Hydra Scale

MBG220

⬛ Black LevelUp-charge

Hydra Scale is a glossy brush-on glaze from Coyote's Fantasy line, fired cone 5 to cone 6.

GlossyOpaqueCone 5/6
Available at The Clay HoleYes
Test tile
Fired pot
Fantasy family
Find it on the glazes shelves Shelf 2, Row 2Tile #8 on the Fantasy pot
Show me where

The quick version of Hydra Scale

TypeBrush-on glaze
FinishGlossy
OpacityOpaque
Shows textureNot especially
Glaze fire toCone 5/6
Bisque toCone 04

What this glaze does

Coyote has not published a description for this one. On our shelf it is recorded as teal, gray, blue, green, glossy and opaque, and the tile photo above is a fired sample from our own kiln.

Coyote says these vary dramatically depending on the clay body, how thickly they go on, and in some cases the firing. They can be runny, and Coyote asks that you test carefully.

Clays that suit Hydra Scale

Coyote names the clay body as one of the three things that change a Fantasy glaze, alongside thickness and firing.

Test firstBecause the body matters this much, a tile on your clay is worth the ten minutes.
Light bodies#16 Porcelain, B-Mix and Half & Half read closest to Coyote's own photographs.
Dark bodiesBerlin Gray will change these more than any other choice on the shelf.
RunningCoyote says these can be runny. Keep them off the foot.
Worth knowingCoyote says crystals can form in the liquid glaze if it is stored below 65F.
Blocks of clay in the studio at The Clay Hole The complete guide to clay bodies What each body is made of and how it behaves under a glaze. The clay bodies we stock at The Clay Hole The clays we carry Every body on our shelf, with bag sizes and prices.

Applying this glaze to your work

Thickness changes these more than most, and so does the clay under them. Coyote says to test carefully, which is unusually direct for a maker describing its own line.

They can run, so keep them up off the foot.

Across the Fantasy line

Thickness changes these more than most, and so does the clay under them. Coyote says to test carefully, which is unusually direct for a maker describing its own line.

They can run, so keep them up off the foot.

Layering

The variation in this line comes from the glaze, the clay and the firing rather than from layering. Test a tile before committing a pot to a combination.

Before you commit a pot

The variation in this line comes from the glaze, the clay and the firing rather than from layering. Test a tile before committing a pot to a combination.

From The Clay Hole University

More info about Hydra Scale 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.

Glaze Brushing Techniques, Coat by Coat GuideGlaze Brushing Techniques, Coat by Coat Glazing Big and Intricate Pottery Faster GuideGlazing Big and Intricate Pottery Faster Getting the Most Out of the Mega Glaze Tool GuideGetting the Most Out of the Mega Glaze Tool Making, Logging and Dialing in Test Tiles GuideMaking, Logging and Dialing in Test Tiles Glaze Problems, Causes and Fixes GuideGlaze Problems, Causes and Fixes Glazing on the Wheel for Even Coats and Clean Bands GuideGlazing on the Wheel for Even Coats and Clean Bands Bubble Glaze with Dish Soap GuideBubble Glaze with Dish Soap Mixing Your Own Glazes: What It Actually Involves GuideMixing Your Own Glazes: What It Actually Involves Making a Glaze Catcher GuideMaking a Glaze Catcher Oxide and Carbonate Washes GuideOxide and Carbonate Washes When to Use Celadon Glazes GuideWhen to Use Celadon Glazes How to Use Dipping Glazes GuideHow to Use Dipping Glazes How to Use Underglaze: Techniques, Rules and Firing UnderglazeHow to Use Underglaze: Techniques, Rules and Firing Mishima: How to Inlay Slip and Underglaze into Carved Lines UnderglazeMishima: How to Inlay Slip and Underglaze into Carved Lines Wipe-Away Texture: Underglaze and Oxide Washes on Bisque UnderglazeWipe-Away Texture: Underglaze and Oxide Washes on Bisque
Browse all 170+ lessons and guides

Firing Hydra Scale

Coyote fires these between witness cone 5 and witness cone 6, which is where our glaze kilns run.

If you are a member here

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 Hydra Scale

Why does mine look nothing like the photo?

Coyote says the Fantasy glazes vary dramatically with the clay body, the thickness and sometimes the firing. Three variables at once is why they ask you to test carefully.

Why did mine run?

Coyote says these can be runny. Keep them up off the foot.

Why is there no description on some of these?

Coyote has not published one for several of the newer colors. Where that is true we say so rather than invent something, and the fired tile photo is the most reliable thing on the page.

Why does the jar look crystallized?

Coyote says crystals can form in the liquid glaze if it is stored below 65F.

Food and function

Coyote has its recipes reviewed by an independent toxicologist and none of them use lead. They ask that you test your own finished ware for food safety, and given how much this line varies that is worth doing.

Across the Fantasy line

Coyote has its recipes reviewed by an independent toxicologist and none of them use lead. They ask that you test your own finished ware for food safety, and given how much this line varies that is worth doing.

Test tile pots lined up on the glaze shelves at The Clay Hole

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.

  1. 1Find the pot The brand and family name are written on the rim. This glaze lives on the Coyote Fantasy pot.
  2. 2Find the tile This one is tile #8. The numbers match the ones in the Glaze Bible.
  3. 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

Broad vertical textureA broad open surface. Shows the color at full strength, and whether the glaze travels down it.
Shallow textureA shallow swirl stamp. Shows whether light carving still reads once the glaze is on, or fills in and vanishes.
Deep textureCut lines. A deeply rough texture stripe. Shows where the glaze pools, how it breaks, and how dark it goes in the recesses.
Wipe-away textureGlaze wiped back to bare clay. Shows what the edge does where the coat runs thin. Find this wiped away on the tile's number.
One trick worth knowing

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 Coyote Fantasy Family

Seventeen glazes named after things that do not exist, and they behave about as predictably as that suggests.

Coyote says the Fantasy glazes vary dramatically with the clay body, the thickness of application and sometimes the firing, and that they can be runny. They ask you to test carefully, which is good advice.

Seventeen glazes, fired between witness cone 5 and witness cone 6. This is Coyote's newest line and the least settled. Some of these have a full description from Coyote and some do not, so where it has not published one we say so instead of filling the gap.

All Fantasy glazesAll Coyote glazes
Fantasy family

More ways to pick a glaze

The Mega Glaze Tool Every glaze we carry, filtered by level, color, sheen and more. The Glaze Finder Type a name and see exactly where it sits on our wall. Clay Hole University Glazing lessons, from brushing to dipping to layering. Download the PDF The whole printed Bible, in one file.

Membership levels that may use this glaze: Black (extra up-charge required)

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.

How membership levels work Back to the Glaze Bible
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.

Download the PDF