Bone China
Bone China
Bone china first appeared in the region of Stoke-on-Trent during the eighteenth century. It contains bone ash (calcined, pulverized animal bones) as its main ingredient. Highly prized for being translucent, the material is strong and dense allowing very delicate shapes to be made.
Bone china undergoes a biscuit firing of 1200 to 1250oC, when significant melting of the material takes place. At this point, the items are very soft and easily deformed, so must be carefully supported to retain their shape. IPS Ceramics offer:-
- Custom designed profile setters to suit your flatware.
- A range of cup-rings to suit most sizes of mugs and cups
Subsequent glost and decorating firings are usually carried out at lower temperatures where IPS Ceramics offers a full range of T-cranks, Y-cranks and pin-crank systems.
Most sanitaryware made today is once-fired to temperatures between 1200 and 1280oC (2200-2340oF). Items are large and heavy which places significant structural demands on the kiln furniture used. The kiln furniture must be physically strong enough to withstand the car loading operation, which is normally done by hand. The refractory material must also have a low creep rate so that the supports stay straight after prolonged use. Any bending of the supports would allow the ware to distort causing it to be rejected.
IPS Ceramics was probably the first company to supply large extruded batts for sanitaryware firing. Over the last 20 years, kiln car systems based on a framework of silicon carbide posts and beams supporting extruded cordierite batts have become the de-facto standard design for firing sanitaryware in most parts of the world. As well as giving excellent life, these ‘open’ designs provide maximum placing flexibility.
IPS Ceramics offers a full range of kiln furniture for sanitaryware applications:-
- SiSiC beams – sized to match your particular car loading and up to 2.5m in length
- Extruded cordierite batts – surface ground on both faces to ensure perfect flatness
- Custom-designed vanity basin setters
- Shower tray supports
- Cast stools and other setting supports