ceramic arts dail y.

org

making the switch from

cone 10 to cone 6
ceramic glaze recipes

a little knowledge of
ceramic glaze chemistry
and raw materials
goes a long way
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Making the Switch from Cone 10
to Cone 6 Ceramic Glaze Recipes
A Little Knowledge of Ceramic Glaze Chemistry
and Raw Materials Goes a Long Way
If you want to convert cone 10 glaze recipes to cone 6, you’ll need to know something about glaze chemistry and the
materials that work best at those different temperatures. If you just want to start with established cone 6 recipes, which
is often a lot easier, there are now many people who have done the research and testing so you don't have to. But don’t
worry; there will still be plenty of glaze-testing fun for you to try in your own studio.

In Making the Switch from Cone 10 to Cone 6 Ceramic Glaze Recipes: A Little Knowledge of Ceramic Glaze Chemistry
and Raw Materials Goes a Long Way, we present several successful examples of cone 10 glazes reformulated to work at
mid range, and include explanations of the glaze chemistry behind these successes.

Mid-Range Reduction: It’s Not Just

Cooler, It’s Cool
by John Britt
There are a number of reasons why someone would want to fire at cone 6 rather
than cone 10, but John Britt was not one of those people—until he was asked to
present a workshop on the topic. His understanding of ceramic glaze materials and
glaze chemistry helped him to quickly find a path from cone 10 firing to cone 6.

Cone 6 Crystalline Glazes:

Developing Crystals at Mid Range
by William Schran
Historically, crystalline glazes have been the purview of the high-fire potter. But
like everything else, if enough people experiment and test, good results can be
obtained under all sorts of circumstances - in this case, crystals at cone 6.

Traditional Cone 10 Glazes Make the

Leap to Cone 6
by Rick Malmgren
There are a lot of traditional glaze recipes out there, but they are typically
formulated for firing at cone 10. Rick Malmgren has reformulated and adjusted
many traditional ceramic glazes to function well as cone 6 glazes, and he has
some compelling reasons to do so.

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 Mid-Range Reduction:
It’s Not Just Cooler, It’s Cool
by John Britt

Thrown and altered platter, 12 in. (30 cm) in diameter, stoneware with Cherry
Blossom Shino and Woo Yellow glaze, fired in reduction to cone 6, by Bar-
bara Morgenbesser.

W
ith all the current discussion about global
warming and conservation, I thought I should
relate a recent workshop I taught at MudFire
Clayworks and Gallery, a community ceramic
art center in Decatur, Georgia, just outside of Atlanta. They
offer studio space, monthly workshops and a beautiful gallery
of contemporary ceramics artists. They also fire to cone 6 in
reduction. Erik Haagensen and Luba Sharapan, the owners
of MudFire, had started to fire cone 6 reduction because of a
defect in the kiln they’d purchased, but after seeing the results
they had no reason to change back, even after the kiln was
repaired. Firing to cone 6 was cheaper, faster, and the results
were almost indistinguishable from high fire.
The Project
Although they fire to mid-range reduction, Erik and Luba
had read my book, “The Complete Guide to High-Fire
Glazes,” and wanted me to give a workshop on the cost and
time benefits of cone 6 reduction firing, as well as to explain
the reasoning behind glaze recipes, firing cycles and to show
them how to bring glazes from cone 10 down to cone 6.
I normally work with, and teach about, high-fire glazes
(cone 9–11), approximately 2350°F (1288°C), while mid-
range, (cone 5–7), is about 2200°F (1204°C). Although this
is only about a 150°F (66°C) temperature difference, raising
the temperature 150°F at the peak of the firing takes quite a
bit more energy and puts a lot of extra wear and tear on the
kiln. It could easily take two to four more hours of firing to
go from cone 6 to cone 10 with the gas on high, so firing to
mid-range reduction would save considerable fuel if compa-
rable glazes could be found.
At that time, I didn’t have a lot of experience with mid-
range reduction and I found it hard to believe that the results
were “almost indistinguishable.” I did have a good bit of
experience firing mid-range oxidation in an electric kiln and
the results are far from the look of cone 10 reduction. But
the idea intrigued me, and the more I thought about it, the
more I realized that the same principles of high fire reduc-
tion should apply to mid-range reduction. The key question
would be if the oxides and materials needed to melt the
glazes at a lower temperature would negatively affect the
glaze colors. So I took the challenge, reasoning that I could
use the same research methods I used for the high-fire glazes
to explore these mid-range glazes.
Mid-range firing in both oxidation and reduction is a well
researched area dating back before the energy crisis of the

