Commercial Glaze results I have tried

[Robert Serva]

Here is Laguna WC-131 Tang Lime on Tuckers white porcelain. Maple leaf bowl 7 inch.

[Norm Stuart]

Tang Lime is a beautiful glaze, the only problem is it turns into an ugly uncrackled tan if slow-cooled.

If you want to make your own, here's the recipe. 

Tang Lime ^5/6

80%  Ferro Frit 3269

12%  Silica/flint

 8%   Kaolin

 2%   Bentonite (less or none depending on how you want to use the glaze)

         (some bentonites turn the glaze into an opaque mustard, add with caution)

0.5% Chrome Oxide

And a sprinkle of Calcium Chloride, or Epsom Salts if you don't have calcium chloride

Using Nickel Carbonate instead of Chrome Oxide makes a beautiful brown crackle, like the color of the glass in the tile below but without the green areas.

[Robert Serva]

Yes, I had some pieces in the same kiln load come out a nasty bubbly brown, The only difference was the clay, not the firing. I used some piece with Laguna No. 50 Clay. The No. 50 clay turned out bad.  The shop I get my clay from said it was probably the Magnesium content in the No 50 Clay. I am not sure this makes sense, But the No 50 clay body definitely made a negative difference.   I Did re-glaze some with coastal Blue from ClayScapes, and it gave a much nicer surface with some flavor.

[Norm Stuart]

Sometimes when something doesn't work, like Tang Lime interacting poorly with Laguna WC-606 (aka #50) or a slow-cool firing, it's not worth the effort and cost to find out why.  After all, it's just one data point.

But over time a pattern can emerge and it finally becomes clear what the problem was.

http://www.lagunaclay.com/clays/northeastern/wc606.php

One big advantage in making your own glazes is you know what you put into so you have a better chance of fixing problems with the chemistry. I don't know for sure that my recipe is identical to what Laguna Clay uses as Tang Lime, but it fires the same and is the same sort of simple and inexpensive recipe that Jon Brooks favors for production purposes.

Your vendor may know more about WC-606 than Laguna publishes, or they may seen a similar problem with magnesium. If you call the tech support guy at Laguna Clay (Spanish is his first language), sometimes he or Jon Brooks have good suggestions as they know what they put in their stuff.

[Robert Serva]

Thank you for the good advice, I have had great results on most white clays, except for the No.50. How do you know it is WC-606? Is there a conversion chart? My clay supplier only lists it as No. 50.

Thanks again for the help, I learn something everyday.

Norm Stuart said:

Sometimes when something doesn't work, like Tang Lime interacting poorly with Laguna WC-606 (aka #50) or a slow-cool firing, it's not worth the effort and cost to find out why.  After all, it's just one data point.

But over time a pattern can emerge and it finally becomes clear what the problem was.

http://www.lagunaclay.com/clays/northeastern/wc606.php

One big advantage in making your own glazes is you know what you put into so you have a better chance of fixing problems with the chemistry. I don't know for sure that my recipe is identical to what Laguna Clay uses as Tang Lime, but it fires the same and is the same sort of simple and inexpensive recipe that Jon Brooks favors for production purposes.

Your vendor may know more about WC-606 than Laguna publishes, or they may seen a similar problem with magnesium. If you call the tech support guy at Laguna Clay (Spanish is his first language), sometimes he or Jon Brooks have good suggestions as they know what they put in their stuff.

[Norm Stuart]

Laguna's website has information on the products they sell. The easiest way to find this information is to use Google. In this case type in the following search:

Laguna Clay #50

Google takes you here . . . http://www.lagunaclay.com/clays/northeastern/wc606.php

This is Laguna's home page for clay  http://www.lagunaclay.com/clays/#list

The website for Laguna Clay's Axner subsidiary in Florida is usually easier to use, but they only provide information on clays and material their Axner subsidiary sells. Tony Hansen of Digitalfire designed and maintains the Axner website and does a terrific job.

http://www.axner.com/clays.aspx

Your WC-606 clay is a Northeastern U.S. Clay product so it's not listed on the Axner website, but Laguna Clay's website has information on all of their regional products. It's just harder to use than the Axner website.

We're less than 30 miles from Laguna Clay in the City of Industry, California, so we order from them direct.

Unfortunately Laguna's website doesn't list pricing so we use the volume prices on the Axner website to budget our order before we fax or email our quote request to them. Laguna's price is similar to their Axner website pricing but not the same. The quote on our total order has always been a little less than the prices quoted on the Axner website.