Category : Uncategorized

Voici quelques pièces avec cet émail « Vieux rose »:

Pour obtenir cet émail « Vieux rose », j’ai suivi la même méthodologie que pour obtenir mon émail Vert d’eau. A savoir, j’avais mon émail Tressaillé transparent à base de cendre de chêne auquel j’ai ensuite ajouté différents oxydes à différentes concentrations.

Here we can see the addition of manganese oxide at different concentrations:

I select the middle sample and in the same way as for my Water Green glaze, I add silica:

I like the sample n°6! We can observe a color close to mauve.

In order to accentuate even more to go towards pink or purple, I perform a series of tests starting with sample #6 and adding to it:

• Different concentrations of cobalt:

Ici, je découvre 2 nouvelles couleurs! Vous pouvez suivre la suite de leur développement: ici pour le « Bleuet » (le 2ème échantillon) et ici pour le « Bleu nuit » (le 4ème échantillon).

• Different concentrations of titanium:

• Different concentrations of rutile:

• Different concentrations of zinc:

The additions of titanium, rutile and zinc do not bring me anything very convincing. However, the addition of cobalt is interesting! So here I am with 3 new colors to explore!

Then I decide to make a thickness test for the purple enamel without any addition (You have a small description of the tool making here):

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Voici quelques pièces avec cet émail « Litchi »:

Pour obtenir cet émail « Litchi », j’ai suivi la même méthodologie pour obtenir mon émail Vert d’eau. A savoir, j’avais mon émail Tressaillé transparent à base de cendre de chêne. J’ai ensuite ajouté différents oxydes à différentes concentrations.

Below, we can see the addition of rutile at different concentrations:

A white appears! And at high concentration, we even observe small crystals! These first tests suggest interesting effects...

I then proceed to add silica with the high concentration of rutile (sample with the red dot):

Following this test, we find our small crystals. We can also observe that the more silica is added, the less the enamel flows. Thus, the white is tinted with small red-brown touches. I select the middle sample to proceed to a thickness test (You have a small description of the tool making here):

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Here are some examples of achievements with this larch green enamel:

C’est en faisant des recherches pour mettre au point l’émail « Vert lichen » que j’ai développé cet émail « Vert mélèze ». En effet, lors de la mise au point de l’émail « Vert forêt » je décide de diminuer la concentration en oxyde de cuivre et obtiens ceci:

Following a failure during the test on a large piece of Forest Green glaze, I decided to lower the kaolin content and tested with the 2 copper concentrations (the left column will provide the Larch Green and the right column the Forest Green):

The result of the left column shows a satin enamel showing darker crystals.
I select sample 3 of the first column and perform a thickness test(link to build a small tool to measure enamel thickness):

A notable result is obtained from sample 3.

I decide to test on large pieces trying to apply a thickness higher than 3. Moreover, we can observe a non flowing glaze even for a thickness of 5. This will help us for its application and limit the risks during the firings:

The test is conclusive! The enamel joins my collection!

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Here are some examples of achievements with this Forest Green glaze:

Cet émail « Vert forêt » a été découvert lors de la mise au point de l’émail Vert lichen. J’ai également essayé de faire varier la présence d’alumine en y ajoutant du kaolin:

Le résultat est tout aussi inattendu qu’avec l’ajout de silice (lien). Encore plus inattendu même! C’est cela qui est passionnant dans ces recherches, on s’attend à quelque chose, ou pas d’ailleurs, et on se fait surprendre par l’apparition d’une couleur ou d’une texture!
Gros plan sur le « Vert forêt »:

It's pretty crazy how a glaze can change so much by adding a few grams of this! This type of enamel a little metallic matte with glittery highlights are the ones I like best I think.

The failure of the appearance of the Forest Green

I decided to test it right away on a small room:

In parallel to the test on a larger piece, and finding the enamel dark enough I decided to decrease the concentration of copper oxide, you can follow the continuation of this research here:

Then, big disappointment: the test on a large piece is a complete failure! As if the enamel had not melted enough. The test with less copper (just above) also shows a less melted enamel.