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 Mugs, 4 in. (10 cm) in height, stoneware with Temmoku
Gold, gas fired in reduction to cone 6, by Luba Sharapan.
Noodle bowl, 4 in. (10 cm) in height, stoneware with Mal-
colm Davis Shino Glaze, gas fired in reduction to cone 6, by
Erik Haagensen.
1970s. There are also several college clay programs that
use mid-range reduction and have published their glazes.
One notable example is Diana Pancioli, at the University
of Eastern Michigan, who started her “Glaze Forward”
program. (For a small shipping fee, you could send for
a list of cone 6 reduction recipes and test tiles of those
glazes.) There are also organizations like the Clay Studio in
Philadelphia that fire cone 6 reduction and have developed
a wonderful palette.
The Research
My first step is always completing an exhaustive survey of
known glazes from books, internet and workshop handouts.
Luba and Erik generously sent me all their recipes from
MudFire [see selected recipes on page 51], and I pulled out
my cone 6 glaze notebooks and began assembling recipe lists
and firing instructions.
There is so much information available today that it is
almost paralyzing; you don’t know what to do with it all. So
in order to make it usable, I organized the recipes into types,
like iron glazes (celadon, temmoku, kaki, iron saturate, etc.),
shino, copper red, oribe (copper green), magnesium matt,
etc. Then, after eliminating all the duplicates, I looked for
similarities and differences, and from those, selected enough
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Handbuilt vase. 8 in. (20 cm) in height, porcelain with
Mint Julep Glaze, gas fired in reduction to cone 6, by
Melissa Keen-Boggan.
glaze recipes to test that would show a broad range of possi-
bilities within a type. Then I tested those recipes in a variety
of firing cycles, like heavy reduction, light reduction, early
reduction, late reduction and oxidation. This way, I can
reveal a glaze’s full potential.
Iron glazes are a great type to start with because you can
see a wide range of colors by incrementally adding one
colorant; iron oxide. For example, when firing in reduction
using the same base glaze, adding 1% red iron creates a blue
celadon, adding 2–4% iron oxide will give green to amber
celadons, adding 5–10% iron oxide makes temmokus, and
10–20% iron oxide gives iron saturates. Teadust temmokus
result from additions of magnesium carbonate to temmokus
fired with cooling soaks. Kakis, which are also part of the
iron glaze type, are obtained with additions of bone ash and
magnesium carbonate. Finally, oil spots result from stiff oxi-
dized temmokus with magnesium oxide. So you can see how
one glaze type can show you a world of glaze colors.
Copper red glazes are generally low alumina and high al-
kaline bases with small amounts of copper carbonate (0.3%)
and tin oxide (1%). Oribe glazes use copper to get greens
while magnesium matt glazes yield satin whites and purples
with cobalt oxide. You can try to reproduce these “types”
at various cones and, as always, you may then have to make
adjustments after you see the results.
 The final type I concentrated on
was shino glazes. Shinos are generally
made with varying amounts of feld-
Side By Side
spar and clay. For example, you may
have somewhere between 60–90%
feldspar and 10–40% clay. A typical
recipe would be 70% feldspar and
30% clay. This is the most difficult
glaze type to reproduce at mid-range
because most feldspars melt around
cone 9 and then with the added clay JEFF’S RED PANAMA RED
it is hard to melt much lower than Cone 10 Reduction Cone 6 Reduction
cone 10. I started by using nepheline Barium Carbonate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4 %. % Dolomite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.76 %. %
Dolomite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.7 Gerstley Borate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.67
syenite, which is not a true feldspar Whiting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.4 Strontium Carbonate. . . . . . . . . . . 4.17
but rather a feldspathoid (containing Zinc Oxide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.7 Whiting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.60
less silica than a true feldspar). It melts Frit 3134 (Ferro). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.7 Zinc Oxide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.60
Custer Feldspar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41.9 Custer Feldspar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44.10
around cone 6. Because it is high in
Silica (Flint). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.2 Ferro 3110 (Ferro) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.70
sodium oxide and lower in silica, the 100.0 % EPK Kaolin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.60
effects are not identical, but it was a Add: Tin Oxide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6 %. % Silica (Flint). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.80
good starting point and worth a try. Copper Carbonate . . . . . . . . . 0.5 %. % 100.0 %
Bentonite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0 %. % Add: Tin Oxide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.62 %. %

Firing Copper Carbonate. . . . . . . . . 1.75 %. %

I loaded the kiln with these various

glaze types and then filled the re-
mainder with line blends within these
glaze types and a variety of other
recipes, like blues, greens, yellows,
blacks, etc., to see the overall effect of
varying firing cycles across the board Shaner Oribe SELSOR Oribe
of glaze colors. Cone 10 Cone 6
For the first firing, I started reduc- Bone Ash. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 %. % Gerstley Borate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.50 %. %
Talc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.9 Whiting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.41
tion at cone 010 and kept it heavy Whiting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.1 Nepheline Syenite . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56.25
(0.65–0.72 on the oxygen probe) to Custer Feldspar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31.0 Silica (Flint). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.83
cone 6 at 3 o’clock (cone melting Kaolin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.6 100.00 %
Silica (Flint). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.3 Add: Copper Carbonate. . . . . . . . . 5.00 %. %
position, not time of day). I had pretty
100.0 %
good copper reds and iron glazes but Add: Copper Carbonate. . . . . . . . . . 5.2 %. %
This is a test I made with Selsor Copper Red
and I removed the colorants and added
the shinos were dull and washed out. copper carbonate, so I called it Selsor Oribe.
For the next firings, I increased the fir-
ing temperature to cone 7 at 3 o’clock,
which gave me about 25°F more and
brightened up the glazes. I ran five
more firings to this cone, including full
oxidation, light reduction, medium
reduction, heavy reduction and oxi-
dation with reduction at peak tem- Coleman Teadust Temmoku TEADUST Temmoku
perature. I also tested glazes with flux Cone 10 Cone 6
variations too numerous to mention, Talc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 %. % Whiting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.5 %. %
Whiting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Frit P-25 (Pemco). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.3
exploring mid-range fluxes like boron
Custer Feldspar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Alberta Slip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63.2
oxide, sodium oxide, lithium oxide, Ball Clay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 100.0 %
calcium oxide and zinc oxide [see side- Silica (Flint). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Add: Red Iron Oxide. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.0 %. %
bar on page 50]. Adding fluxes and 100 %
Add: Red Iron Oxide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 %. %
reducing alumina and silica affects the
response of coloring oxides in glazes,
so the trick was finding suitable colors
in properly melted glazes.

