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Writer's pictureAttila Weisz

A disaster? Explosion in the kiln


This article will be neither about ceramic history nor about ceramic technology. This time we will share with you an interesting story that happened to us at the end of May, which gives a little insight into the risks of the ceramics industry and craftsmanship.

As usual, we were preparing for the upcoming event and Betty painted a lot of ceramics and we took them to be fired and to be honest, we didn't expect anything special. We've been using the same technology for quite some time now and it's been nicely experimented with over the years. The same ceramic mass, paint, glaze kiln even the kiln heating program has not changed and we have not even experimented with a new mould this time.

Then came the message that there was trouble and the next picture.


explosion in kiln
explosion in kiln

A ceramic exploded and pieces of it filled the kiln destroying dozens of other ceramics.

The next day we went to our partner to pick up the burnt out pottery. We agreed to take everything and then figure out what to do with it one by one.

As soon as we arrived, we started brainstorming together, wondering what could have happened? What was different from before and after a while we figured it out. The exploded plate is one of Betty's favourite plates, one of her early creations, which over time has been added to all sorts of things and has bounced here and there. Betty did a nice job of repairing it and this repaired plate went into the kiln.

From the various injuries and marks, we saw that this plate had already exploded in the early stages of firing, because the paint on it had melted completely into the new ceramics. Forming a varied pattern.


plate with fragments of the explosion
plate with fragments of the explosion

Then finally we thought we figured out what the problem might have been. This plate was in daily use in the dishwasher, often even standing in water for a long time, and we think that all the water was being drawn through the damage into the ceramic body. This is perfectly normal for daily use with no problems.

Yes it is, but in daily use no ceramic is exposed to over 1000 degrees heat even 100 degrees and this is where the dog was buried. Despite the fact that this dish has been on the shelf for a month the water absorbed has not completely left the ceramic. The previous layer of glaze made this difficult. So, as the kiln heated up during firing, the little water that was left simply boiled up in the ceramic body and, with nowhere to go, simply burst the plate.

Obviously we were devastated that a lot of work had been wasted, but then as we looked at each of the objects one by one our eyes widened at times because patterns had formed that perhaps even benefited the original design, but certainly made them special. Some I personally like a lot, but that's for each person to decide for themselves.


rider offering blue paint melted into the pattern
rider offering blue paint melted into the pattern

dragon eye blue paint melted into the pattern
dragon eye blue paint melted into the pattern

In any case, we have decided to leave it to the public to decide whether this is a bug or a feature. As long as we have the exploded series you can find it on our counter at events. And the remains of the plate will go on the mosaic wall in our bathroom.

Limited edition we don't want to repeat the process :D


bunny or bat? this is how the shrapnel melted
bunny or bat? this is how the shrapnel melted


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