I assume that the kaolin was incorrectly weighed during the first test. So I decide to lower the kaolin level to try to find the initial aspect and I take the opportunity to do the test with the 2 copper concentrations.

More and more interesting and complex at the same time! The sample at the bottom right is the same as the initial test and I find the same result. So maybe the problem on the big pieces came from the weighing for the big piece test and not from the previous test!

Understanding failure

In view of the above results, I decide to select the 2nd sample in the right column (which corresponds to a concentration of 2% Copper) thus with a little less kaolin than the initial test and, rather than trying on a large piece, I proceed to a thickness test:

Once again, it is thanks to the thickness test(link to build a small tool to measure the thickness of the enamel) that we solve the enigma encountered during the tests on large parts. Indeed, we notice a great similarity between the results obtained on the large parts and the sample with thickness n°2. The problem comes therefore from the thickness of enamel applied and not from an error in weighing the kaolin.

In order to confirm the previous test, we proceed to a new test on a large piece. However, we apply a thickness of at least 3 or 4:

Bingo!

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Here are some pieces with this Beige enamel:

Pour réaliser cet émail « Beige », mon point de départ était mon émail Blanc auquel j’ai ajouté du manganèse dans différentes proportions:

Samples 3 and 4 (red dot) catch my attention, so I keep these manganese concentrations.

Tin oxide, as part of my White glaze, is a rather expensive raw material. According to the literature, it is possible to use zirconium silicate as a substitute. So I replace the tin oxide with zirconium silicate. I use the 2 concentrations of manganese selected above and vary the zirconium silicate in two different concentrations:

On the top is the low concentration of manganese and on the bottom the slightly higher concentration. On the left, the concentration of Zirconium silicate is lower than on the right. I select 2 trials (red dot).

However, the glaze seems very runny. I know that, for this enamel base (I specify this enamel base, because it is not a general truth!), adding kaolin allows, in principle, to make it less fusible. So I proceeded to a test by progressively adding kaolin:

We observe that sample n°4 is less flowing.

I decided to test this formula on larger pieces:

The result is good! I then proceed to a thickness test(link to build a small tool to measure the thickness of the enamel):

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Voici quelques exemples de réalisations avec cet émail « Chair »:

Pour réaliser cet émail « Chair », mon point de départ était mon émail Blanc auquel j’ai ajouté du nickel dans différentes proportions:

Samples 1 and 2 (red dot) hold my attention, I keep these nickel concentrations. In this article, we will follow the progress of the tests on sample n°1.

Tin oxide, as part of my White glaze, is a rather expensive raw material. According to the literature, it is possible to use zirconium silicate as a substitute. So I replace the tin oxide with zirconium silicate. I use the 2 nickel concentrations selected above and vary the zirconium silicate in two different concentrations:

At the top, we find the low concentration of nickel. We have the impression that the beginning of a pink tint appears. I do some research on the net and, indeed, nickel can bring this pink tint! So we continue with this. In the previous recipes, zinc was omnipresent to obtain a pink nickel glaze. So, I'm doing a progression test with the addition of zinc, as well as with titanium. We'll see!

The above test with zinc does not lead to anything very interesting. I give up on that.

On the other hand, with titanium, the first sample with 1% titanium removes the speckled side of the enamel but provides a beautiful flesh-colored nappé enamel:

I'll do a test on larger pieces to see the result:

As we can see, the result is as expected!

I proceed to a thickness test(link to build a small tool to measure the thickness of the enamel) to finish validating this enamel:

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Voici quelques pièces avec cet émail « Vert de gris »:

Pour réaliser cet émail « Vert de gris », mon point de départ était mon émail Blanc auquel j’ai ajouté de l’oxyde de chrome vert dans différentes proportions:

Sample 1 and 3 (red dot) hold my interest, I keep these chromium concentrations.