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 Results
The results were great for copper reds and iron glazes, as well as
greens, blacks, blues and carbon-trap shinos, which were very nice in
heavy reduction. The carbon trap shinos worked because they contain
soda ash, which melts very early, and with early reduction the carbon
is already “trapped” below the soda layer so the peak temperature is
not a factor. The only glaze type I could not achieve was traditional
shinos, as I had expected. And I only had limited success with oil
spots in the gas oxidation trials. This was also to be expected as iron
oxide only starts to self reduce at 2250°F (1232°C) and that is about
the peak temperature we reached. Soaking at cone 7 helped, but they
were not as spectacular as a cone 13 oil-spot firing. Nevertheless, we
did get spotting and some promising oil-spot recipes.
From all this testing, I came to the inescapable conclusion that Erik
and Luba were correct. Ninety percent of the mid-range glazes were
indistinguishable from their high-fire twins. This leads us to ask, why
don’t more potters fire to cone 6/7 in reduction?

Making the Switch

Eggy Vase, 15 in. (38 cm) in height, John’s Shino
with decoration using Amaco Velvet underglaze, gas
fired in reduction to cone 6, by Erik Haagensen.
There seem to be a few obstacles in getting potters to convert to the
idea of mid-range firing. First, there is the inertia of their current prac-
tice. Change is hard in spite of the obvious benefits, especially if you
have been doing the same thing for 20 years and it is working.
Also, there is an underlying belief, although it is completely incor-
rect, that cone 10 is superior to mid-range or low-fire, and chang-
ing this mind set is an educational challenge. I think that this comes
from the long historical European search to imitate Chinese high-fire
porcelain. The goal was always to achieve high fire, so it gained the
psychological high ground.
When you mention mid-range, potters immediately think, as I ini-
tially did, of mid-range electric oxidation. But this is not the only way

Note: Frits come in a wide range

Mid-Range lower in silica than other feldspars and of types. They are used by industry
as reliable and consistent sources of
melts around cone 6.), soda ash, wood

