ceramics Archives – Sue McLeod Ceramics

Understanding Cone 6 – NCECA presentation 2018

Understanding Cone 6 – NCECA presentation 2018 On Mar 15, 2018 I gave my first ever NCECA talk. I was part of a panel discussion called Glazes Without Borders, moderated by Matt Katz. My co-presenters Kiara Matos and Peter Berg gave talks about “Copper as...

Different Styles of Test Tiles You Can Make for Glaze Testing

Ceramic Glazes

The word “test tile” can refer to any shape of clay that’s used to test glazes, slips, underglazes, engobes etc. Test tiles can be any shape you wish and can be made in a variety of ways. In this post, I’ll share lots of different examples of ways you can…

How to Make a Cone Pack

Studio Tips

In this post, you’ll learn how to make a cone pack using pyrometric witness cones set into a coil of clay. Cones are important for measuring the heatwork of your firings.

Temperature vs Heatwork – Why We Use Witness Cones

Studio Tips

I receive a lot of glaze questions and the first question I generally ask in return is “What did the cones look like?” Knowing whether the kiln was over- or under-fired is important for diagnosing many glaze issues. Sometimes I’m told a kiln temperature in response. But…

Why Specific Gravity Isn’t Listed on Glaze Recipes

Ceramic Glazes, Specific Gravity

If you’ve been glazing for any length of time, you may have heard about the importance of measuring the specific gravity of your glazes and you may have found yourself wondering: “If it’s so important to measure specific gravity, why aren’t specific gravity values published on glaze recipes?”

5 Reasons Why Your Large Batch of Glaze Doesn’t Match Your Test Batch

Ceramic Glazes

Has this ever happened to you? You mix up a test batch of a new glaze, dip a test tile and you like the result, so you mix up a large bucket, dip a test tile and your results look nothing like your test batch?

A Week in the Life of a Ceramics Studio Technician

Studio Tips

What Does a Ceramics Studio Technician Do? Since 2015, I’ve been a ceramics studio technician at a community pottery studio. We run 14 classes per week for both adults and children. We also have an open studio drop-in program where 60 registered members can…

How to Calibrate Your Kiln Sitter for Accurate Firings

Firing, Studio Tips

If you’re anything like me, then your first kiln wasn’t or isn’t going to be the digital programmable kind. Many of us start out with a manual kiln that we got second hand. I have 4 different sized kilns in my home studio and none of them are digital or programmable.

A Clay Reclaim Process Using a Pugmill/Clay Mixer

Studio Tips

If you run a community studio or your personal studio is high production, you probably have a lot of clay scraps to deal with. This article will describe the clay reclaim process we use at the very busy pottery studio where I worked as technician for 6 years.

Getting Clarity with Clear Glazes

Ceramic Glazes, Specific Gravity

There’s nothing worse than a cloudy clear glaze muddying up your beautiful slip design, screen printed images or coloured clay. How can we make sure our clear glaze is always clear and prevent it from going cloudy? In this article, I’ll explain some of the factors that affect the…

12 Tips for Managing Glazes at a Busy Pottery Studio

Ceramic Glazes, Studio Tips

Glaze Management 101. It’s a lot of work to run a school or community pottery studio. There are a lot of moving parts to look after. I’ve been a studio technician for 5 years now and it’s a very busy and rewarding job. As the technician, I’m taking care of all the behind the scenes…

Don’t Skimp on Safety in the Glaze Lab

Studio Tips

Most of our glaze materials come to us in their very basic, unprocessed form. They are dug out of the ground, impurities may or may not be removed, they are ground into a fine powder, bagged and shipped to our suppliers. Working with these minerals in their raw state poses some health risks.