Sodium Silicate Proocess

Currently, all the pots I make where I want the cracked texture, I apply sodium silicate to midway through the throwing process. These pots need to be thrown on the thicker side to avoid tearing during the stretching process.

All pots start life as a cylinder, slips or stains may be applied to where I want the texture and then the sodium silicate is applied.

Once this has dried sufficiently, I then begin stretching the pot on the wheel to achieve the desired shape. These pots need to be thrown on the thicker side else during the stretching/forming process, they are likely to split.

Please see some images of the process below.

Kneading clay

I use white stoneware or porcelain clay which is kneaded to remove any air bubbles

Centering

The clay is placed on the wheel and centered

Cylinder

The centered clay is then thrown in to a cylinder to the desired height and thickness

Slip

In this instance, I applied a coloured slip to where I want the texture to be. Sometimes I use oxides or stains or sometimes no colour at all.

Once the applied colour has dried a bit (I tend to use a hot air gun to speed this process up) I brush on sodium silicate.

Sodium silicate texture on wheel thrown pot

Shaping

Once the sheen has gone from the applied sodium silicate, I then start stretching/forming the shape of the pot.

You can see where the surface has cracked.

Trimming

I tend to trim off as much as I can before removing the pot from the wheelhead. It is then left to dry sufficiently before final turning/refining

Turning

In this example, the moon jar was turned and the separately thrown foot ring was added and left to dry before firing.

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Jan Tomei Ceramics