Fluxes ash, borax, frits and Gerstley borate or

Glazes contain alumina and silica, which
both melt at very high temperatures,
so getting them to melt at mid-range
temperatures requires different fluxes
than at high-fire temperatures:
Sodium Oxide (Na20) is a strong
alkaline flux and creates brightly colored
glazes. It has a melting point of 1652°F
(900°C) and a high expansion/contraction
rate, which will often cause crazing in
glazes. It is often found in association
with potassium oxide in feldspars.
Common mid-range sources include
sodium feldspars (nepheline syenite—
actually a feldspathoid—is the lowest
melting feldspar and so it is often used
at midrange. It is high in sodium and
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its substitutes.
Lithium Oxide (Li2O) is the lightest
weight, smallest particle size and most
powerful of the alkaline fluxes with a
strong color response similar to sodium
and potassium oxides. It has a melting
point of 1472°F (800°C) and has a low
expansion/contraction rate, which can
cause shivering in glazes. Sources include
lithium feldspars and lithium carbonate.
Zinc Oxide (ZnO) is an auxiliary
flux in oxidizing atmospheres. It has a
dramatic color response, both good and
bad, depending on the colorant. It can
heighten colors with copper and cobalt
oxides, but produces dull colors with
chrome oxide. It has a melting point
of 3587°F (1975°C), but if it is fired in
reduction it will change to the metal zinc
fluxing oxides in relatively insoluble
form. They are relatively low in
alumina and silica and are active
melters, but they can settle rapidly.
and volatilize at 1742°F (950°C). It has a
low expansion/contraction rate, so it can
help to reduce crazing. Sources include
zinc oxide and calcined zinc oxide.
Boron Oxide (B2O3) is a glass former
and a flux with a molecular structure
similar to alumina. It melts at 1292°F
(700°C) but begins melting at 572°F
(300°C). It has a low expansion/contraction
rate and produces good color response in
glazes, with characteristic bluish, milky
streaks and cloudy effects. Sources include
Gerstley borate (or its substitutes like
Gillespie Borate, Murray’s Borate, Laguna
Borate, etc.), borax and frits.
to fire mid-range. Mid-range reduction has
a completely different look, as does mid-
range oxidation soda firing or mid-range
reduction soda firing.
And finally, when you mention firing to
mid-range, potters immediately want to
change or convert their cone 10 glazes to
this lower temperature. This is perceived as
a significant challenge because it means that
they will have to learn a glaze calculation
software and unity molecular formulation.
Most just want recipes that work. They
know it will take time and effort to learn to
convert all these recipes and they just don’t
want to spend their time doing that.
I don’t recommend converting glazes
to the lower temperature, because when
you lower the firing temperature of a glaze
you are using different fluxing oxides that
have different color responses. So although
it is possible to convert your glaze to the
lower temperature, you will end up with
a different glaze anyway. It is better to use
the many tried and true mid-range glazes
already in use and test them in your cycle.
This is the same way potters find high-fire
glazes; they get glaze recipes from books or
from friends and then vary the colorants
and opacifiers.
Although change is hard, potters should
focus on the benefits of firing mid-range
reduction. First, as stated above, it saves
fuel, reduces your carbon footprint and
costs less. Second, it saves time. It may take
2–4 hours to get the extra temperature of
cone 10 and maybe longer depending on
the size of the kiln. So rather than firing for
10–12 hours you will be out in 8–10 hours.
Firing to mid-range also reduces the wear
and tear on your kiln, which means that it
lasts longer. Finally, and most importantly,
you get great results!
After all this testing, we discovered that
the methods used to test high-fire glaze
types also apply to mid-range types and, as
a result, we found some very nice glazes.
Erik, Luba and the potters of MudFire
Clayworks are proof of that. Hopefully,
this will help other potters get started firing
to mid-range reduction.
the author John Britt lives in Bakersville, North
Carolina, and is the author of the book The Com-
plete Guide to High-Fire Glaze: Glazing & Firing
at Cone 10. For more information and to see John’s
work, go to www.johnbrittpottery.com.
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recipes
John’s Shino
(Cone 5–6)
Gerstley Borate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.9 %. %
Soda Ash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.9
Nepheline Syenite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54.5
Spodumene. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.8
OM 4 Ball Clay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.9
100.0 %
Malcolm Davis Shino
(Cone 10)
Soda Ash. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 %. %
Kona F-4 Feldspar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Nepheline Syenite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Cedar Heights Redart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
EPK Kaolin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
OM 4 Ball Clay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
100 %
Cherry Blossom Shino
(Cone 6)
Soda Ash. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 %. %
Nepheline Syenite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Spodumene. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
EPK Kaolin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
100 %
Raw Sienna
(Cone 6)
Wollastonite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 %. %
Frit 3195 (Ferro). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Nepheline Syenite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
EPK Kaolin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Silica (Flint). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
100 %
Add: Red Iron Oxide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 %. % 100.00 %
Rutile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 %. %
Tumblers, 7 in. (18 cm) in height, stoneware with Gold Temmoku liner
and Raw Sienna exterior glaze, gas fired in reduction to cone 6, by
Erik Haagensen.
Mint Julep
(Cone 6)
Gerstley Borate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.9 %. %
Magnesium Carbonate. . . . . . . . . . . 2.9
Whiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.4
Frit 3124 (Ferro). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.8
