Learning from others' mistakes is always more efficient and less costly than committing them yourself. This book is packed with practical information that will enable potters to successfully complete the many steps in pottery production. Making functional pottery or ceramic sculpture entails different skill sets and processes in forming clay, drying clay, glazing, and firing. Any one of these steps can cause failures. As ceramics consultant Jeff Zamek points out, under ideal conditions a beginning or advanced student would be guided by a teacher at every step; mistakes and bad habits would be caught as they occurred and corrected. While such learning situations are rare today, this book fills the gap. As Zamek says, "This book offers you forty years of wisdom, generated by my students' and my client ceramics companies' issues with clays, glazes, and kiln firing." With its solutions to common problems, this guide helps potters to succeed.
| Foreword |
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8 | (1) |
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| Acknowledgments |
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9 | (1) |
| Introduction |
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10 | (2) |
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12 | (68) |
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1 Heating Ceramic Materials |
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12 | (5) |
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17 | (7) |
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24 | (5) |
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29 | (9) |
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5 How to Interpret a Typical Data Sheet: Ball Clays |
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38 | (9) |
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6 Dense-Packing and Filter-Pressing Moist Clay |
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47 | (8) |
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7 Mass Production of Premixed Clays |
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55 | (7) |
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62 | (5) |
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9 Choosing the Right Clay |
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67 | (4) |
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71 | (9) |
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80 | (5) |
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80 | (4) |
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12 No More Albany Slip, No More Barnard/Blackbird |
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84 | (7) |
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13 The History of G-200 Feldspar |
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91 | (5) |
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14 Another Choice in Feldspars |
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96 | (6) |
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15 A Substitute for Gerstley Borate |
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102 | (5) |
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16 Old and New Cornwall Stone |
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107 | (3) |
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17 Changes in Fired Materials |
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110 | (8) |
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18 Choosing the Right Glaze and Adjusting Glazes |
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118 | (10) |
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128 | (8) |
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20 The White Spots of Maiolica Ware |
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136 | (7) |
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143 | (4) |
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22 Using Decorative Engobes |
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147 | (2) |
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23 Clay Body and Glaze Defects |
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149 | (13) |
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24 Diagnosing Glaze Blisters |
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162 | (6) |
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25 A Problem with Cobalt? |
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168 | (5) |
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26 Developing Color and Opacity in a Raku Glaze |
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173 | (4) |
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27 Glaze Description / Glaze Notation |
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177 | (4) |
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181 | (4) |
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Part 3 Protect Yourself---Physically and Economically |
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185 | (1) |
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29 Pottery Studio Air Quality |
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185 | (5) |
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30 Functional Pottery Sets |
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190 | (5) |
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31 Hand Injuries in Potters |
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195 | (4) |
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199 | (15) |
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214 | (6) |
| Conclusion |
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220 | (2) |
| Glaze Formulas |
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222 | (3) |
| Notes |
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225 | (7) |
| Glossary |
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232 | (6) |
| References |
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238 | (2) |
| About the Author |
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240 | |
Je Zamek walked into a pottery studio in 1967 and started his career as an amateur potter. After completing a degree in business from Monmouth University, W. Long Branch, NJ he obtained B.F.A./M.F.A. degrees in ceramics from Alfred University, College of Ceramics, NY. While there he developed the soda ring system at the college and went on to teach at Simons Rock College and Keane College. During this time he earned his living as a professional potter. In 1980 he started Ceramics Consulting Services a ceramics consulting rm developing clay body and glaze formulas for ceramics supply companies throughout the United States. He works with individual potters, ceramics companies, and industry oering technical advice on clays, glazes, kilns, raw materials, ceramic toxicology, and product development. He is a regular contributor to several ceramics magazines and technical journals. Jes books What Every Potter Should Know and Safety in the Ceramics Studio, featuring the safe handling of ceramic materials, and The Potters Health & Safety Questionnaire, are available from Je Zamek/Ceramics Consulting Services. His latest book is The Potters Studio Clay & Glaze Handbook.
