The Handbook of Glaze Recipes

This book was EVERYTHING I hoped it would be! Cover to cover it's filled with highly insightful information about glazes! I am thrilled to add this book to my studio collection and will certainly reference it often for recipes, as well as ideas and inspiration! The Handbook of Glaze Recipes is brilliantly designed as a spiral-bound book making it the perfect companion in the studio without the worry of a cracking spine from all of the use it's sure to see.There are numerous other qualities about this book that make it an instant favorite: The book begins with a basic overview of what makes a glaze a glaze, common glaze problems (and their solutions!), popular oxides and their results under different atmospheric environments, and glaze application techniques for a variety of surfaces. All of that helpful information is within the first 25 pages or so, leaving the rest of the book for recipe after recipe! The recipes are divided logically by cone firing temperature making the book very easy to navigate for your particular firing range. Each recipe features a test tile of the glaze next to the glaze formula on a specified clay type giving the reader a clear visual representation of the glaze's surface characteristics, color, and opacity, instead of a wordy description of what the glaze will look like, as many other books have done in the past.The helpful test tile displays next to each formula made selecting recipes a breeze, and within the first hour of owning the book I was mixing up tests for my next firing. Unlike other books that call for a lengthy list of obscure materials most of the recipes in The Handbook of Glaze Recipes are possible to create with a basic material inventory, which I really appreciate because I can use the same materials for several glazes without ending up with leftover materials I'm unlikely to use for anything else. The appendix of the book outlines a UK to US materials conversion chart making this book an equally useful resource in UK and US studios!As another reviewer mentioned there are a few recipes in the book that call for materials I am unlikely to use in my studio, but I appreciate their inclusion in the book nonetheless. Safety and knowledge are the most important tools in the ceramic studio, and I think this is a prime example. A beautiful barium glaze has its place in the ceramic world, and while that may not be on the functional tableware I make, I can still value its exquisitely stony surface, and will simply not make that glaze for my pots. That said, there are hundreds of other glazes in this book that don't call for barium or ingredients you may choose to avoid in your studio. There is such an impressively wide range of glazes in this book!I really enjoyed the direct use of metals and oxides throughout the book as the coloring elements, which is a departure from the commercial stains I generally use. Out of curiosity I made a few of the glazes in the book substituting my commercial stains for the coloring oxides. The results were incredible! What made this especially interesting for me was that by using my stains I was keeping entirely within the palette I've already established for my work, but I was able to create several new surfaces that seamlessly assimilated into my current collection. This book is already one of my favorite new resources and I will be recommending it to every ceramic artists I know! It is definitely a must-have!!!

I am presently testing several of these glazes. There are even some interesting raku glazes. Linda

I'm not sure who this is intended for. It is not detailed enough or organized to guide a beginner. Handbook is a misnomer, as it touches on many technical concepts but makes no attempt to resolve them into practical application. The bulk of the book is dedicated to recipes that are not complete unless maybe you have enough experience to not need the book.As an example. pg 85 has two Shiny and transparent glazes. One is called Shiny transparent cone 8 with no other description. The other, is called Michael Bailey shiny transparent cone 6, with the description, "A very shiny transparent." The glaze photos are indistinguishable . The recipes are slightly different but there is nothing to describe why they are different. Nothing about the intended use, firing, clay bodies, coloring, application, or mixing.I think using this book as a principle source of information would end up wasting a lot of time, energy, and probably frustrate many to the point of giving up ceramics. While it does not advertise itself as an exhaustive resource, I'm not sure for whom it would be a useful resource.

I am a full-time ceramics instructor at a community college. I bought this book, as I often do, to add to my library of materials. The book just arrived today, and flipping through it I instantly realized it is a complete waste of money. The glazes are insipid and common at best- equal or better glazes can be found online for free. Also, many recipes use toxic materials. They rely heavily on barium for the mid-range glazes, which is the temperature I most often use at the college, and I can't believe I actually found LEAD bisilicate in a book published THIS YEAR!!! The introductory instruction is the most basic glazing techniques taught in a beginning level course, and then there is a very brief glaze theory section followed by lots of unappealing, old news recipes. This book is even worse than "The Potter's Book of Glaze Recipes" by Cooper. I would recommend that you spend your money on a more useful book like the Ceramic Arts Series "Cone 5-6 Glazes" instead.

A nice little starter book for someone like myself who needs a clear and concise introduction to glazes.

IT DID NOT FILLED MY SPECTATIONS

This book is an expensive way to gather a few recipes with multiple pages of slight variations of oxides for color modifications. It includes materials that are not wise choices for a studio potter such as lead frit and barium. Don't waste your money on this book.