Nepheline Syenite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.7
EPK Kaolin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.3
Silica (Flint). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.0
100.0 %
Add: Red Iron Oxide. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0 %. %
Woo Yellow
(Cone 6)
Dolomite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.41 %. %
Strontium Carbonate. . . . . . . . . . . 23.90
Nepheline Syenite . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.50
Kaolin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.04
Silica (Flint). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.04
100.0 %
Add: Zircopax. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.23 %. %
Bentonite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.76 %. %
Epsom Salt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.19 %. %
Red Iron Oxide . . . . . . . . . . . 3.57 %. %
TEMMOKU GOLD
(Cone 6)
Cornish Stone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67.41 %. %
Dolomite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.86
Gerstley Borate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.37
Lithium Carbonate. . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.17
Whiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.98
Silica (Flint). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.17
Add: Red Iron Oxide. . . . . . . . . . . 11.24 %. %
 Cone 6 Crystals:
Developing Crystals at Mid Range
Four vessels, to
8 inches in height,
thrown B-Mix clay.
Glazes are as follows.
Left to right: Fa’s
Cone 6 Base (Revised)
glaze with 3%
manganese dioxide
and .5% cobalt
carbonate; MFE (Dan
Turnidge Revised)
glaze with 3%
manganese dioxide
and 1% cobalt
carbonate; Fa’s Cone
6 Base glaze revised
with 3% manganese
dioxide and .5%
cobalt carbonate; and
MFE (Dan Turnidge
Revised) glaze with
3% manganese
dioxide and 1%
cobalt carbonate.
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by William Schran
M
y fascination with
macrocrystalline
glazes began as a
graduate student.
While visiting a local exhibition
of an individual’s collection, I dis-
covered two small porcelain bottles
by Herbert Sanders. The glazes ap-
peared to have blue colored snow-
flakes frozen on a transparent sky
of orange. From that initial en-
counter, macrocrystalline glazing
has become a process that I’ve re-
visited many times over the years.
Sanders had published Glazes
for Special Effects in 1974, which
contained recipes for crystalline
glazes. In 1976, I began experi-
menting with several recipes listed
in the book, but since it was dif-
ficult to fire our electric kilns to
the required cone 9–10 tempera-
ture range, I had little success. An
article by David Snair in Ceramics
Monthly provided additional glaze
recipes and techniques for prepar-
ing the pots for firing. Though
all the recipes were for cone 9, a
comment in the article stated that
firing to cone 6 would also pro-
duce crystals. I had some limited
success with these glazes, but that
comment stuck in my head.
Fast forward to 1994. Discus-
sions of glazes with a group of my
students lead to a question about
crystalline glazes. This one ques-
tion resulted in a semester-long
series of glaze tests that resulted in
few successes. It was the problem I
had encountered years before, our
electric kilns only reached cone
9–10 with much difficulty. The
lack of success producing crystals
by my students only strengthened
my resolve to find a solution. It
was then, that I recalled the Snair
article and the comment about
cone 6.
With additional information
gathered through internet searches
and interlibrary loans, I discovered
some artists experimenting with
crystalline glazes at lower tem-
peratures. Since we conducted our
glaze firings to cone 6 at school,
I decided to target this tempera-
ture for my testing. My initial
 experiments involved firing cone
10 glaze recipes only to cone 6.
These tests resulted in the discov-
ery that crystalline glazes could be
produced in this lower tempera-
ture range by simply introducing
additional fluxes. The flux that
seemed to produce the best results
was lithium carbonate. Other
materials that would function as a
powerful flux were either soluble
or contained additional silica and
alumina, which are not desirable
in crystalline glazes.
All of my experiments with
crystalline glaze firings, up until
fall 2006, have been done in a
manually operated electric kiln.
The kiln has infinite controls, so
with careful monitoring, I was
able to control the firing sched-
ule fairly accurately. A digital
pyrometer is an essential tool to
closely track temperature changes,
especially during long holding
cycles. Acquisition of my first kiln
with a programmable controller
has allowed for more complicated,
repeatable firing schedules. The
ability to be able to alter tempera-
ture ramp speeds and specific tem-
perature hold times has opened up
new avenues of experimentation.
I have also found that, for both
types of kilns, a direct vent system
is important for rapid cooling
cycles and maintaining an oxidiz-
ing atmosphere.
Crystalline
Technique
I’ve developed techniques through
years of experimentation, adopting
processes that worked, eliminating
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those that produced only limited
success. Web searches and recent
publications provide a variety of
approaches to this very involved
process, and each individual needs
to conduct tests to find the process
that makes the most sense for his
or her particular circumstances.
Crystalline glazes produce the
best results when applied to a
smooth white clay body. Many
artisans work with a porcelain
clay body. Porcelain comes with its
own set of issues and I have found
a cone 10 porcelaneous stoneware
clay—B-Mix or Bee-Mix—that
works very well with my glazes.
I chose to use a cone 10 clay to
reduce the amount of alumina that
might be picked up by the glaze.
A normal glaze has a mix of
silica/flux/alumina in a ratio that
provides a glassy surface and
remains in place when melted on
a vertical surface. A crystalline
glaze contains little or no alu-
mina, which would inhibit crystal
growth. The glaze is comprised of
silica, flux and a saturation of zinc
oxide. This highly fluxed mix of
materials leads to a very fluid glaze
and steps must be taken to avoid
destroying kiln shelves or the kiln.
Catch Basins
and Pedestals
Every pot must have its own catch
plate/basin to contain the glaze
that runs off the pot. The catch
plate need not be made from the
same clay as the pot. The plate can
be wheel thrown or hand built.
Each pot must also have some type
of pedestal device to facilitate re
 1 2

