Plainsman Clays | SPOD
Spodumene
Spodumene is a lithium mineral that also contains alumina and silica, so it is used in a recipe as a glass former and not just as a flux. It barely dissolves in water, and it gives off almost no gas.
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Spodumene supplies lithium to a glaze or a body already combined with alumina and silica, so it can make up a large share of a recipe instead of being added at a few parts in a hundred. Lithium is a powerful flux, and of the alkalis it lowers thermal expansion the most, which makes spodumene useful for improving glaze fit and thermal shock resistance. Because it changes expansion so effectively, a heavy substitution into an existing recipe is worth testing first, since the fit can shift a long way. Spodumene barely dissolves, so the lithium stays in a stored glaze, and almost none of it off gasses during the firing.
- A lithium mineral that also contains alumina and silica
- Lithium is a powerful flux and the lowest expansion of the alkalis
- Is not water soluble
- Helps lower overall melting temperature and viscosity of glass/glaze mixtures
- Aids in increasing thermal shock resistance
- Enhances strength and durability mechanically and chemically
- Helps to eliminate crazing
