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The Clay Hole University · Glazing

Making, Logging and Dialing In Glaze Test TilesPrintable pottery guide

Test tiles on paper: the tile shapes that tell the truth, a batch cut from one slab, a number that survives the kiln, a row of glaze that changes one thing at a time, and a log that turns the results into answers you can use.

$7.005 guides, 1 free
  • Skill level: Beginner
  • 25 printable pages
  • 6 video picks
  • 7-question quiz + answer key

Flip through the free sample
  • Instant download
  • Prints on any printer
  • The lesson stays free
The printable, at a glance

What is the Making, Logging and Dialing In Glaze Test Tiles printable guide?

It is the free “Making, Logging and Dialing in Test Tiles” lesson rebuilt for paper: when the studio’s own tiles are enough and when only yours will do, three tile shapes that answer honestly and two that lie, a batch of thirty from one slab, numbering that outlasts the kiln, glazing in rows, the log, and the one change at a time rule for dialing a result in. Built to be printed, kept beside the glaze wall and written in.

Prefer to read it online first? The “Making, Logging and Dialing in Test Tiles” lesson is free, and always will be.

  • 25printable pages, US Letter
  • 7quiz questions, with a full answer key
  • 6hand-picked videos, each with a QR code
  • 15glossary terms in plain language
  • 2workbook pages you fill in yourself
For anyone who has ever fired a batch of tiles and could not say which was which

A tile is only as good as the notes you kept.

Making a test tile takes an afternoon. What sends people back to the start is everything after it: the tile with no number, the two changes that muddied the answer, the glaze that looked wonderful and was never written down. The kiln did its job. The record did not.

The guide puts the whole practice in one place. It says which tile shapes give an honest answer and which two lie, how to cut a batch from a single slab, how to put a number on the back that is still there after the firing, how to set a row so every tile changes exactly one thing, and what to write for each one while you still remember.

It also gives you the thing a web page cannot: a log you write in. The number, the clay, the glazes and coats in the order they went on, where it was fired, and one line on what you thought. After a few batches you stop asking the kiln the same question twice.

Look inside

Real pages, for a glaze wall

These are actual pages from the guide, shown here with the sample watermark.

  • Page 3 of the “Making, Logging and Dialing In Glaze Test Tiles” printable guide: before you begin, shown with the sample watermark
    Before you beginOne page before you roll a slab: what you will learn, what to have with you, what is worth knowing, the common pitfalls, and what a good result looks like.
  • Page 6 of the “Making, Logging and Dialing In Glaze Test Tiles” printable guide: the shapes, and step one, shown with the sample watermark
    The shapes, and step oneThree tile shapes that answer honestly and two that lie, then the first step: one slab, thirty tiles, strips scored and bent so they stand.
  • Page 13 of the “Making, Logging and Dialing In Glaze Test Tiles” printable guide: when it goes wrong, shown with the sample watermark
    When it goes wrongEvery fault gets three lines: what happened, what to do next time, and what to do about the piece in your hand.
  • Page 18 of the “Making, Logging and Dialing In Glaze Test Tiles” printable guide: every tile, and what it told you, shown with the sample watermark
    Every tile, and what it told youA log to write in: the clay and glazes, the coats and order, when it was fired, and a verdict with the next change.
Flip through the free sampleTen pages, free, no email required.
Why this one belongs on paper

A numbering system and a log are things you keep beside you

Tiles get made at a table, glazed at a table and read at a table. Paper suits all three.

  • The whole practice on one page

    The batch, the number, the row and the log sit together on a single reference page you can pin up beside the glaze wall.

  • A log that is already ruled

    Columns for the tile, the clay and glazes, the coats and their order, when it was fired and a verdict with the next change. You only have to fill it in.

  • Tick lists for every step

    Each of the five steps ends in a short tick list, so you can check a batch off before it goes anywhere near the kiln.

  • It does not mind clay on your hands

    A page stays where you put it. It does not lock its screen while you are holding a needle tool, and it can be written on with the tile in the other hand.

How this one is built

Rebuilt for paper, not printed from a web page

Every guide in the series is set from scratch for print. Here is what that meant for this one.

  • Read against the studio’s own rules

    We checked the lesson against The Clay Hole’s FAQs, our certification pages and our other lessons. Where the lesson was out of step, the guide now says what those pages say.

  • Every tile goes on a cookie

    The lesson now says a kiln cookie or glaze catcher goes under every tile, and that staff load every kiln, so a reader at the studio knows what they control.