Tin oxide (part of my White glaze) is a rather expensive raw material. According to the literature, it is possible to use zirconium silicate as a substitute. So I replace the tin oxide by zirconium silicate. I use the 2 chromium concentrations selected above and vary the zirconium silicate in two different concentrations:

En haut, on retrouve la faible concentration de chrome et en bas la concentration un peu plus importante. Les essais du bas se rapprochent trop de mon émail « Vert nature« . Par conséquent, j’abandonne les essais avec la concentration de chrome plus élevée et me concentre sur l’échantillon (avec le point rouge), celui avec le plus de silicate de zirconium.

I decided to test on larger pieces to see the result:

The enamel is not very covering because of the brush application. I do a thickness test(link to build a tool to measure the thickness of the enamel):

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Voici quelques pièces avec cet émail « bleu pervenche »:

Pour réaliser cet émail « bleu pervenche », je suis parti de mon émail blanc auquel j’ai ajouté du cobalt dans différentes proportions:

Previously, I had selected the fourth sample to make my Majorelle blue glaze (link). Today, I decided to use the second sample (red dot) to try to develop a lighter glaze.

The interest of research from the same base of glazes, in this case my Majorelle blue and my periwinkle blue (only the proportions of metal oxides change), is to be able to take advantage of the tests previously made to accelerate the development of a new color!

Here, the test performed for the Majorelle blue with different proportions of tin:

allows me to pass this step, as well as that of a large variation of zirconium silicate.

I therefore decided to directly test two proportions of zirconium silicate that were interesting during the development of Majorelle blue.

I decide to select the sample on the right, the one with the most zirconium silicate which gives me a lighter glaze.

We pass on the test on slightly larger pieces:

The enamel is not very covering, probably due to the brush application.

I then decided to do a thickness test(link to build a small tool to measure the thickness of the enamel) :

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Voici quelques pièces avec cet émail « peau d’éléphant »:

Pour réaliser cet émail « peau d’éléphant », mon point de départ était mon émail blanc auquel j’ai ajouté du nickel dans différentes proportions :

Les échantillons 1 et 2 (point rouge) retiennent mon attention, je conserve donc ces concentrations en nickel. Dans cet article, nous allons suivre la progression des essais à partir de l’échantillon n°2. Vous pouvez suivre la progression et l’obtention d’un autre émail, que j’ai nommé « chair », en suivant ce lien : (faire lien)

Tin oxide, as part of my white glaze, is a rather expensive raw material. According to the literature, it is possible to use zirconium silicate as a substitute. So I replace the tin oxide with zirconium silicate. I use the 2 nickel concentrations selected above and vary the zirconium silicate in two different concentrations:

At the bottom, we find the concentration a little more important. We get our slightly speckled look!

I continue the research with the bottom sample and proceed to a test on larger pieces to see the result:

Very interesting result!

I then perform a thickness test (To perform thickness tests, you will find an article here).

We confirm the results obtained previously! Thickness n°3 is the one that seems to me the most adapted to my future pieces.

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Voici quelques pièces avec cet émail « liège »:

Pour réaliser cet émail « liège », mon point de départ était mon émail blanc auquel j’ai ajouté du fer dans différentes proportions:

Samples 3 and 4 (red dot) catch my attention, so I keep these iron concentrations.

Tin oxide (part of my white glaze) is a rather expensive raw material. According to the literature, it is possible to use zirconium silicate as a substitute. So I replace the tin oxide by zirconium silicate. I use the 2 concentrations of iron selected above and vary the zirconium silicate in two different concentrations:

At the top, we find the low concentration of iron and at the bottom a slightly higher concentration. The lower tests give a brown color that I think is not very good, so I give up on that. On the other hand, the sample with less iron and more zirconium silicate gives me an interesting mottled glaze. I continue the tests from this sample (with the red dot).

I then proceed to a test on larger pieces to observe the rendering:

Here, I like the result! I decided to do a thickness test before adding it to my collection:

(link to build a small tool to measure the thickness of the enamel) :

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