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glaze recipe vs. formula

updated thu 15 mar 01

 

Howard Scoggins on wed 14 mar 01


The conversation we are having on glaze formulae,
recipes, etc., has made the point that they are all
starting points. They do not "convert" with
exactness. And we can forget the "all other things
being equal" caveat; glaze materials differ even
within the SAME batch.

On page 38 of my trusty old POTTERY GLAZES, by David
Green (Watson-guptill, 1973), there is a photograph
of a test pot. One side is glazed from a percentage
recipe and the other from pure oxides based upon an
analysis of the same recipe. The eye does not lie,
they ain't the same guy. In fact, in this case, the
recipe looks better.

I am a pragmatist on the formula/recipe question. I
look at them both. Each has place in the potter's
repertoire. Neither replaces the other except as a
matter of individual choice.

In the words of my favorite hip-hop potter poet:

Don't get in a dayz
over mixin' glaze
'cause there is more
than one wayz.

My last word on the subject, for now.

Howard Scoggins