  • A batch on one cookie

    The firing advice used to say a batch of tiles is that many pieces. The guide now matches our FAQs: several small tiles that fit on one kiln cookie are fired as one piece.

  • Underglaze goes through the bisque first

    A row that tests an underglaze stripe now says the stripe goes on the raw tile and is bisque fired before any glaze goes over it, never onto bisque.

  • Video notes that say what the videos cover

    Six videos, each with a note rewritten to what its description and chapters actually show, and a code that opens it.

  • A quiz that explains itself

    A short quiz, and an answer key that gives the reason behind every answer rather than only the letter.

Why the University is free

The lesson is free. It always will be.

All of the teaching in this guide comes from the free “Making, Logging and Dialing in Test Tiles” lesson, and that lesson is not going anywhere.

Most of us find out how a glaze behaves by spoiling a pot with it. A tile is how you find out with a little clay and a place in the firing.

Make a batch, keep the notebook, and read it before you glaze anything big. You will be glad you did.

Dan Pearce, founder of The Clay Hole
The series

Build a little pottery library

Every printable guide in The Clay Hole University series takes one free lesson and rebuilds it for paper, with workbook pages, a glossary and a quiz with a worked answer key. Each one keeps its number for good, so a guide you buy today is the same guide in the same place next year.

Put any five printable guides in your cart and the cheapest one is on us. Put in nine and the two cheapest are on us. It happens automatically at checkout, no code to remember.

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Sits next to

Three lessons that pick up where this one leaves off

Each one is free to read online, and the codes in the guide take you straight there.

Questions

Good to know

How is this different from the free lesson?
The teaching is the same, and the free lesson is not going anywhere. The guide is that teaching rebuilt for paper: a learning dashboard at the front, a log to write in, a one page summary, a glossary and a quiz with an answer key that explains every answer.
Is this only for people who work at The Clay Hole?
No. Tiles, numbers, rows and a log suit any studio, wherever it is. Where a rule is only ours, such as how tiles are loaded and fired here, the guide says so, so you can tell a Clay Hole rule from a fact of the craft.
Do I need to make tiles to use the glaze wall?
No. For choosing a glaze off the wall, the studio’s own tiles are already made. The guide is for the questions they cannot answer: two glazes together, a different number of coats, a texture, an underglaze, a different clay, or a glaze mixed at home.
Is this too early for me?
It is marked Beginner. You need clay, a slab roller and the patience to change one thing at a time. The glossary fills in the vocabulary.
What do I need besides clay and glaze?
A ruler, a knife, a straw for the hole, a needle tool or number stamps, and somewhere to keep the log. The dashboard lists it all.
Do I need a fancy printer?
No. It is set for an ordinary home or office printer on regular US Letter paper, with nothing important near the edges, so normal printer margins cut nothing off.
Does it print in black and white?
Yes. Nothing in it depends on color to make sense: the text, the tick boxes and the log are black on white, and color is used for headings and small labels.
Can I use it on a screen instead?
You can, and the codes in the guide open the videos and lessons from a phone. The log and the one page summary are meant for paper, though, because that is where you can write a number down with a tile in your other hand.
Can I print just part of it?
Yes, and most people do. The one page summary and the log are the two worth having beside the glaze wall. They are numbered pages like any other, so you can print those and leave the rest on a screen.
How does delivery work?
It is a digital download. The link arrives by email and on the order confirmation page right after checkout, so you can have it printed and beside you the same evening.
What happens if the guide is updated?
Every edition carries its version number on the last page. When we correct or improve one, the new edition replaces the old one in the shop, and we can send the updated link to anybody who already bought it.
Can I share it?
It is licensed for your own use. Print as many copies for yourself as you like, on as many of your own devices as you like. Please do not pass the file on, upload it or use it with a class or a group without asking us first.

Make a batch, number it, write it down

Cut the tiles, put a number on the back, change one thing in each row and write a line for every one. The guide keeps the whole practice in front of you at the wall.

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Depending on what you are doing, ceramics may involve extreme heat, kilns, electricity, gas, flame, sharp tools, spinning machinery, heavy equipment, pressurized equipment, silica-containing dust, fumes, chemicals, raw materials, stains, oxides, glazes, combustible materials, hot surfaces, breakable objects, and other hazards capable of causing serious injury, illness, property damage, fire, or worse.

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