Duncan Overglazes Have a New

Look!

The labels on OG 801 Bright Gold, OG 802 White Gold, OG

805 Premium Gold, OG 803 Mother-of-Pearl and OA 901
Essence have been updated! These labels are compliant in both
the United States and Canada, eliminating OG 803C and OA
901C. The outside of the label contains all necessary warnings,
and peels back to reveal the inside of the label, which contains
the product directions.

Product Reformulation

In addition to their new appearance, OG 801 Bright Gold, OG

802 White Gold, and OG 805 Premium Gold have been
reformulated for improved performance! The product flows
beautifully from the brush, and the fired color finish is better
than ever! The improved consistency also allows you to get
more use from the 2 gram bottle. The unfired color of the
product has also changed slightly:

Unfired OG 801 Bright Gold is now brown (was red)

Unfired OG 802 White Gold remains green
Unfired OG 805 Premium Gold is now red (was brown)

No formula changes have been made to OG 803 Mother-of-

Pearl or OA 901 Essence.

Historical Information
Liquid Bright Gold (aka Fired Gold) has been used in the
ceramic industry since the early 1800's to decorate ceramic
wares with fine lines such as lettering as well as trimming the
rims and edges of dinnerware. In the last 100 years or so the
uses of Liquid Gold have expanded to other markets including
various electronics, aircraft, automotive and even aerospace
industries as gold is resistant to oxidation and the product is
easily applied and fused to the underlying heat tolerant
substrate. Please note, only the gold in the formulation is
resistant to oxidation, other metals present in the product
formulation may readily oxidize.

The primary suppliers of Liquid Gold over the past century

have been Degussa (Germany), Johnson Matthey (Great
Britain), Ferro (USA) and the Hanovia division of Engelhard
Industries (USA). When Engelhard was purchased by BASF in
2006, the Hanovia division was closed and Engelhard (BASF)
ceased manufacturing their Liquid Bright Gold and all other fired
overglaze products. The closing of Hanovia did cause a small
ripple through the ceramic arts. However, Duncan Enterprises
has used Johnson Matthey as their exclusive supplier for
overglaze products over the past several decades, Duncan (and
in turn Dogwood Ceramic Supply) was able to continue to offer
Liquid Bright Gold with no interruption.

The actual formula for every brand (Degussa, Matthey, Fusion

or Hanovia) of Liquid Bright Gold has traditionally been a
solution of gold dissolved into an organic acid and then
suspended into a thick solvent based solution for ease of
application. Additional heavy metals, such as chromium,
rhodium, indium and even platinum can be added to the gold
solution specifically to increase or improve the glossy
appearance, surface hardness, color and thickness of the fired
result as well as to increase the finished adhesion to the glaze or
glass substrate. These seemingly minor changes in the
formulation are quite important to the industrial applications of
the product. The actual amount of gold in the solution can
range from a small percentage to as much as 12%. The fired
product is often rated as 18 to 22 Karat in appearance, but
those values are subjective not analytically correct due to the
small amount of gold in the formula. In fact, out of side of a
few egotistical glory hounds needing to polish their ego's, a very
high gold content in the solution does not automatically yield a
better product because of firing and application issues.

Overglaze Information

Overglazes can only be applied to any glaze that is overglaze

compatible. For customer convenience, Duncan always marks
their glazes with an overglaze compatible (acceptable)
statement when the glaze is suitable for use with the Duncan
Overglazes. Some colored glazes by Duncan, especially glazes
containing trace amounts of copper, are not compatible for
usage with Overglazes and will be appropriately labeled by
Duncan. Most other glaze companies fail to mark their glazes
for overglaze compatibility, thus is it up to the final consumer to
determine overglaze compatibility.

Overglazes are a third firing product. Greenware must be

fired to bisque, glaze applied and fired to maturity before the
overglazes are applied and fired.

The following information is courtesy of Duncan Enterprises:

Application of Mother of Pearl

Basic Instructions:

1. Be sure that the surface of your piece is free of dust, skin oils and
lotions to ensure proper adhesion. Wipe surfaces with rubbing alcohol
prior to applying the overglaze (except when used over crackle glazes.).
2. Always apply with a brush that is designated solely for use with
Mother of Pearl to prevent contamination.
3. Do not stir or shake glaze.
4. Place a small amount of overglaze on a glazed palette.
5. For a swirled look, swirl on 1 coat, overlapping strokes.
6. For a smooth look, brush on all strokes in the same direction.
7. Correct application should produce a light blue tint.
8. Clean brush in Essence and let dry.
9. Overglazed ware can be fired while it is still wet. The kiln must be
clean, well-ventilated (do not overload) and follow a normal firing
schedule. Do not touch wet decoration and handle as little as possible
until ware is fired to avoid smudging.
10. Stilt and fire OG 803 Mother of Pearl to shelf cone 020.

