Alternative Ceramic Supply


Materials
  1. Brick Rubble
  2. Granite Offcuts
  3. Dolerite Offcuts
  4. Broken Bisque
  5. Concrete Rubble
  6. Glass Sludge
  7. Wood Ash
  8. Bone Ash
  9. Marble Offcuts
  10. Oyster Shells


Bulk Buy
Ground Works


Info
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      4. Broken Bisque

      Test tiles exploring second-life granite in ceramics, fired to midfire (cone 6, left) and stoneware (cone 9, right). Rows show granite at three mesh sizes (super fine, fine, coarse); columns test it in clay bodies (5% and 20%),  the material alone on the surface (applied with CMC), and in glaze (+30%).



      FIRST LIFE  

                  ORIGINAssumed commercially purchased clay (in Melbourne these would likely be Walkers Ceramics, Northcote Pottery Supplies, Clayworks, or Keanes, etc)

                 MEASUREMENTSVarious thicknesses 

                 COLOURWhite, peach, brown, orange and pink depending on the clay type
                 TEXTUREPorous, fine and smooth or sandy and rough with grog

                FINISH / FEATURESMatte, unglazed
      Various forms


      SECOND LIFE 

                 COLLECTION LOCATION Pottery School
      -37.73265927413555, 144.96147397114214

                  DATE OF COLLECTION
      October 2023

                  SUBURBCoburg North

                  COUNTRYWurundjeri Woi Wurrung

                  LOCAL COUNCILMerri-Bek


      MATERIAL INFORMATION

                 COMPOSITION Bisque fired clay is composed of 40% minimum alumina, 30% minimum silica, 4% maximum iron(III) oxide, up to 2% calcium oxide and magnesium oxide combined

      POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS

                 SUBSITUTE FOR
      Commercially packaged grog
      Calcined kaolin
                 IN CLAY BODYUse grog in clay body to reduce shrinkage rates, for colour, for texture, increase thermal shock strength and raw strength

                 IN GLAZE      Test as 1:1 substitute for ingredients listed above in a glaze recipe

      PREPARATION

                 CALCINATION
      Already calcined

                 CUSTOM PREPARATION
      Check if any raw glazed or underglazed work is in the batch. It will give colour and melt variation - process seperately or all together.

                 MINIUMUM REQURIED EQUIPMENT
      Hammer

                 RATING(Scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being hardest)
      2-3

                 NOTES
      Easy to crush with a hammer
      If using rock crusher machine, it becomes more than 50% fine powder and clogs filter screen quickly


      SAFETY &
      HANDLING

                 HAZARDS
      Silica dust, heavy manganese in some black clay bodies.

                 SUGGESTED PPE
      Respirator
      Gas filter for hazardous fumes if black clay

      SOURCING

                 SEARCHING FOR SUPPLY
      Ask pottery schools for their uncollected or damaged bisqueware (normally thrown out once per term) or ask local ceramicists to save their bisque seconds

                 WHAT TO BRING WITH YOU
      Container/box
                 QUESTIONS TO ASK
      Will uncollected bisqueware be reused for any workshops (ie, painting)
                 RECYCLABILITY AS-IS
      Ceramic Studios
      • Use as test tiles or test glaze pieces
      • Use for underglaze or glaze painting workshops
      Continuosly recyclable, does not degrade.

                 COLLECTION RECOMMENDATIONS
      Offer to leave a labelled box with your name and phone number and 'please put unwanted bisque fired work here for recycling'.