If you have invested in a new ceramic kiln (new for you, 2nd hand is of course also possible), you must first get to know him (or her). Just like a new friend, you have to discover each other and slowly grow closer to together. Then something beautiful can blossom between you and your new kiln or soulmate!
Building strong relationships between people can take a long time. But with a new ceramic kiln it can be done much faster. The difference? With a ceramic kiln you can set and measure everything.
So first calibrate and compare is my motto, but how do you do that?
If you make your own glaze recipes, you use ceramic raw materials with hot air… or “LOI” for short. Sometimes this LOI is removed from the raw material beforehand by “calcining” it. But what exactly is that and why do ceramists do it?
By hot air, I don’t mean (this time) all the crap that bloated types spew into the ether. I’ll probably talk about that another time, but this time I want to talk about “Loss On Ignition” or the abbreviation LOI. In other words, the evaporation of substances by intensely heating them: calcining.
Let me explain using the raw material kaolin and a kiln that we will fire at 750 0C (1382 F). Time for an experiment!
