1. Commonly used tools in pottery

1. Mud scouring machine: electric drive, refining the blanks to make them tightly connected and uniform.

2. Wheel (turntable): size and specifications depend on demand.

3. Rolling Kun: Made of lubricated hardwood, used to press mud boards and clay tablets, like a rolling pin.

4. Mud plate machine: A simple mechanical device for pressing mud plates. It has two round rollers that can adjust the thickness of the mud flakes. The mud material is squeezed between the two into the required mud flakes. .

5. Linen and canvas: used for isolation when pressing mud (very suitable for pressing mud boards and mud sheets, the purpose is to prevent the materials and mud sheets from adhering).

6. Scraper (scraper): The size and width are different, about 2cm-3.5cm wide.

7. Scrapers and trimming knives: Generally made of wood, they can also be made of plastic or other materials. They are basic tools for hand molding. These tools have various shapes due to the diversity of their functions. (different blades).

8. Ring-shaped sculpture knife: used to hollow out solid utensils, and can also flatten the surface. Metal rings of various shapes are installed on the handle (ordinary wooden), and the rings are used to cut off excess mud. material, angled rings are used on flat surfaces, such as the flat bottoms of vessels.

9. Pottery beater: The shaped top is used for shaping, or for beating clay slabs, clay surfaces, etc. Commonly used wood (square wood can also be used instead).

10. Wire bow (iron wire): used for cutting mud blocks, or the final process of drawing and forming, cutting separate ceramic works (products) from the drawing machine.

11. Cups, buckets, basins, writing brushes, brushes, used for holding water, replenishing water, smearing, trimming, and applying glaze.

12. Ceramic drawing machine: used to draw round vessel-shaped blanks that are symmetrical about the central axis of the circle.

2. Ceramic making techniques

1. Clay strip forming method

·Take an appropriate amount of clay, squeeze and transform it naturally with both hands , making it into a round rod shape.

·Place the round clay stick horizontally on the workbench, rub it evenly with your fingers, and rub it while rolling, moving your fingers left and right, from thick to thin.

·Naturally and gently Roll the mud strips into strips of uniform thickness and size as needed.

·Place the clay strips on the turntable to make a bottom, then turn and connect the clay strips while pressing them tightly, while turning the turntable, and increase the height in sequence, and finally make the shape you need.

·Every time a layer is added, it needs to be flattened, compacted and evenly pressed inside and outside to avoid cracking during drying.

·The shape can be adjusted by clay slapping, hand slapping and hand pulling, and the original handwriting results of the clay strips can be saved.

2. Hand-kneading (sculpture) shaping method

Hand-kneading and sculpture-shaping method is one of the most original, basic and simple methods for making pottery, and it is also an experience for beginners. The most basic exercise of mud properties and mud thickness, hardness, dryness and wetness, you don’t need tools, just use your hands to knead it, you have a greater degree of freedom, you only need to use your hands to knead the mud ball into the shape you want. That’s it, this is also one of the oldest methods of making pottery. You can also use a sculpture knife or other tools to make a statue, and hollow out the statue when the mud is half dry.

3. Mudboard forming method

Mudboard forming is to roll mud blocks into mudboards manually or with a mud press, and then use these mudboards for shaping. When rolling the mud board, place the mud block in the center of the two pieces of cloth, and spread it from the center to the periphery (change the cloth block). Pay attention to the thickness of the mud, which should meet the needs of the ceramic work you are making. When making, the softness of the mud should be used to shape it like cloth, while the solid characteristics of the mud board can be used to shape it like a wooden board. Mudboard molding has a wide range of uses. The shape can be changed from flat to three-dimensional. The mudboard can be bent and rolled when it is wet and soft to create a natural and beautiful shape. It can also be used to make a stiff shape when the mudboard is semi-dry. Straight objects.

