Honey Crystal
KI-68
Honey Crystal is a glossy brush-on glaze from Amaco's Kiln Ice line, fired cone 5 to cone 6.
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The quick version of Honey Crystal
What this glaze does
A warm, golden, buttery yellow. The warmest glaze in a line that otherwise runs cold, and it sits particularly well over a buff body.
Clays that suit Honey Crystal
Amaco fires this line's own sample tiles on No.32 Dark Chocolate clay at cone 5, and says the crackle shows best over brown and buff bodies.
Applying this glaze to your work
Three to four coats, and Amaco says heavier than a normal coat. Several brushed layers work better than one very thick one. A thin application is the usual reason the crackle does not show.
Three to four coats, and Amaco says heavier than you would normally brush. Several brushed layers beat one thick one.
Thin application is the usual reason a Kiln Ice pot comes out looking like nothing much happened.
From The Clay Hole University
More info about Honey Crystal below, but first... Everything we teach about glazing, written down and taught properly. These are the glaze lessons, and they are a small corner of a library that runs from centering your first pot to selling your work.
GuideGlaze Brushing Techniques, Coat by Coat
GuideGlazing Big and Intricate Pottery Faster
GuideGetting the Most Out of the Mega Glaze Tool
GuideMaking, Logging and Dialing in Test Tiles
GuideGlaze Problems, Causes and Fixes
GuideGlazing on the Wheel for Even Coats and Clean Bands
GuideBubble Glaze with Dish Soap
GuideMixing Your Own Glazes: What It Actually Involves
GuideMaking a Glaze Catcher
GuideGetting Great Results with Crystalline Glazes
GuideOxide and Carbonate Washes
GuideWhen to Use Celadon Glazes
GuideHow to Use Dipping Glazes
RakuRaku Firing: Techniques, Tips and How It Works
UnderglazeHow to Use Underglaze: Techniques, Rules and Firing
UnderglazeMishima: How to Inlay Slip and Underglaze into Carved Lines
UnderglazeWipe-Away Texture: Underglaze and Oxide Washes on Bisque
Firing Honey Crystal
Amaco rates the Kiln Ice line for cone 5 and cone 6, published as 2167F and 2232F on a medium speed firing, over bisque fired to cone 04.
None of this is yours to manage. We handle everything on the kiln side, and every glaze on our shelves can be fired safely in our studio.
Common problems with Honey Crystal
Why is my pot covered in fine cracks?
That is the glaze doing its job. Kiln Ice is modeled on Guan ware and the crack network is the effect.
Why does mine look pale and plain?
Almost certainly too thin. Amaco calls for three to four heavier than normal coats.
Can I drink from it?
Amaco does not recommend this line for food or drink surfaces. Use it on the outside.
Food and function
Amaco rates the line lead free and food safe as a material, and still does not recommend it for surfaces that touch food or drink, because a crazed surface is not durable enough for it. Keep it to the outside of pots and to sculpture.
Amaco rates these lead free and food safe as a material, and still does not recommend them for surfaces that touch food or drink, because a crazed surface is not durable enough for it.
Use this line on the outside of pots, on sculpture, and on anything that will not be eaten from. Amaco also puts a cautionary label on it restricting use to above grade 6.
Our test tile pots
Every glaze family on our shelves has its own test tile pot, and it is the fastest way to decide what to put on a piece. It is a fired pot wearing the whole family, one numbered tile per glaze, on a surface built to show you what that glaze actually does rather than just what color it is.
- 1Find the pot The brand and family name are written on the rim. This glaze lives on the Amaco Kiln Ice pot.
- 2Find the tile This one is tile #6. The numbers match the ones in the Glaze Bible.
- 3Read it properly Look at what the glaze does across all four textures, not just what color it is.
What to look at on the tile
Some glazes tell you loudly that they run. Others hide it. Look at how the brushed lines fired: crisp edges mean a stable glaze, and edges that went soft and fluid mean it moved, and it will move on your pot too.
About the Amaco Kiln Ice Family
Kiln Ice is Amaco's crackle line, modeled after Guan ware from the Southern Song dynasty. Every glaze in it crazes on purpose.
The glaze itself is translucent and goes slightly opaque along the cracks, so you end up looking through one surface at another. Amaco says the effect reads strongest over brown and buff clay.
Six glazes, all translucent, all crackled. Amaco released these as a mid-fire line rated for cone 5 and cone 6 over cone 04 bisque. The crazing is the product, not a fault. That is worth saying plainly, because a crackle glaze is a network of hairline cracks and those cracks are why Amaco does not recommend this line for food surfaces.
More ways to pick a glaze
Membership levels that may use this glaze: Black
Not sure whether this glaze suits what you are making, or how it works with our system here? Ask an instructor. That is what we are here for, and a two minute conversation at the shelf beats a fired pot you did not want.
About these images and what your pot will actually look like
We have done our best to represent every glaze here accurately, and you should still expect your pot to look different from what is on this screen.
Our glaze tile images are digitally created. They are built to show the character of a glaze, not to be a color match.
A screen is not a printout, a printout is not a test tile, and a test tile is not a finished pot. Each step in that chain shifts what a glaze looks like, sometimes a lot.
On top of that, the pottery itself changes the result: the clay body, how thick the glaze went on, whether it was brushed, dipped or sprayed, what was layered under or over it, where the piece sat in the kiln, how hot that spot ran, how fast it cooled, what was fired next to it, and how much texture the surface had. Two pots glazed from the same jar on the same day can come out different.
Treat every image here as a starting point, and treat a test tile fired on your own clay as the real answer.