A Triaxial Blend is a group of glazed and fired ceramic tiles that are arranged in a triangle. The tiles show the effect of combining different percentages of three different glazes.
Example of a 6 tile Triaxial Blend
This example of a Triaxial Blend will show the effects of combining Glaze A, Glaze B and Glaze C on 6 test tiles.
The final Triaxial Blend will be displayed in the following pattern:
The tiles on the points of the triangle will show the full glazes.
The top point (position 1) will be glazed with 100% of Glaze A. The left point (position 4) will be glazed with 100% of Glaze B. The right point (position 6) will be glazed with 100% of Glaze C.
The tiles in between will be mixtures
Position 2 will be a combination of Glaze A and Glaze B Position 3 will be a combination of Glaze A and Glaze C Position 5 will be a combination of Glaze B and Glaze C
This is the diagram of the final glaze combinations:
Explanation of the 6-Tile Triaxial Blend
In a 6 tile Triaxial Blend you are really combining 50% of each glaze in every possible combination to make 100%. So, tile 1 is just 50% A + 50% A, making 100% A. Tile 2 is just 50% A + 50% B making 100% of a new glaze. And so on.
Here are all the possible combinations of 50% glazes that add up to 100%
Combination 1: 50 A + 50 A Combination 2: 50 A + 50 B Combination 3: 50 A + 50 C Combination 4: 50 B + 50 B Combination 5: 50 B + 50 C Combination 6: 50 C + 50 C
There are 6 possible combinations! Perfect to display in the 6 tile Triaxial Blend!
Explanation of a 10 tile Triaxial Blend
The 6 tile Triaxial Blend shows the effect of mixing 50% of each of the three glazes. In this case, you cannot show the effect of mixing all three glazes together. That would be 50% A + 50% B + 50% C making 150%! You only show glazes adding to 100% so this tile would not be shown.
So, to show the effects of mixing all three glazes you need to show the case of 33.3% change (where 33.3 = 100 divided by 3). In this case you could show 33.3% A + 33.3% B + 33.3% C to make 99.9% (from now on we will call 99.9% 100%).
In the 33.3% mix we have the following possible combinations to get 100% glazes
Combination 1: 33.3% A + 33.3% A + 33.3% A Combination 2: 33.3% A + 33.3% A + 33.3% B Combination 3: 33.3% A + 33.3% A + 33.3% C Combination 4: 33.3% A + 33.3% B + 33.3% C Combination 5: 33.3% B + 33.3% B + 33.3% B Combination 6: 33.3% B + 33.3% B + 33.3% A Combination 7: 33.3% B + 33.3% B + 33.3% C Combination 8: 33.3% C + 33.3% C + 33.3% C Combination 9: 33.3% C + 33.3% C + 33.3% A Combination 10: 33.3% C + 33.3% C + 33.3% B
Here is the combination diagram for the 10 Tile, 33.3% Triaxial Blend.
Explanation of the larger Triaxial Blend
Now, suppose you want to see the effects of even more subtle changes. We will now explain how to make a Triaxial Blend of any size.
First pick the fraction of the change you want to see. For example, maybe you want to see 1/10th of a change in each glaze.
1/10th = 10%. So you would take 10% of each glaze and make all the possible combinations of 10 to make 100%.
You can use the following equations to show the percentages of each glaze for any sized Triaxial Blend. In the formulas, ChangePercent is the percentage you choose initially to alter each glaze. RowNum is the current row in the Triaxial Blend, starting with 1. ColumnNum is the number of the tile in the row. The first tile in each row will be ColumnNum1 and so on.
Use the following equation to find how many rows the triangle will have
RowCount = (100 / ChangePercent ) + 1
You may have noticed that each row contains one more tile than the previous row. So, to find the total number of tiles in any Triaxial Blend, you just take the summation of the number of rows.
TileCount = sum from 1 to row count of n
To show a few examples, we will use the 1/10th case. So, ChangePercent = 10 RowCount = (100 / ChangePercent + 1) = 11 TileCount = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 10 + 11 = 66
Lets find the percentage of each glaze for the top tile (this is an easy one and should show that it is all the A glaze)
Now, you can compute all of the percentages for any sized Triaxial Blend. Or, you can just let us do the work for you by using the Triaxial Blend Calculator!
