Did you know that a single piece of ceramic, whether it's a ceramic mug, tableware, or a small or large decorative item, goes through a meticulous 10-step production process? If any step is skipped, the piece might come out broken or damaged, not as intended. Today, let's check together if there are any steps in the ceramic production process that you might have overlooked.
10 Steps of Ceramic Production
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Design First, it must be clear what the "purpose of producing the piece is." The potter or designer must understand this objective to create beautiful and targeted work, combining knowledge of raw materials and ceramic production steps with perfect creativity.
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Material Preparation (Clay Body and Glaze) Raw materials such as clay, stone, minerals, and chemicals are tested for their chemical and physical properties both before and after firing. They are then washed, crushed, weighed, and mixed according to the desired clay body and glaze recipes. Afterward, they are wet-milled in a Ball Mill and filtered through screens to the specified fineness. If a particularly white clay body or glaze is desired, it must pass through an iron separator to remove impurities, resulting in high-quality slip and glaze ready for use.
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Forming & Molding Ceramic forming can be done in several ways, depending on the characteristics and properties of the clay body, including hand-building, machine forming, or casting using molds, which is very popular for mass production of ceramic mugs and tableware.
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Drying & Finishing After forming, the piece must be left to dry completely by air-drying or machine-drying. Once dry, some products may need to be trimmed and smoothed along the edges and surfaces, or have underglaze painting applied before being put into the kiln.
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Bisque Firing The completely dry piece is subjected to bisque firing to give it sufficient strength for the next steps. The firing temperature varies depending on the type and size of the ceramic work.
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Underglaze Decoration Pieces that have been bisque-fired are then decorated with patterns or various colors using underglaze, which will be durable and will not peel off after glazing.
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Glazing The piece (whether already underglaze painted or not) is then coated with ceramic glaze using various methods such as dipping, pouring, immersion, or spraying to achieve a consistent thickness.
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Glaze Firing The piece is fired at high temperatures to allow the glaze to melt and fuse with the clay body, creating a strong, waterproof surface, whether it's a glossy finish or an elegant matte surface.
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Overglaze Decoration For pieces that have been glaze-fired and require extra beauty, additional decoration can be applied using overglaze, such as gold line painting, highly detailed color painting, or applying logo decals onto ceramic mugs.
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Decal Firing Pieces with decals or overglaze applied are fired again in the kiln at an appropriate temperature to allow the colors and decals to melt and permanently fuse with the glass or ceramic body, preventing them from peeling off easily even after long use.