Making Ceramic Test Tiles

In this video an excerpt from his dvd understanding glazes.

Making ceramic test tiles.

After centering spread the clay out flat similar to a plate. Spread clay to the edge of the bat and then begin to open. Once bisqued these dishes can hold any type of crushed material for your next firing. Chances are you ll find one that makes sense with what you are making.

It is generally a good idea to add texture to part of your test piece so you can see how the glaze will respond. Roll out a slab of high fire clay and cut into 6x6cm squares. 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. Once they ve been through their first firing then you can test out your glazes on them.

How to test tweak and perfect your glazes john britt shows several different ways to make test tiles. The clay will brought to the edge of this in the form of a bottomless cylinder. Put some type of word. For this test tile we are using a 15 diameter bat.

For any work on the wheel centering clay is the first step. To make simple melt test tiles i use this easy technique. Using a piece of high density foam and a 4x4cm piece of wood quickly press each square into the foam creating a shallow dish.