| Monthly Tech-Tip | No tracking! No ads! | 
In 2015 I documented a project comparing common cone 6 fluid-melt base glazes, picked a favourite (Panama Blue) and over-hauled the recipe to fix it's slurry issues and serious crazing. While fluid-melts almost run off ware when applied thick, they host stains & opacifiers to produce brilliant super-gloss surfaces. But the typical chemistry of these is susceptible to crazing, scratching and leaching. In 2019 I reformulated again, moving the thermal expansion down from 7.3 to an incredible 5.8 (the base can now survive a 325F-to-icewater test on our toughest-to-fit porcelain with no crazing). And it is melt-fluidity-controllable, durable (having 30%+ more Al2O3/SiO2) and sources Li2O, MgO and KNaO from frits. Follow the link here to see the entire history of this development effort (beware, there are multiple pages, each with many columns).
| URLs | https://insight-live.com/insight/share.php?z=gbcM8HXmX2 2019 Development of G3806 melt-fluid low-expansion clear base glaze | 
| Glossary | Fluid Melt Glazes Fluid melt glazes and over-melting, over fired, to the point that they run down off ware. This feature enables the development of super-floss and cyrstallization. | 
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