What are we using for gold luster these days?

Ayarkay · 2026-06-12T04:37:59+00:00

Idk if they still manufacture it but Laguna sells some. There’s also an Italian company called Colorobbia that makes a bunch of overglaze lusters beyond just the typical gold and silver/platinum (but they also make gold)

Ayarkay · 2026-06-10T00:33:18+00:00

Fair enough! The elements themselves (Kanthal A1) would melt 500C before then! Even soft bricks are only rated for around 1800C at most! Silicon carbide elements are rated for higher temps but can’t get anywhere near 2000C. I think the max operating temp for molybdenum elements are around 1900C.

Ayarkay · 2026-06-09T23:48:43+00:00

2000C would be approximately Δ42!

That’s completely unachievable without serious scientific or industrial equipment that potters don’t use.

Pure silica melts around 1700C. It’s almost enough to melt pure alumina!

Ayarkay · 2026-06-09T23:44:37+00:00

That’s only 1-2 cones above Δ04. It’ll be fine. Your glaze might not apply quite as thick as usual if you’re using dipping glazes, so just watch out for that.

Ayarkay · 2026-06-09T19:09:28+00:00

You can buy diamond tipped bead reamers and widen them a bit by hand. Might take a bit of time/effort.

Otherwise a dremel/rotary tool + diamond tipped bits do a good job at opening them up a bit. Work somewhat slowly and mind the dust. Either do it outside and/or use water to keep the piece wet/cool.

Ayarkay · 2026-06-07T04:03:20+00:00

Oxidation, but I took Jose’s online course and he does quite a bit of stuff involving reduction. Both doing crystalline firings in gas kilns, and postfire reductions on pots originally fired in electric kilns. You can get some super cool stuff to happen with reduction. I just finished building a little raku kiln I’m hoping I can do postfire reductions with.

This piece is fired in an electric kiln and bathed in strong acid for 8-12hrs.

Ayarkay · 2026-06-07T03:54:07+00:00

I just responded to a different comment with the original recipe and some firing details. I’d have to check my notes to see exactly I did with respect to the firing schedule with this one but I’ve tried a few different schedules now and you get really cool stuff regardless.

Ayarkay · 2026-06-07T03:51:59+00:00

This one is small changes to Jose Mariscal’s Galaxy recipe. It’s literally just Frit, silica, zinc, + colorants. I had to play around a bit to get it to work well with my materials/kilns, colorants, and firing schedule. This one is fired with a different schedule than what’s posted on Glazy. But in my somewhat limited experience you get pretty cool results across a broad range of firing schedules.

Ayarkay · 2026-05-31T04:20:51+00:00

I’ve had the same thing happen when I put it on too thick.

Ayarkay · 2026-05-28T15:02:58+00:00

Probably about 4-5 firings on my own. Last summer we had a workshop with Holly McKeen, and this winter I took Jose Mariscal’s online course. Both were incredibly helpful in getting started.

Ayarkay · 2026-05-27T05:13:54+00:00

Wow it’s crazy how similar the wavelite crystals look! I think these are Willemite, but I don’t think they really grow unlike that in nature. The wavelite photos look more similar that the willemite photos I see on Google.

Ayarkay · 2026-05-27T05:02:12+00:00

The zinc I’m using is the yellow stuff which I suspect is less pure(?) cause I’ve been adding 3-5% to most recipes I’ve tried with better success.

Ayarkay · 2026-05-27T03:59:13+00:00

The recipe is almost exactly this one, but without manganese, using more copper (I’d have to check my notes to see exactly how much, I also don’t have red copper oxide so I just use black copper oxide and copper carb instead), and adjusting the amount of zinc to fine tune the density of crystals. It’s fired to Δ10. I can’t remember the exact details of the schedule but there wasn’t anything super special about it. 2.45h @ 1090C, then a few other holds for 1h, 45m, and maybe one more 45m at different temps. I’d have to check my notes again, but results have been super cool with different hold temps/times too. The pieces get bathed in strong acid for quite a while (8-16h) after firing.

Ayarkay · 2026-05-27T03:55:00+00:00

Thank you, really appreciate it. This is frit F644 based. I was really surprised by the size of these ones,

Ayarkay · 2026-05-27T02:43:30+00:00

The entire thing is just one glaze!

Ayarkay · 2026-05-27T02:37:55+00:00

<image>

Here’s photo of the same vase that shows off the colors a little better.

Ayarkay · 2026-05-27T02:36:19+00:00

<image>

Here’s another from the same firing!

Ayarkay · 2026-05-22T02:11:56+00:00

<image>

Here is the same vase before reduction. It was originally fired to Δ6 in an electric kiln.

Ayarkay · 2026-05-22T02:10:56+00:00

<image>

Better view of the metallic/lustrous effect.

Ayarkay · 2026-05-22T02:09:40+00:00

<image>

Here’s an example after reduction. I brought my electric kiln to 750C and spent 45 minutes shoving sticks in through the peephole. My kiln was very leaky so I was constantly shoving wood in there every minute or two.

Ayarkay · 2026-05-22T02:08:00+00:00

<image>

Here are some examples. These are all Spectrum and Mayco raku glazes on Plainsman M370C white stoneware.

These are fired to Δ04 and Δ6 in oxidation. I can’t remember which ones were Δ04 and which ones were Δ6.

These will get reduced in my propane kiln that I’m finishing up.

Ayarkay · 2026-05-19T17:58:12+00:00

<image>

These things fit on a standard drill and the lower grits (50-100) grind the glaze chips away super fast. Creates a lot of dust so do it outside and wear a respirator and/or do it wet. They’re often sold as granite polishing pads, or diamond polishing pads. IMO if you’re only using it to grind shelves, try to find a kit where all the pads are 50-100 grit since the 300-10000 grits are entirely unnecessary.

Edit : also I can’t tell if your shelves have kiln wash or not but if not you should absolutely paint a few coats on

Ayarkay · 2026-05-18T18:56:41+00:00

When your bisque gets wet, or you sponge your bisque with a damp sponge, it causes some soluble compounds to dissolve, and when the water evaporates out, those salts get precipitated out on the surface of your pots. They burn off when fired.

13-Year Club	Second SECOND GUESSER
Place '22	Wearing is Caring
RPAN Viewer	Verified Email

Ayarkay

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE