Practical Formulas Manual
Practical Formulas Manual
A complete recipe book with more than 30 formulas, variations, techniques and adjustments for glazes, engobes, pigments, oxides and slips.
Table of Contents 🎯
(Glazes · Engobes · Pastes · Color · Techniques · Adjustments)
- What is a ceramic recipe book and how is it used?
- How to read and understand a ceramic formula
- Differences between enamel, slip, oxides and pigments
- Recommendations for making the most of the recipe book
- Organization for quick search
- Digital vs. physical formats
- Examples of technical data sheets
- Checklist prior to new formulas
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How to choose formulas according to the type of piece (functional, decorative or artistic)
- Essential tools: scale, sieve, containers
- How to weigh and mix correctly
- Preparing small quantities
- Safety with oxides and pigments
- Types of sieves and their uses
- How to prepare basic slips
- Small-scale tests
- Formulas for white, colored, and translucent slip
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Influence of water on the mixture: hardness, pH and recommended proportions
- White, neutral and vitrifiable engobes
- Low and medium temperature
- Adjustment of plasticity and adhesion
- Application on cake or raw food
- Engobes for high temperature
- Engobes with special additives
- Use of frits to modify fusibility
- Textured engobes
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How to adjust the base to prevent cracking, peeling, or poor adhesion
- Percentage guide tables
- Apply color without affecting the base
- Monochromatic, mottled and mixed engobes
- Effects according to temperature
- Gradients and transitions
- Dry pigments vs. pigments in suspension
- Formulas for colored engobes
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Guide to complex shades: how to mix pigments to achieve custom colors
- Glossy, satin and matte nail polishes
- Recipes according to temperature (1040–1300 °C)
- Fluidity and transparency adjustments
- Compatibility with engobes
- Enamels for reducing atmospheres
- Transparent with subtle tints
- Hardness adjustment for utility vehicles
- New variations by finish
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How to modify a clear coat to make it shinier, matte, or more durable
- Formulas by color (light blue, green, pink, black…)
- Recommended percentages
- Color behavior according to base and temperature
- Intense or soft colors
- Expanded palette with new formulas
- Multicolored base coats
- Methods to intensify colors
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How to stabilize problematic colors (reds, purples, intense blacks)
- Cracked, crystalline, dry, mottled, metallic
- Motion or depth effects
- Special aggregates: silica, ash, carbonates
- Precautions for unstable effects
- Volcanic and pearlescent enamels
- Ash enamels for electric ovens
- Enamels with metallic particles
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How to create controlled effects using double or triple layers of nail polish
- Red, black, gray, beige pasta and more
- Coloring with oxides in the mass
- Absorption and vitrification precautions
- Combination with engobes and glazes
- Marbled and speckled pasta
- Inlays with colored slip
- Fine modeling pastes
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Compatibility between colored clay bodies and glazes/engobes
- Test tiles and appropriate labeling
- Key data record
- Intelligent analysis and adjustments
- Personal formula file
- Visual comparisons
- Changes in density and viscosity
- Print-ready templates
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How to interpret defects in tests (pinhole, crazing, run, bubbles, opacity, etc.)
- What to do if a formula fails
- Errors in mixing, application or baking
- Adapt recipes to your oven
- Closure and inspiration to continue creating
- Mistakes with slips
- Solution to enamels that are pinhole-prone
- Corrections before cooking
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How to adapt formulas to different clays