American Shino:
50 Nepheline Syenite
25 Ball Clay
25 Spodumene
0-2 Soda Ash
I formulated this glaze by studying quite a few American potters’ shino recipes. I began by testing many recipes and noting both likes and dislikes of each glaze test. Noticing patterns, it became obvious to me that I really enjoyed a shino that included the ingredient Spodumene. BINGO! I also enjoy simple recipes with few ingredients the most, so the recipe came quite easily after the testing. Enjoy!
Notes:
- This is a cone 10 glaze that likes a hot firing.
- What I love about it: it fires from creamy white to dark orange, thick to thin; it pinholes beautifully where you trim; it has a wonderful feel; it doesn’t crawl.
- What I am unsatisfied with: It crazes a bit too much; it is too shiny; it doesn’t crawl :).
EDIT:
I reformulated this glaze to try and eliminate the excessive shine. This particular recipe needs to be applied extremely thick or they will only turn out a rather boring flat orange. But when thick…oooooo baby it’s nice. Notice there is no soda ash. I took it out as it kept flocculating the glaze and turning it “thin” no matter how much material was mixed into the slurry. So to keep the glaze nice and thick, don’t add any soda ash.
New American Shino
42 Neph Sye
33 Ball Clay
25 Spodumene
Yellow Matte:
50 Nepheline Syenite
25 Epk
25 Whiting
As you can see, this is another simple recipe. It came from my love of Warren Mackenzie’s Mackenzie Grey Matte that is so prevalent. I simply substituted ingredients and it came out so very differently it is another glaze entirely.
Notes:
- This is a cone 10 reduction glaze
- What I love about it: The matte quality in this glaze is fantastic (if it works); the yellow color is also a very gorgeous soft earthy yellow; it fades to a black rocky color when thin.
- What I hate about it: The glaze settles VERY fast; the yellow color comes only if you’re lucky; it tends to have a greenish hue; if you dip too thin it comes out a washed out stony black color that is very rough to the touch (but I sand it down and it is actually really nice after being sanded!); it is inconsistent as of yet…needs some tweaking.
Mackenzie Grey:
5 parts Custer Feldspar
3 parts Whiting
3 parts EPK Kaolin
This is Warren Mackenzie’s famous matte grey glaze. An excellent, simple, and beautiful recipe that I formulated my Matte Yellow glaze from.
Notes:
- Cone 10 reduction glaze
- What I love about it: The grey is variable from thick to thin, going from brown to red to greenish to grey and sometimes even a wonderful sea blue; it’s a beautiful matte glaze that feels wonderful too; great for pouring over large pieces.
- What I don’t like about it: Not very durable–metal marks from silverware, acidic drinks left inside overnight will etch the glaze; crazes
Temmoku:
48.38 Custer Feldspar
20.14 Flint/Silica
11.64 Whiting
8.05 Red Iron Oxide
5.40 EPK Kaolin
2.24 Barium Carbonate*
2.24 Zinc Oxide
This is a Bethel University classroom glaze graciously given to me by professor Kirk Freeman. Thanks Kirk! This temmoku is shiny and almost true black, and breaks to a beautiful red/brown on edges and around handles.
Notes:
- This is a cone 10 reduction glaze.
- I dip my mugs one time only but for 12-15 seconds each. This ensures a nice thick coating that gives a fantastic color.
- What I love: The temmoku has a beautiful black color and the red breaks are AMAZING; it doesn’t run when you dip for 15 seconds, even at cone 10.5; it looks amazing with coffee inside a temmoku glazed mug.
- What I don’t like: the dried raw glaze can easily transfer from your fingertips to a white glazed pot without you noticing, and then you have red fingerprints on white pieces. It can either show your stamp really well, highlighting the letters, or (most of the time) will just cover the stamp and you can’t read it. I wipe away a little of the glaze with my finger when its still very wet. This helps.
Chun Clear:
42.50 Custer Feldspar
26.55 Flint
8.85 Gerstley Borate
8.85 Dolomite
4.45 Barium Carbonate*
2.65 Tin Oxide
1.75 EPK Kaolin
1.75 Zinc Oxide
This is also a Bethel class glaze graciously given to me by Kirk Freeman. Thanks again Kirk! A clear glaze with a slight blueish hue. Beautiful on porcelain and stoneware, but very different on both.
Notes:
- Cone 10 glaze reduction
- What I like: a beautiful glaze I love for porcelain mostly but can be really great with iron-rich clays too; crazes beautifully; very subtle and a lifetime of visual pleasure.
- What I don’t like: sometimes it scums a little bit on the inside of cups or bowls.
*Barium Carbonate is poisonous when raw and should be tested once fired. Recently, Strontium has been an option for 1:1 replacement. However, these glaze recipes require very little Barium Carbonate and the materials are well melted and there is almost zero chance of getting poisoned from Barium Carbonate from these fired wares. But please, always test your glazes.
As a salt glaze potter I’m very interested in the the glazes pictured at the top of the glaze blog ( soda fire tests). Would like to have some idea of their composition. I know salt is different – but it would still be worth testing. Thanks for the other recipes – love the simplicity.
Hi John, The glaze tests were all found in John Britt’s Cone 10 book of glazes. I don’t have those recipes off the top of my head but I believe three of them were called Willie’s Helix, Amber Celadon (or honey?), and Hennessey Celadon. One may have been Elfin Rose Celadon too but I can’t remember anymore. I don’t think these were necessarily simple glazes in their makeup, either. But, maybe you could find one you like and tweak it so they require only a few ingredients. Good luck!
Thanks.
Thank you for sharing, especially your faith in God! I’m excited to try these recipes to my stoneware clay body (Star white, cone 10, Star, NC., near Seagrove) I’ll fired in gas reduction. Thank you for your inspiration!
Awesome! I was surprised the American Shino recipe turned a peachy light orange on a porcelain clay, very nice and unexpected. I’m betting it’s the ball clay in the recipe that provides just enough iron to make it blush. It might do the same on your star white! Also, I appreciate your encouragement with my faith in Jesus. Take care!