So, I can compute the percentages of each glaze, but how do I actually mix the Triaxial Blend?
Ok, here is how I actually mix the glazes. If you have never mixed a glaze before, you need to learn how first at How to Mix a Glaze.
If you have mixed glazes before, this will be simple. First pick three glazes to make the blend. Then, pick the percentage increase you want to use. For this example, we will use ¼ or 25% increase.
This means that there will be 5 rows and 1+2+3+4+5 = 15 tiles. I figure that each tile needs about 50 grams of dry material to glaze effectively. So, we need 15 * 50 = 750 grams total split between the three glazes.
So we will mix 750 / 3 = 250 grams of each glaze.
So, first I would mix 250 grams of each glaze and store the dry material for each in three separate, LABELED containers (believe me, it is important to label the containers. It is amazing how fast you can loose track of what glaze is what when they are not labeled).
Now, I use the Triaxial Blend Calculator to give me the percentages of each glaze for each tile (also, see How To Make Test Tiles to see how to prepare and bisque fire your test tiles).
Now, I go from tile to tile and get the percentage needed for each. Remember, we are allowing for 50 grams of material for each tile. I can get the amount of each glaze from the Triaxial Blend Calculator or just multiply the percentage (as a decimal) with 50 to get the gram amount needed.
Now I mix the three glazes in a cup by the amount of grams needed and then I add water. Notice that I do not add water before dividing up the glazes. (You could add water and mix all three glazes first. But, if you do this make sure you add exactly 250 MLs (milliliters) of water to each glaze and mix them. Do not add different amounts of water to each glaze or the proportion of dry material will not be the same. Then weigh out the percentage of wet glazes and mix them together. Each ML is one gram, so use 100 grams as the total amount, not 50 grams to find the proportions).
Next, I stir in water until it is the right consistency (see How to Mix a Glaze) . And I sieve the glaze twice through a Hand Seive .
I use bowl tiles (see How to Make Test Tiles ) First, I mark the number of the tile on the back with an Underglaze Pencil. You can mark it any way you want just so you can tell what the tile number is after it is fired. So, I just pour the glaze in the bowl and pour it out.
Now I fire the tiles! And keep your eye out for great new glazes!
When you get a tile you like, use the Triaxial Blend Calculator to get the recipe and use it on your pots!
Visitor Comments
Diane
2/25/2007 11:22:14 AM
Irvine
You should have larger images so that we can read the percentages.
TriaxialBlend
2/26/2007 12:11:45 AM
Irvine
Thanks for the comment Diane. We make the images larger. Also, when you click the images you now get a super large image! Hope this helps-WebMaster
Joe
2/28/2007 12:00:00 AM
New Hampshire
Wow
TriaxialBlend
2/28/2007 8:42:05 PM
Irvine
Yes....Wow
Scott
3/13/2007 2:11:59 PM
LA Area
Nice site. I like the Triaxial Blend Calculator. However, is there a way to just enter in the text version of the glaze recipe instead of having to enter each one at a time? This would be a great time saver. Thanks
Scott
3/13/2007 2:15:56 PM
LA Area
Oh...also, often Triaxail Blends are done to show the changes in specific materials in one glaze. For example, I may take a glaze and alter the silica...see what happens. You should make a tool to do this as well. Thanks.
Scott
3/13/2007 2:16:44 PM
LA Area
Me again....is there a way to contact the Triaxial Blend webmaster through email? Thanks.
TriaxialBlend
3/13/2007 4:11:23 PM
Irvine
Hi Scott...good idea and....good idea. You can email me at triaxialblend@gmail.com.
potter
8/22/2007 3:31:33 PM
Do you know how to do the four sided bend?
TriaxialBlend
8/23/2007 8:54:06 AM
Irvine
Hi Potter, I think I do....if you are talking about the 5 * 7 rectangle blend. This method was developed by Ian Currie and is commonly called the "Ian Currie Method". He has a nice site and a calculator.....his site was actually a great influence on me to build this site. You can also buy his book there. http://ian.currie.to/ I will contact him and see if he wants me to explain the method here. Thanks
Paul
7/28/2008 3:08:30 AM
Perth (Aus)
Hi Useful calculator however I'm getting an error message when I click on the convert to recipe button. Thanks
