Recognising Different cracks

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Recognising Different cracks

If you have a crack, find the point where it is largest (widest). This will be the point where the crack started, and can help you understand what happened. Cracks in the rim usually were caused by stresses in the raw stage. Cracks in the base usually occur in the firing. Another way to determine the cause of a crack is to look at the surrounding glaze. If the glaze at the end of the crack is sharp, it cracked in the later stages of firing, probably during cooling. If the glaze is round at the edge of the crack, the crack probably occurred early in firing and the glaze had time to heal over. Remember that most cracks occur from stresses that occur during drying, even if they don't show up until later. But some cracks occur because of firing and cooling, so it is usually best to fire and cool slowly.

   

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