4. Impression (print blank) forming method

The impression (print blank) forming method is a method of using plaster molds for shaping. Since ancient times. This method is widely used in ceramic production. Generally, we use plaster molds. The master mold can be made of gypsum or clay, and then turned into several molds according to the shape. After the mold is dry, the green body can be printed. , impression molding. When making impressions, you must use even force and press tightly to print out the complete shape. For works with complex shapes, they need to be printed separately and then assembled. The interfaces must be bonded with mud. After the body is demoulded, there will be What is damaged must be repaired, and what is superfluous must be scraped off. This method can copy products in large quantities, which brings a lot of convenience in ceramic production. Different textures and other decorative effects can be produced on the mold according to individual needs.

5. Casting method

Casting is a forming method that uses the force of rotation and the action of both hands, and then the casting machine pulls the mud ball into various shapes. . It is also a common and traditional molding method in ceramic production. But the skills are very strong and the requirements are very high. Some masters have been engaged in billet pulling for their entire lives. This method takes a long time to master. You can start with simple bowls, cups, and plates, and then make complex shapes such as bottles and cans after you are proficient. It takes more than a day to freeze three feet. If you want to Mastering the skills of billowing requires hard work.

6. Slurry casting molding method

The mud casting molding method is widely used in the mass production of daily ceramics and is also one of the ceramic molding techniques. First use mud or gypsum to make a master mold and turn it into a gypsum mold (blocked). The gypsum mold has a grouting port. After the mold is dry, the prepared mud is injected into the gypsum mold. According to the water absorption speed of the gypsum mold, the mud is filled in time. , when the slurry suction of the plaster mold reaches a certain thickness, pour out the excess mud in the mold, control it until the mud leaves the mold wall, and then take out the green body from the plaster mold. In addition, you must maintain (control) A certain amount of dry humidity is required to moisturize it for the next step of trimming, bonding, decoration, etc.

7. Comprehensive forming method

Just combine the above methods and use them flexibly.

3. The basic sequence of ceramic design

1. Concept, draw small compositions, small sketches, and determine the theme;

2. Draw color results on paper ;

3. Use sulfuric acid paper to draw the actual size of the original drawing, black and white draft, mark the size, and pay attention to the shrinkage rate.

4. Start making the shape (choose the appropriate molding method according to the needs);

5. Apply glaze after the shape is dry and dry. There are also cases where the glaze is not applied intentionally and only the texture of the clay tire is pursued. Result;

6. (Kiln installation) firing, firing in one step or bisque firing and then glazing and firing twice.

4. Ceramic Decoration Techniques

After the ceramic shape is completed, you should consider how to decorate it. Different decoration techniques have different effects. Some use direct display techniques such as describing, imprinting, stacking, and hollowing out the length of the unfired body, while others use on-glaze decoration techniques such as painting with ceramic pigments. There are also over-glaze and glaze colors. Decoration techniques combined with underglaze (such as blue and white fighting colors)

1. Decoration of the body (underglaze method)

A. Addition: adding mud dots, mud strips, mud cakes, etc. Decorate the clay with any pattern you want. Wet the water before adding, add the mud water and press it with your hands, and use your hands and a sculpting knife to make the ornaments.

B. Subtraction: Carving, shoveling, marking and hollowing out the blank, using tools to carve various decorative patterns on the blank, which can be deep or shallow, wide or narrow, all based on experience. .

C. Stirring and mud-stirring methods:

·Mix soil of different colors together to present a natural texture.

·When two or more clay tablets of different colors are stacked together regularly, its cross-section will show a regular texture (texture). It can also be twisted and naturally changed to enrich the texture effect.

· Stir mud of different colors together, and immerse the green body into the mud, so that the surface of the green body has a layer of natural tire stirring effect.

·Stir the glaze, mix different glaze colors together and apply them to the surface of the body to create natural and changeable texture effects.

·Prepare a transparent or opaque glaze whose shrinkage is greater than the surface of the body, and cracks and glaze shrinkage will appear after firing. It can produce extraordinary decorative effects. Perhaps when it comes out of the kiln, the temperature of the object dropped to about 100°C after being fired suddenly opens the kiln. When the heat encounters cold air or wind, the glaze cracks, and the ink is immediately immersed in the mosquito flakes of the glaze. , showing cracked glaze results.

