How I Glaze Mugs
Channel: Old Forge Creations
Date: 2020-03-01

I dip and pour my glazes, so these instructions would be slightly different if you're using commercial brush-on glazes.

Firstly, I wax resist the bottom of the mug. I usually leave a centimetre or so of unglazed clay at the bottom of the piece, which acts as a buffer for my runnier glazes and allows small drips to form without ruining the piece, so I start by waxing the area that will remain unglazed.

I use a car dent puller (Gunson 77091 - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gunson-77091-Mini-Dent-Puller/dp/B004U9JSUU) to hold the mug with suction, so I also need to wax resist the bottom of the mug to allow the puller to get a good grip. I water down my wax a lot to get a smoother coat.

Next, I lightly wipe the mug with a slightly damp sponge to make sure there's no dust on the surface. Then I check the handle and rim for any sharp points. They can be sanded back easily at this point, but will ruin a piece if they're glazed and can be felt through it.

The mug is now ready to dip. I make sure the dent puller has a little water on the surface to help it get a good grip, position it on the mug where it can create a seal (as it, not halfway over my logo stamp), and check that it's well stuck before dipping the piece in the glaze.

The actual dipping time and technique will vary from glaze to glaze, so I won't go into it much. You'll have to figure out what glaze thickness and dipping time works best for you.

Once the outer glaze is dry enough to touch, the inside can be glazed. This is how I apply contracting colours with no overlap on the outside, the trick is to get a feel for just how much to pour into the inside to get a good coat. I pour it into the piece, swirl it around to coat the lower half, then roll the remainder around to get up to the rim. If you've poured too much in you can remove some with a good mop brush or a syringe, and if you haven't added enough then you can pour more in as you go, but you'll get a more even application if you can get it right first time.

I then leave the pieces overnight to dry before loading them into the kiln. You can put pieces straight into the kiln but if there's still water in the clay when the kiln starts to get much above boiling point then it can start to have negative effects on the glazes. At the very least I'd suggest holding the kiln at around 100c for a time before going any hotter, I do it for an hour on every firing as a precaution anyway.

These pieces are using a dark clay called Anthracite, I'm in the process of testing it at the moment and it's showing a lot of promise.

Let me know in the comments if there's anything else you'd like to know. Most of my recipes can be found on glazy.org - https://glazy.org/u/oldforgecreations/recipes

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