. Most studios are outfitted with some sort of an opaque white glaze, and this tends to be a look that I use as my go-to. Here at The Ceramic Shop, we have a White Gloss and a White Matte, and both are unsurprisingly popular. Below, though, check out just how much a darker claybody can affect an opaque white glaze:

The first three examples are fairly predictable, but it's clear that the dark stoneware delivers significant effect to this particular glaze. For the record, these tiles were all fired in the same firing and photographed in the same light. I mention this because the change in the white matte when applied to a darker claybody is, indeed, remarkable. 

If you use or are thinking about using our Cone 6 professional glazes, you'll be happy to know we have been working hard to compile user resources on our website -- and we have many more tile comparison charts, featuring your favorite Ceramic Shop glazes. We will be adding to this until it's done! You can check out our application and firing suggestions here.

If you have used The Ceramic Shop's Cone 6 Professional Glazes and have some tips, tricks, or results you would like to share, we'd love to hear from you! We welcome comments here on the blog and we love to post customer work on our Facebook page.

Small 120-volt kilns for small spaces

We offer a firing service to those in the Philadelphia area, and one of our more popular models is our tiny ConeArt BX119 kiln. While plenty of people rent out the kiln for glaze tests, most are actually working on smaller-scale objects, primarily jewelry and buttons.  We've even seen a few customers over the years wind up purchasing their own test kiln, because these are usually built in a size that is manageable for a smaller space, such as an apartment, AND -- total bonus -- they are typically wired for 120v, which means they can be plugged in to your standard household outlet. Because we've noticed that people have been surprised to hear this, here is a rundown of our smaller kilns that could make a great addition to your home studio, especially if you are working on a small scale.

Below, I've broken down our small-scale kiln offerings into three categories: mid- and high-fire (kilns that reach cone 6 or cone 10); glass-specific (many of which come equipped with digital controllers with glass-specific programs); and mixed media, which are suggested for glass, some low-fire clays, and metal clays such as PMC (which are typically VERY low-temperature). Why the distinction?  Although there are SO many options out there for smaller 120v kilns, they aren't all built with the same purposes. As always, before you buy a kiln, make sure you know what you'll be using it for -- kilns designed to handle lower-fire materials such as glass and PMC aren't always capable of transitioning to the higher temperatures that, say, porcelain requires. Just something to keep in mind! Without further ado...

HIGH-FIRE

Smaller clay projects, including clay jewelry, can be fired in the kilns listed below.  They are capable of bringing your work to both bisque- and glaze-temperatures, which means they all reach the cone 6-10 range. 

Our newest small kiln offering is the Paragon Happy Clam. This is a clam shell kiln that has an interior space of 8"x8"x6.5". A clam shell kiln is exactly what it sounds like -- instead of having  door on the front or top of the kiln that you open to load, this style is basically a shell that fits over a floor with a hinge.  

Happy as a clam

The benefit of a clam shell model is in the loading. If you find yourself making delicate, tenuous work (as many glass and jewelry makers do), you may find it difficult or tedious to load a kiln stack -- even a tiny one! -- from the top or the side.  With a clam shell kiln, you build your stack in such a way that it's accessible from 3 out of 4 sides, ensuring that you can build the perfect load.  Then, you simply lower the body of the small kiln over your work. 

With a digital controller and a cone-10 firing capacity, the ConeArt BX119 is a powerful, yet easy-to-use test-sized 6-sided kiln.

ConeArt BX119

As I mentioned in the intro, this is one of the kilns that we use (on a near-daily basis!) as part of our in-house firing service; having personally done many glaze tests in this specific kiln, I've long been a fan of its quick, reliable firings and easy-to-use 12-key controller (that comes pre-programmed with both bisque and glaze programs). Of course, you also have the option to write and store your own firing programs in the kiln's computer, and although it's compact, it's still a great shape for accommodating smaller work. I can fit 4-5 mugs per firing, and the space is actually large enough to accommodate our large bead rack - so that's a great tip for you porcelain jewelers out there!

Finally, the Olympic Doll/Test kiln is a great option for anyone looking for a relatively affordable, energy-efficient kiln. 

Dollbaby!

You can select your preferred features on this kiln -- it can be built to be manual, or can come equipped with a 3- or 12-key digital controller. Likewise, when you buy an Olympic kiln, you can know that you've made an energy-efficient choice. While all kilns strive to contain heat as well as possible, this has become a cornerstone of Olympic's selling points. Their kilns tend to have thicker bricks, and therefore, they hold in more heat. This can be a really nice feature when it's summertime and you're firing your kiln...inside your house.

GLASS KILNS

What makes a small glass kiln stand apart from kilns designed to handle ceramics?  A few things, really. In the first place, glass kilns tend to have an element placed in the kiln's lid to ensure even heat coming down from the top of the kiln.  Because even a small differential in heat distribution can result in cracked glasswares, this element serves as a very important safeguard -- and while you might see such an element in SOME kilns intended for firing ceramics, it's certainly rare. 

EvenHeat GT-14-6

The nice thing about this EvenHeat Studio Pro 14 is the fact that is does have a full 14" x 14" space for all of your in-home glass projects. 

We find this size is definitely on the larger end of 120-volt kilns; its clam shell model will be helpful when loading delicate work, and the ceiling element ensures even, top-down heating. this particular kiln comes with a very easy-to-use 3-key controller that has pre-set programs specifically designed for glass slumping and fusing.

For the glass or jewelry artist who is primarily looking for an annealing kiln, the EvenHeat Fishbone is a straightforward choice.

EvenHeat Fishbone

Specifically, this is a kiln designed for glass beadwork, so if that is your chosen media, look no further! 

MIXED MEDIA

Mixed media kilns are great for artists who tend to use a lot of materials -- glass, enamel, and PMC (metal clay) are the most common mixed media that are used in these kilns, although certain models can indeed do both glass and low-fire clay.  With smaller-model kilns, it's not too common to see them designed to handle both glasswork AND higher-firing ceramics, so please keep that in mind as you shop mixed media, and read the firing capacities carefully.  As always, call us or email us fi you have any questions!

For the fashionable small-object maker working in glass slumping/fusing, enameling, or metal clay (PMC), the Evenheat Kingpin 88 is popular because it comes in a wide variety of colors. This means you can literally match your kiln to your decor!

EvenHeat Kingpin. The fashionable kiln choice.

A great all-around kiln for mixed media is the Paragon Caldera. This is a very popular mixed-media kiln that actually CAN do it all -- from PMC to glass to, yes, even high-fire porcelain!

Paragon Caldera

This kiln is multi-use, fits into your home, and can pretty much fire anything you throw at it. Plus, it's very affordable. This kiln also comes with a few customization options - you can opt to add a bead window, or a collar, which increases the capacity of your kiln. 

So that's it for our general overview of smaller kilns -- we actually have many, many more on our site, so hopefully this primer will help you get started as you look for the perfect piece of equipment for your space. If you have any questions, we're happy to answer them -- call us at 215-427-9665.