Crystalline glazes run off the pot so you need to raise
the piece on a pedestal that sits in a catch basin. It’s
important to select a pedestal that closely matches the
diameter of the foot. Preparing several sizes allows
you to select one with the correct fit.
Apply three to four coats of glaze to achieve the
desired thickness, brushing each layer in a different
direction to ensure that brush strokes aren’t visible
and you have an even coating.

3 4

Pieces ready to load in the kiln. Each After the firing, the fluid glaze will
glazed pot is positioned on a pedes- have run down over the pedestal and
tal that is placed in a catch basin. into the catch basin.

moval of the pot after firing. Some
potters use insulating firebrick
to create the pedestal. The brick
must be at least a 2600K-type and
coated with kiln wash. Another
technique involves throwing the
pedestal from the same clay body
as the pot. After bisque firing, the
pedestal is attached to the pot with
a mix of white glue, which holds
the pedestal in place before firing,
and kaolin, which acts as a sepa-
rating agent after firing. Striking
with a sharp chisel or heating with
a small torch just below the joint
with the pot removes the pedestal.
After encountering a number of
problems with each of these

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5 ¾-inch thick “biscuits” cut to the
The pedestal and catch basin are re-
moved by tapping with a small chisel
along the line where the pedestal
joins the pot.
6 7
Excess pedestal material and glaze
are ground off the bottom using a
bench grinder fitted with a silicon
carbide grinding wheel.
methods, such as pots falling over
or broken foot rings, I sought
another solution. Ellie Blair, a
fellow crystalline artist, provided
this process to me—the pedestals
are a mix of equal parts by vol-
ume: alumina, kaolin and sawdust.
Add just enough water to bind the
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materials and form the mix into
foot diameter of the bisque fired
WARNING
pot using round cookie cutters. Proper eye and respira-
I’ve found this material to stand tory protection must be
up well to the melting glaze and worn during this pro-
soft enough to be easily knocked cess. Do all grinding
off with a chisel. Any remaining outside the studio, if
pedestal is easily ground away possible.
from the pot.
Glaze Application
Crystalline glazes may be applied
like most other glaze, but since
I don’t have spray equipment or
room in my studio to store large
I use a portable flat lap machine
fitted with diamond grinding and
smoothing disks to even out and
smooth the bottom of the foot with
100 and 260 grit disks. Since water is
used in this process, I do this in the
studio, but still wear eye protection.
Self-adhesive diamond disks or silicon
carbide disks can be attached to plas-
tic bats and the potters wheel used
to grind and smooth the bottoms.
 buckets of glaze, I apply crystal-
line glazes by brush. Most of the
time I mix a few hundred grams at
a time, which is sufficient to glaze
two or three small pots. Since the
crystalline glaze contains no added
clay to keep the glaze in suspen-
sion, you don’t want to add just
water to wet the glaze. To wet the
glaze, I use a CMC gum solution
by adding about two heaping
tablespoons of CMC powder to
one quart of hot water. I let the
powder soak into the water for at
least 24 hours. The soaked gum
is then stirred, resulting in a thin
honey consistency. I add this to the
dry glaze, stir and pass through
40 mesh, then 80 mesh sieves.
The wetted glaze should have the
consistency of thick honey.
Apply the glaze fairly thick. I ap-
ply one coat by brush horizontally
around the pot. When that dries,
I apply a second coat vertically,
then a third coat in a diagonal di-
rection to the upper ²/³ of the pot.
Sometimes I’ll apply a fourth coat
to the top.
On the interior of vase/bottle
forms and on the exterior of
bowls, I use a cone 6 stoneware
glaze. I selected a glaze that fits my
clay body to create a watertight
seal. With a crystalline glaze on
just the interiors of bowls, I don’t
have to be concerned with pedes-
tals or catch plates.
Firing
Pots, with their pedestals and
catch plates, are loosely loaded in
the kiln. In my 4 cubic-foot-kiln,
I will have at the most a dozen
pots. Avoid using too much kiln
furniture. It takes more energy and
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time to heat and cool kiln furni-
ture than it does the pots. Always
use witness cones in every firing.
Even if you fire with a program-
mable kiln and don’t look at the
cones during the firing, they will
be the best record of the firing.
Keep meticulous notes of every
firing. Keep a logbook of your fir-
ings and cross-reference each glaze
to its firing. Fara Shimbo and Jon
Singer gave the best advice dur-
ing a presentation at the Lattice
Structures Crystalline Glaze Sym-
posium in fall 2005: When you’re
testing, change only one thing at a
time. If you alter the glaze in any
way, change only one amount or
material at a time. Do not change
anything else. If you alter the firing
schedule, do not change the glaze
until you see what change the fir-
ing has made.
Should the pot come out of the
firing with few or no crystals, take
heart and give it another chance.
If the glaze has not filled the catch
plate, simply apply another coat of
the same glaze or a different glaze
and fire it again. Should the catch
plate be filled with glaze, it will
be necessary to remove the pot
from the pedestal, grind the foot
even and create another pedestal
and catch plate. I have refired
some pots up to five times before
I achieved results that were to my
satisfaction.
Cleanup
After the firing, knock the pedestal
loose with a small chisel or screw-
driver. Strike the pedestal material,
not the joint between the pots and
pedestal. I use a bench grinder
 fitted with a silicon carbide grind-
ing wheel to remove any remain-
ing pedestal material and glaze.
I do all of my grinding outside
and I always wear proper eye and
respiratory protection. After coarse
grinding, I use a portable flat lap
fitted with diamond disks to even
out and smooth the foot. Silicon
carbide disks and diamond disks
with self adhesive backing can be
attached to plastic bats and used on
the wheel to grind and smooth pot
bottoms. Squirting or spraying with
water while grinding will help keep
down the dust.

Firing Schedule
Use one of the following firing
schedules for cone 6 crystalline
glazes. You will need to experi-
ment to determine the best firing
schedule for your kiln. The abil-
ity of the kiln to respond to rapid
heating and cooling ramps is a
critical factor in successful crystal-
line glazes. Kilns should be loaded
loose, using as little kiln furniture Bottle, 7 inches in height, thrown B-Mix clay,
with Fa’s #5 (Revised) glaze with additions of 4%
as possible. Older, well-used ele-
manganese dioxide and 1% cobalt carbonate.
ments may not be able to keep up
with programmed demands of the
kiln. I’ve found heavy duty ele-
ments begin to be unable to keep
up with the programmed firing
schedule after about forty crystal-
line firings.

