Understanding Ceramics

[Theo Pontbriand]

By definition, ceramics is the creation of functional and/or beautiful forms through the manipulation of clay minerals, which are set into rigid form with the application of various heating processes. Most people on the planet are familiar with clay in one form or another, but before beginning to work with clay, it helps to have a basic understanding of its properties, the types of clay available, and basic forming techniques.

Clay Bodies are blends of clay minerals and elements that produce specific results when manipulated and treated in various ways. These custom blends of clay minerals are the modern clay bodies and can be tailored to produce a wide range of colors, textures, strength and temperature ranges.

While there are thousands of clay bodies available for purchase, the 3 basic types are porcelain, stoneware and earthenware. The maturity temperature, workability, and color of these 3 categories can vary based on what is added. Before we look at specific clay bodies, it would be helpful to talk about the properties that define them.

The type of forming process that you are starting will help determine the type of clay you need and the type and temperature range of firings you will be doing. There are a several basic types of clay forming techniques, but they can be combined and blended to suite your needs.

This sounds intimidating, but consider the fact that safety is one of the larger points considered when a kiln is designed. Skutt Kilns are rigorously tested and many are UL certified to help make you feel as comfortable using them as the oven in your kitchen.

What Exactly is Glaze?

Ceramic glaze is basically glass melted onto a ceramic object. Because glaze needs to adhere to an often-vertical surface while not running off the piece, its component parts are ground into powder and mixed with water and binders so that it can be applied to ceramic pieces. Typical application methods include brushing, dipping, pouring, trailing, and spraying.

The Basics of Glaze

While applying glaze to a ceramic piece is not absolutely necessary, it can enhance the fired clay piece both on an aesthetic and functional level.

Many clay bodies are not vitreous without being glazed. Glazes, by their nature, are vitreous. When glaze is fired onto a piece it seals the clay making it stain resistant and depending on the glaze, food safe.

One general tip that can speed the process up is to presort your items by height and shape prior to loading. Group items onto tables or if you have drying racks of various heights, group like items on the same shelf when you dry them. Kiln posts of various sizes placed on the staging tables or on the drying racks will help visually identify items by loading height.

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General trends in synthetic bone grafting materials are shifting towards approaches that can illicit osteoinductive properties. Pharmacologics and biologics have been used in combination with calcium phosphate (CaP) ceramics, however, they have recently become the target of scrutiny over safety. The importance of trace elements in natural bone health is well documented. Ions, for example, lithium, zinc, magnesium, manganese, silicon, strontium, etc., have been shown to increase osteogenesis and neovascularization. Incorporation of dopants (trace metal ions) into CaPs can provide a platform for safe and efficient delivery in clinical applications where increased bone healing is favorable. This review highlights the use of trace elements in CaP biomaterials, and offers an insight into the mechanisms of how metal ions can enhance both osteogenesis and angiogenesis.

Dental composite and ceramic restorative materials are designed to closely mimic the aesthetics and function of natural tooth tissue, and their longevity in the oral environment depends to a large degree on their fatigue and wear properties. The purpose of this review is to highlight some recent advances in our understanding of fatigue and wear mechanisms, and how they contribute to restoration failures in the complex oral environment. Overall, fatigue and wear processes are found to be closely related, with wear of dental ceramic occlusal surfaces providing initiation sites for fatigue failures, and subsurface fatigue crack propagation driving key wear mechanisms for composites, ceramics, and enamel. Furthermore, both fatigue and wear of composite restorations may be important in enabling secondary caries formation, which is the leading cause of composite restoration failures. Overall, developing a mechanistic description of fatigue, wear, and secondary caries formation, along with understanding the interconnectivity of all three processes, are together seen as essential keys to successfully using in vitro studies to predict in vivo outcomes and develop improved dental restorative materials.

One reason stereotypes are so dangerous is that they create expectations. Murray describes how early-childhood experiences affected him. As a second grader, he was blamed for something that he did not do. As the only black student in the classroom he was assumed to be guilty. He was never expected to go to college, let alone earn a graduate degree. Society at large, some of his teachers, and occasionally even family members had low expectations. Part of him turned off in response, and little experiences grew exponentially to the point where he could easily have been one of the people who fell through the cracks. Murray describes how seeking understanding is better than imposing beliefs or setting expectations based on stereotypes.

I am driven by a sense of crisis that in the world of ceramics and contemporary art scenes around the world, there is an apparent, rampant imitation of my work going on and that they are seemingly very well-received. I feel strong discomfort with this phenomenon and the urge to do something about it.

Takuro Kuwata, from Japan, is well known for creating left of field tea bowls. He offers a nod to history with a traditional shape, then completely pushes the bowls to their limits. Hardcore colours and/or metallics? Check. Glazes that look like they came from the future with oversized blobs and cracks? Check. Experimentation with form? Check.

When I was researching this article, two names kept coming up: Nick Weddell (@nicks_ceramics) and Brian Rochefort (@energygloop). Both are featured in the upcoming book Special Effects Glazes by Linda Bloomfield. Nick weighs in:

Takuro Kuwata is a teacher to me; someone who, upon reaching the end of their path, did not stop moving but lay down bricks to further their way and allow others to cover more ground before having to forge their own. I feel nothing but respect and admiration for his example and I will not deny his influence on my work. However, I earnestly feel that my work is not a copy of his.

As a ceramic artist who has worked in clay for more than 20 years, I explore how my sculpture forms dialogues, generating an atmosphere of congruence and conflict that enhances the unique persona of each piece ... I treat the often-overlooked detail of bone, cloud, crystal and microscopic structures as a starting point to develop pieces which possess a curious ambiguity.

When I brought up copying with Philippa Taylor, a Melbourne-based ceramicist whose work has been copied, her response was to focus

on her own work. Her way of dealing with copiers? She makes more technically difficult and nuanced work that is going to be harder to copy.

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Do you remember high school, sitting in art class, being instructed on how to make your mother an ashtray out of clay (those were different times) and realizing that you were completely hopeless when it came to ceramics? I sure do, and my lumpy, heart-ish shaped ashtray finally found its way into the garbage years later when we were going through old boxes. Shudder . . .

Basically, a ceramic is a compound material that cannot be defined as a metal even though it has some metal components in it. The rest of the mixture comprises complimentary non-metallic materials that, when combined, form a distinct class of materials with properties different from others.

A ceramic tends to be strong and stiff, rigid really. And with this rigidity comes brittleness. This is a very different story than metals. Imagine, if you will, that you have a bunch of rubber bands all tied together into a ball. The ball feels firm but can bounce because the rubber deforms.

The bonds (and in the larger sense, the crystals) of ceramics are locked in position very strongly, thanks to a combination of ionic and covalent bonds (seriously, just know they are pretty strong and stable) and the shape and distribution of the crystals. These strong bonds have very little ability to shift under force, so huge amounts of pressure can be applied and the material will hold strong.

This is due to the fact that the inherent strength of the bonds and the formation of the crystals create a direction to the material on a micro level. The grain (as the micro-crystals are referred to) has a shape resembling overlapping stones in a stone wall. The grain is stacked and packed tightly together with somewhat random orientation.

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