D. Painting and decoration method: hand-painting or using makeup clay to draw various patterns freely, using a brush to draw or carving with a bamboo needle.

E. Color glaze decoration: You can use a brush to apply color glaze on the body, draw color glaze, or evenly spray color glaze.

2. On-glaze painting method

A. It refers to using colored materials to decorate the fired ceramic light-colored glaze body, and then using an electric kiln to bake it at a low temperature for a second time. become.

B. Decal paper decoration: On the fired ceramic white glaze body, use chemically printed decal paper to affix it to the ceramic for decoration (this method is suitable for mass production), and then use an electric kiln at low temperature to Baked flowers are fired twice in the kiln.

3. Comprehensive decoration method

Overglaze and underglaze decoration are used on the same (one) work. Its techniques are diverse, and the firing method is also multiple firings.

Colored glaze and paper-cut decoration, as well as the porcelain carving method, which refers to carving patterns on the fired ceramics, one by one, bit by bit, which requires patience and careful description.

5. Ceramics Firing Skills

Ceramics is called the art of fire. Fire not only turns clay and glaze into a new substance, but also gives it beauty. Fire It is converted from electricity, oil, coal, gas, wood and other fuels through certain kilns. Different kilns and different flame atmospheres determine the different quality of pottery. Different kilns and different fuels are used for firing. Techniques are also different.

The so-called firing means that the dried or glazed body is loaded into the kiln and sintered at high temperature, so that the mud body and glaze layer undergo a series of physical and chemical changes at high temperature, and then fired. The process is the most complex process in the pottery making process.

1. Types of kilns

A. Dragon kiln (traditional dragon kiln): Wood is still burned, and the dragon cave is built on the hillside like a dragon.

B. Chai kiln (burning wood): According to legend, a man named Chai created this kiln, so it is called Chai kiln.

C. Electric kiln: 0.2-2 cubic meters of electric kiln.

D. Gas kiln (gas kiln): specifications ranging from 0.3 to 3 cubic meters.

E. Heavy oil kiln: an authentic kiln that burns oil.

F. Le Shao barrel: made of refractory bricks, refractory cotton, metal plates, burning gas (removable).

Electric kilns and gas kilns are currently commonly used, and most of our current ceramics laboratories use these two kilns.

2. Kiln firing

In pottery production, "kiln firing" is the key, and the most important operation is kiln firing. Due to the complicated process of making ceramics from selecting raw materials to making finished products, the ancients said: "Seventy-two hands are used to make the finished product." There are about dozens of processes at present, and each process has its own importance, especially the final The operation of the kiln is very important. If you don't pay attention, all your efforts will be wasted, which not only wastes raw materials and fuel, but also wastes a lot of manpower. In terms of pottery craftsmanship, in terms of its importance, it can be divided into "one firing, two soiling, and three making". How important the kiln firing is, it is also the key. Especially for the firing of color glazes, more emphasis should be placed on the "firing kiln". The firing flame, properties, temperature, firing time and fuel type of color glazes have a very important impact on the color change. The firing of color glazes is An "art of fire", such as "kiln change", is the glaze color change that occurs naturally during the firing process. It cannot be predicted and controlled by humans. Some very rare kiln changes and color glazes are rare and rare products that can only be seen in a hundred kilns. , precious and valuable.

Firing is a very profound knowledge that cannot be mastered in a short time.

The kiln has a firing curve. Ceramic semi-finished products must be completely dry when entering the kiln, otherwise they will be easily burned. The kiln position where the ceramic semi-finished products are placed when installing the kiln is also very important. When starting to burn, the temperature rise must be slow. The first 400°C must be burned slowly. It is best to record the firing temperature once an hour.

Ceramic technology is a very profound knowledge. If you are interested in ceramics career, if you learn ceramic technology well, it will benefit you throughout your life.