Glazing

General principle

The glazing technique involves depositing a thin layer of glass or glass-ceramic on a ceramic support, then firing it to improve the resistance of the covered material to chemical agents or to improve its surface properties. Glazing may also be used to help joint ceramic parts together.

There are essentially six glazing techniques:

  • Dip glazing
  • Manual glazing with a brush
  • Glazing using an aerosol spray
  • Glazing by way of screen printing
  • Glazing using a transfer
  • Glazing using a printer assisted by a computer.

Detailed description

  • Dip glazing

This process, taken from traditional ceramics, involves plunging the part to be covered into an aqueous ceramic suspension. The part to be covered is porous at this stage, and therefore quickly absorbs the liquid and deposits a thin layer, depending on the contact time with the ceramic liquid mixture.

  • Manual glazing with a brush

This technique involves using a brush to deposit a thin layer of glaze (mixture of ceramic powder with water or mixture of organic liquids) on a porous or non-porous ceramic part.

  • Glazing using an aerosol spray

The ceramic part to be covered is sprayed using an aerosol containing a fine ceramic powder combined with a liquid to make a suspension. There are two types of spraying, more or less automated, using either air under pressure or gas contained in a spray.

  • Glazing by way of screen printing

Screen printing is a glazing technique which uses a screen interposed between the ceramic ink and the support. The supports used may vary and are not necessarily plans.

  • Glazing using transfers

This process uses glazes deposited in a transfer-type film which is then applied by bonding on the ceramic part, then firing to fuse the glaze to the ceramic part.

  • Glazing using a printer assisted by a computer

The process can be refined using a standard computer printer in which traditional inks are replaced with ceramic powder-based inks. Different types of nozzles ensure the controlled ejection of the ceramic. These technologies have expanded rapidly recently due to the craze for 3D printing techniques.

Materials involved

  • The glazes are generally complex mixtures of glass or glass-ceramics
  • Glass/Quartz
  • Glass-ceramics.

For more information

Raw material
Finished product

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