My crystalline glaze phase ended with a kiln full of cracks

I jumped on the crystalline glaze trend after seeing amazing results online. Followed the recipe exactly, but during cooling, everything developed huge cracks. Lost a whole set of mugs I was making for a friend. Now I'm back to basics with simpler glazes. Sometimes trends aren't worth the risk.

3 comments

3 Comments

price.matthew1mo agoMost Upvoted

My third try with that blue crystal recipe shattered eight bowls last winter. The thermal shock from cooling too fast just spiderwebbed every single piece. I still find little glaze flakes in my kiln shelf sometimes.

fionalopez1mo ago

Yeah that cooling stage is brutal lol. I finally got mine to work by slowing the whole kiln way down after the final temp, like leaving it shut for 12 extra hours. Using witness cones to track the actual cool-down rate helped me spot the problem.

the_hugo1mo ago

12 extra hours with the kiln shut? That's next-level self-control, I'd have cracked open the door after two.