terminology Flashcards
Review terms of Ceramics class for mastery
ADOBE
a surface clay used to make sun-dried bricks. Adove is not fired.
A naturally occurring iron-bearing clay that is used as a slip glaze or in glazes.
ALBANY SLIP
ALUMINA
Aluminum oxide, 15 percent of the earth’s surface. When combined with silica and chemical water, it forms clay.
a metallic element used as a flux in low-fire glazes. Also poisonous.
ANTIMONY
BALL CLAY
A very plastic clay that is usually white or light in color. It is used in many clay bodies and high-temp glazes.
A portable turntable used to rotate pottery while it is being worked on.
BANDING WHEEL
BASIC FORMULA
The baseic makeup of all clay: alumina, silica, water with various amounts of impurities
A slab of some material, often plaster or wood and usually round in shape, upon which pottery is formed or constructed.
BAT or BATT
BENTONITE
A slab of some material, often plaster or wood and usually round in shape, upon which pottery is formed or constructed.
a first fire in which the water molecules of the basic formula are burned off and the clay is left hard but porous. Usual temp. is about 1800 deg.
BISQUE FIRE
BISQUE WARE
Pottery or ware that has been bisque fired.
Condition of unfired ware or pottery that looks and feels completely dry.
BONE DRY
CERAMIC ENGINEER
industrial engineer who compounds clay bodies for single and esoterically uses.
CERAMICS
Making products from a non-metallic mineral by firing at a high temp.
The two water molecules of the basic formula. Not wet as most of us think of as wet.
CHEMICAL WATER
CHINA, CHINAWARE
a general term applied to white dinnerware that imitates porcelain but usually fired at a lower temp. Than porcelain.
The brilliance or intensity of a color, such as bright red or dull green.
CHROMA
CLAY
A hydrous silicate of alumina that may be found in in many forms, usable or not depending on the level of impurities.
CLAY BODY
A mixture of various clays and other earthy materials combined to meet specific needs of the pottrt
CRAWLING
Glaze separating from the pot and crawling down the side leaving a bare clay surface.
Glaze shrinking more than the clay during firing, leaving small cracks in the surface of the glaze.
CRAZING
DAMPERING
Changing the size of the flue opening, which alters the flow of oxygen.
DAMP ROOM, CLOSET OR BOX
A room etc. That is fairly airtight and capable of maintaing a higher humidity. Such as for greenware.
Burning off of the chemical water from clay; begins at 660 deg. and completes at 950 deg.
DEHYDRATION
DRY FOOT
To clean the glaze (before firing) from the botton, or foot, of a pot to prevent it from sticking to the kiln shelf.
Cracking of pottery due to stress; it can be caused by glaze defects, poor construction, improper firing and cooling, or a number of other factors.
DUNTING
EARTHENWARE
one of the three general groups of clay. a low-fire (cone 8-1) clay, pours and soft after firing. examples are red flower pot and red bricks, floor tiles.
A colored clay body used to make beads and other types of jewelry.
EGYPTIAN PASTE
ENGOBE
generally, a light colored clay body that has been colored with metallic oxides. It is applied to ware that is wet to give the ware a thin coating of color.
A granite-type rock that makes up almost half of the earth’s crust. These are silicates of alumina. There are two main types: potash and soda lime. each is used in glazes.
FELDSPAR
FETTLING
Trimming away excess or unwanted clay. A special knife is a tool commonly used by potters.
A refractory (high temp) clay most often used to make firebricks.
FIRE CLAY
FIRING
Heating a clay object in a kiln to a specified temperature.
The entire process of firing ware. The steps are water smoking, dehydration, the quartz inversion, oxidation, vitrification, and cooling.
FIRING CYCLE
FLINT
see silica’ one of the 3 silicas
An opening in a kiln to allow hot air to escape.
FLUE
FLUX
A material that aids or helps cause melting.
The bottom of the pot.
FOOT
GEOLOGIC WEATHERING
The action of natural forces like wind, water, and ice that causes mountains to crumble and disintergrate into rocks, sand, dirt, and finally clay.
A thin layer of glass that is melted onto a pot for decorative or utilitarian purposes.
GLAZE
GLAZE FIRE
A second fire in which the quartz inversion takes place and the glazed ware is vitrified.
A shiny, highly reflective glaze.
GLOSSY GLAZE
GREENWARE
Pottery or other ware that has not been fired. Can be wet, leather hard, or bone dry.