For Manual Kilns with Infinite Control

n Low – ½ hour n Turn on kiln to a medium setting
n Medium – ½ hour and monitor closely.
n Try to maintain the holding
n High – cone 6 over
temperature for 3–4 hours.
n Turn off kiln, cool to holding

temperature (1850°F–1880°F)

Each section of the kiln may need to have a different setting to maintain a constant
temperature. For my kiln, a setting of #3 on the top and middle section, and “M” setting
on the bottom section provided a fairly consistent reading.

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 For Programmable Kilns
Note: My kiln uses an “S” type platinum thermocouple with the thermocouple offset
turned off. Each kiln may indicate a different temperature when cone 6 bends over. Use
witness cones and closely monitor them until the correct peak temperature is determined.

n Increase temperature n Hold at 2210ºF for 10 minutes

350°F per hour to 700°F n Cool down 750°F per hour to
n Increase temperature 2000°F, hold for 1 hour
750°F per hour to 2000°F n Cool down 750°F per hour to
n Increase temperature 1900°F, hold for 3 hours
150°F per hour to 2210°F n Kiln off, vent off, total firing
(this puts cone 6 over, 9–9½ hours
cone 7 at 1 o’clock position)

Higher holding temperatures results in fewer but larger crystals with more ground (areas
without crystals) exposed.

Crystalline
Base Glazes
MFE Fa’s #5 (Revised)
(Dan Turnidge Revised) Cone 6
Cone 6 Zinc Oxide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.0 %. %
Talc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.0
Ferro Frit 3110. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.0 %. %
Ferro Frit 3110. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.0
Silica (325 mesh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.5.
Spodumene. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.0
Zinc Oxide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.5.
Silica (325 mesh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.0
95.0 %
100.0 %
Add: . . . . . . . . Lithium Carbonate 1–5.0 %. %
Add: Titanium Dioxide. . . . . . . . . . . . 2.0 %. %

Fa’s Base (Revised)

Colorants
Cone 6 Add the following colorants individually or in
Zinc Oxide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.0 %. % combination:
Dolomite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.0
Cobalt Carbonate . . . . . . . . . . . 0.25–3.0 %
Ferro Frit 3110. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51.0
Copper Carbonate. . . . . . . . . . . . 0.5–6.0 %. %
Silica (325 mesh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.0
Manganese Dioxide . . . . . . . . . . . 0.5–3.0 %. %
100.0 %
Iron Oxide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.5–3.0 %. %
Add: Lithium Carbonate. . . . . . . . . 2–4.0 %. % Rutile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.5–3.0 %. %
Nickel Oxide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.25–3.0 %

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 Traditional Cone 10
Glazes Make the
Leap to Cone 6
by Rick Malmgren

Undulating Rim Platter, 16 inches in diameter, wheel-

thrown and altered white stoneware, with Blue-Green/
Copper Red Glaze sprayed over scrap glaze, fired to Cone 6
in reduction.

