Making Ceramic Test Tiles

General ideas regardless of the shape.

Making ceramic test tiles.

In this video an excerpt from his dvd understanding glazes. The easiest way to make up your test glazes is to make a series of different ceramic tiles in the different types of clay you ll be working with. Roll out a slab of high fire clay and cut into 6x6cm squares. For any work on the wheel centering clay is the first step.

For this test tile we are using a 15 diameter bat. Put some type of word. Put a hole somewhere to hang your tiles on a wall board or to hang off the handle of the bucket. Using a piece of high density foam and a 4x4cm piece of wood quickly press each square into the foam creating a shallow dish.

To make simple melt test tiles i use this easy technique. The clay will brought to the edge of this in the form of a bottomless cylinder. It is generally a good idea to add texture to part of your test piece so you can see how the glaze will respond. Chances are you ll find one that makes sense with what you are making.

Spread clay to the edge of the bat and then begin to open. After centering spread the clay out flat similar to a plate. And to improve your results it helps to have test tiles that mimic the kind of work you make.