Cone 03 Terra Cotta Stoneware
Recipe
Notes
This was version 1 of the Zero3 low fire red-burning plastic stoneware recipe. We were attempting to make use of a Plainsman material. While it worked version well we eventually decided to go back to the original concept of using pure Redart clay, to make it useful in all of North America. That is L3724N2. The original goal was a terra cotta clay with added frit to make it vitrify at cone 03. The previous version to this one, L3724E, had 5 frit. The former has better red color as a slip, this one is better as a body itself. Although the development effort spanned a year, it ended in only partial success. It was found that this body (and many variations of it) was too volatile, there is too narrow a temperature window between too mature and too porous. When too mature, the fired shrinkage was very high, the color went from red to brown and the glaze was filled with bubbles from decomposition occurring within the over-fired body. When too open, the color was good but it was too susceptible to absorption of water into the matrix, this could be seen at sites of glaze imperfections where the water could get through. However, if you carefully watch glaze fit and make sure there are no imperfections in the glaze surface, this body could be successfully used at cone 04 to make quite strong ware. The L3724N2 version, which we recommend, also has the possibility of being a casting body.
Description
An experimental Zero3 using Plainsman 3D clay