Discussion
So... I've run into a really interesting brick wall within the #glaze community.
I asked if anyone knew if there was a table that charted the ratio of boron to silica and alumina necessary to melt it at a given temperature.
Oh, they said, it so much depends on what glaze you're talking about. Oh, you don't understand. Oh, buy some Ferro Frits and shut up. Oh, why aren't you firing at cone 10 anyway? You're not a real ceramicist if you don't.
But did I get an answer?
No. No I did not. 1/
This table of amounts, temperatures and melt-points must exist, because we've had borosilicate glass for over 100 fucking years. There must be a formula, a table, because a shit ton of industrial ceramics simply wouldn't have existed without it.
The fact that so many people would rather indulge in the mystics of glaze than actually having a base grasp of the chemistry is so interesting.
@Remittancegirl I don't know what's you stance on L L M but I have asked three of them and their answer was "no" and "it's complicated" and "ternary phase diagrams". Usually they try to give a "yes", so since they didn't, I assume it really is not so simple as you assume.
@hananc So, it turns out it's pretty straight forward.
@hananc I don't assume it's simple at all.
I assume somewhere there is a table which states how many grams of boron is needed to melt 100 gms of silica at 1030C. That information absolutely has to exist. There wouldn't be a glass or ceramics industry without it.
Maybe its just closely held proprietary knowledge.
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I got a shit-ton of man-splaining. I got a shit-ton of US-Centricism. I got a shit-ton of privilege and derision for working with earthenware. Which, I have to tell you, subtly hides a lot of prejudice because earthenware is THE pottery medium of developing countries.
But I didn't get an answer to what is a very straightforward question of chemistry.
And that says a lot. #pottery #ceramics #glaze