I
have become a strong advocate of Cone 6 reduction
firing in recent years. My reasons are as follows:
• Lovely traditional glazes look as good as or better
fired at Cone 6 than they do at Cone 10. Copper reds,
Shinos, temmokus and dolomite matts are virtually
indistinguishable from their Cone 10 brethren. Some
Cone 10 glaze recipes don’t even need to be adjusted—
a few look just great at Cone 6.
• Fuel savings amount to about 30% over a Cone 10
firing. Granted, that isn’t much per firing (only the cost
of two coffee mugs per kiln load, as Pete Pinnell once
said), but if you are burning $2000 worth of propane
per year, as I was a few years ago, it amounts to a nice
$600 bonus at the end of the year.
• The savings in fuel costs is nothing, compared with
the savings of time and energy. Being able to fire off
a full kiln load in 7½ hours instead of the 10½ that it
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used to take me is where the real savings comes in. At
Cone 6, I can fire during the day and teach at night,
on a more normal work schedule.
• Though I’ve fired my kiln more than 700 times, each
firing takes its toll. The hotter it is fired, the harder it
is on the arch, the walls and the shelves. There is that
much more expansion and that much more contrac-
tion, and that much more slumping. Cutting the tem-
perature saves all the way around.
• Mountains of research have already been done for
Cone 6 oxidation, resulting in thousands of recipes.
Oxidation potters have had to work hard with for-
mulation to bring vitality to their glazes; they can’t
depend on the atmosphere to do the work for them.
Many of those same recipes fired in a reduction kiln
are simply dazzling.
The following are my favorite recipes.
 Blue-Green/Copper
Red Glaze
Cone 6, oxidation or reduction
Talc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.30 %. %
Whiting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.29
Frit 3134 (Ferro). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.33
Kona F-4 Feldspar . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46.16
Edgar Plastic Kaolin . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.40
Flint. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.52
100.00 %
Add: Tin Oxide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.24 %. %
Zinc Oxide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.37 %. %
Black Copper Oxide. . . . . . . . 1.07 %. %
A lovely celadon blue-green in oxidation.
In reduction, bright red; the color tends to
burn off when near a heat source. Covering
with clear glaze helps reduce burning out
of the red.
Shino Glaze
Cone 6, reduction
Soda Ash. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Spodumene. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Nepheline Syenite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Edgar Plastic Kaolin . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
100 %
Apply very thinly to give an almost salt-
glazed look in reduction. Tends to be a bit
bland in oxidation, but an addition of 4%
rutile seems to warm it up a bit.
Temmoku Glaze
Cone 6, reduction
Whiting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Custer Feldspar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Kentucky Ball Clay (OM 4) . . . . . . . . .
Flint. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
100 %
Add: Red Iron Oxide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 %. %
A Cone 10 recipe that works equally well at
Cone 6; yields yellow “tea dust” crystals in
reduction. Not as interesting in oxidation;
just lies there and looks brown.
Straw Glaze
Cone 6, oxidation or reduction
Dolomite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.1 %. %
Lithium Carbonate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3
Whiting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.9
Frit 3134 (Ferro). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.5
Edgar Plastic Kaolin . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.2
Flint. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.0
100.0 %
Add: Copper Carbonate. . . . . . . . . . 2.5 %. %
Red Iron Oxide. . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.0 %. %
A mossy green glaze (in oxidation or reduc-
tion) with matt crystals suspended within
glassy fields. Very promising when tested
with other colorants, including white (add-
ing no colorants) and blue (adding 1.5%
cobalt carbonate).
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SDSU Texture/Crawl Glaze
Cone 6, oxidation or reduction
Magnesium Carbonate. . . . . . . . . . . . 25 %. %
Nepheline Syenite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Kentucky Ball Clay (OM 4) . . . . . . . . . 5
100 %
Richard Burkett posted this glaze on Clayart
several years ago. It is very sensitive to
thickness. Use by itself or over a contrasting
glaze. Colorants can be added.
Marilee’s Lava Glaze
Cone 6, oxidation or reduction
Whiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.91 %. %
Custer Feldspar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49.73
Edgar Plastic Kaolin . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.18
Flint. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.18
100.00 %
Add: Titanium Dioxide. . . . . . . . . . 11.29 %. %
Silicon Carbide. . . . . . . . . . . 0.34 %. %
A very rough glaze; not intended for food
10 %. %
surfaces. Fine silicon carbide seems to work
40 best. For a gray-to-black variation, add 7%
40 Mason stain 6600.
10
SJC Turquoise/Red Glaze
Cone 6, oxidation or reduction
Gerstley Borate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1 %. %
Whiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8
Custer Feldspar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34.9
Frit P-25 (Pemco) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.3
Kentucky Ball Clay (OM 4) . . . . . . . . 3.6
Flint. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.3
20 %. %
35
Add: Copper Carbonate. . . . . . . . . . 3.0 %. %
15
A glassy green in oxidation; in reduction,
30 a bright red. Good when used to overlap
other glazes. When sprayed over Annette’s
Florida Tan, it gives a highly speckled look,
particularly where it is thin. The two base
glazes can be colored with different color-
ing oxides and still give the same speckled
look when they overlap.
Annette’s Florida Tan Glaze
Cone 6, oxidation or reduction
Dolomite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.58 %. %
Gerstley Borate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.05
Soda Ash. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.11
Talc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.05
Custer Feldspar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41.01
Edgar Plastic Kaolin . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.58
Flint. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.62
100.00 %
Add: Zircopax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.65 %. %
Red Iron Oxide. . . . . . . . . . . . 1.97 %. %
Rutile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.48 %. %
Best as a background for other glazes, such
as SJC Turquoise/Red. Yields similar results
in oxidation or reduction.
Turquoise Glaze
Cone 6, oxidation or reduction
Talc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.7 %. %
Whiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.1
Custer Feldspar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.9
Frit 3134 (Ferro). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.4
Edgar Plastic Kaolin . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.1
Flint. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.8
100.0 %
Add: Cobalt Oxide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.5 %. %
Chrome Oxide . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.5 %. %
A lovely magnesium matt glaze that works
well in oxidation or reduction; the base
glaze also works well with other colorants.
Bronze Green Matt Glaze
Cone 6, oxidation or reduction
Whiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.20 %. %
Custer Feldspar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54.90
Edgar Plastic Kaolin . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.30
Flint. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.60
100.00 %
Add: Zinc Oxide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.90 %. %
Cobalt Oxide. . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.44 %. %
Copper Carbonate. . . . . . . . . 2.97 %. %
Rutile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.94 %. %
Rust Red Glaze
Cone 6, reduction
Bone Ash. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.0 %. %
Talc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.0
Whiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.0
Custer Feldspar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.0
100.0 % Frit 3110 (Ferro). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.0
Edgar Plastic Kaolin . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.0
100.0 %
Add: Tin Oxide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.0 %. %
Black Iron Oxide. . . . . . . . . . . . 5.0 %. %
A Cone 6 version of Shaner’s Red; it is very
sensitive to application thickness, reduction
and clay body. The best reds seem to come
from relatively thin applications on high-iron
clays, with a moderate reduction from Cone
010 to the end of the firing.
Angle Cut-Rim
Vase, 11 inches
in height, with
SJC Turquoise
sprayed over
Annette’s Florida
Tan Glaze,
$90, by Rick
Malmgren, Lo-
thian, Maryland.