What is the old adage,
"you get what you pay for"? Though I am fully aware of what happens
when you over-saturate a glaze with oxides (carbonates, etc.) my recent tests
with manganese dioxide were exceptionally promising right up through small cups
as tests. I made up enough to dip several pots, a teabowl and a small covered
jar and fired them in my most recent firing and you know what happened, crap
happened. The surfaces just boiled and droozed creating something resembling
over burnt metal. Just nasty to say the least. When I opened the kiln, the only
thing I can remember is saying; "CRAP", later it became very apparent
that I was very lucky I only fired the two pieces and on tiles that were on top
of bricks or I would have had a real mess. Like something out of the ALIEN
movies, the glaze dripped off the pots and burrowed their way through the soft
brick tiles and stopped at the hard brick underneath. Sorry for another oft
used cliché but in this case, chance does favor the prepared mind at least in
terms of when crap indeed happens.
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