Tips & Techniques:

1. The appearance of Mother of Pearl will vary with the type of glaze
over which it is applied. When applied over a gloss glaze, Mother of
Pearl will add a shiny luster. When applied over a matte glaze, Mother of
Pearl will add a dull luster.
2. If Mother of Pearl is accidentally applied on the wrong area, dip a
cotton swab in Essence and wipe off misplaced color.
3. If any areas are missed, go back and touch up before Mother of Pearl
dries.
4. If using a metallic overglaze and Mother of Pearl on the same piece,
apply and fire the metallic overglaze first.

Health & Safety:

1. Overglazes contain solvents and should be used in a well-ventilated

area. Those susceptible to odors (such as pregnant women) should be
especially careful to work only in areas with an adequate ventilation
system. During firing, odors are not dangerous but can be highly
offensive. These odors quickly leave the area; however, you should not
work in the kiln area during firing.
2. Duncan Overglazes can be used on surfaces that come into contact
with food and drink. Care must be taken to avoid hard scrubbing when
washing overglazed ware, because of the possibility of scraping off the
thin layer of metal or luster. Treat your overglazed pieces as you would
fine china. Although overglazed ware will take repeated washings in a
dishwasher, the overglaze will eventually wear away.

Application of Liquid Bright

Gold, White Gold and Premium
Gold

Basic Instructions
1. Be sure that the surface of your piece is free of dust, skin oils and
lotions to ensure proper adhesion. Wipe surfaces with rubbing alcohol
prior to applying the overglaze (except when used over crackle glazes.).
2. Always apply with a brush that is designated solely for use with Bright
Gold to prevent contamination.
3. Do not stir or shake glaze.
4. Place a small amount of overglaze on a glazed palette. Apply one
smooth coat. Do not let the Bright Gold pool in an area; brush it out
smoothly.
5. Correct application should produce a flag red tint.
6. Stilt and fire Bright Gold to shelf cone 019-018.
7. Clean brush in Essence and let dry.
8. Overglazed ware can be fired while it is still wet. The kiln must be
clean, well-ventilated (do not overload) and follow a normal firing
schedule. Do not touch wet decoration and handle as little as possible
until ware is fired to avoid smudging.

Tips & Techniques

1. The appearance of Bright Gold will vary with the type of glaze over
which it is applied. When applied over a gloss glaze, Bright Gold will be
shiny. When applied over a matte glaze, Bright Gold will be dull.
2. If Bright Gold is accidentally applied on the wrong area, dip a cotton
swab in Essence and wipe off misplaced color.
3. If any areas are missed, go back and touch up before Bright Gold
dries.
4. If using a metallic overglaze and Mother of Pearl on the same piece,
apply and fire the metallic overglaze first.
5. For solid coverage with Bright Gold, apply over a yellow glaze or a
yellow underglaze covered by clear glaze.

Health & Safety

1. Overglazes contain solvents and should be used in a well-ventilated

area. Those susceptible to odors (such as pregnant women) should be
especially careful to work only in areas with an adequate ventilation
system. During firing, odors are not dangerous but can be offensive.
These odors quickly leave the area; however, you should not work in the
kiln area during firing.
2. Duncan Overglazes can be used on surfaces that come into contact
with food and drink. Care must be taken to avoid hard scrubbing when
washing overglazed ware, because of the possibility of scraping off the
thin layer of metal or luster. Treat your overglazed pieces as you would
fine china. Although overglazed ware will take repeated washings in a
dishwasher, the overglaze will eventually wear away.
3. Caution. Do not place pieces with metallic overglazes into a
microwave oven. As with any metallic surface, they could cause sparks.

Essence

Basic Instructions

1. Swish overglaze brush in solvent until bristles are free of product.

Wipe on paper towel.

Tips & Techniques

1. Use a separate bottle of Essence for each overglaze product. Mark the
bottles according to which overglaze product was used. Contamination
can result if brushes and/or Essence used with one product come in
contact with brushes and/or Essence used with another. For example, if
you use Bright Gold and clean your brush in one bottle of Essence, then
clean a brush used with Mother of Pearl in that same bottle of Essence,
contamination will result and compromise all subsequent firings.

Health & Safety

1. Caution. Flammable. Harmful or fatal if swallowed. Vapor may irritate
eyes, skin, and mucous membranes. Contains organic solvents. If
swallowed, call a physician. Use in well-ventilated area. Keep out of
reach of children.

Hanovia Liquid Bright Golds & Platinums

For many years Bright Gold & Platinum have been used for decorating glass and
glazed ceramics. The application and firing of bright gold is reasonably simple.
The ware should be perfectly clean and dry. Dust and dirt should be avoided as
much as possible to pre¬vent impurities on the fired film.
Use the gold as supplied - it is not necessary to shake the bottle before use. The
most popular way of applying gold and platinum is with a soft brush and the
decorator thus has the opportunity to apply lines, bands or freehand patterns. The
brushing properties of the liquid metals are such that the correct deposit is
obtained without undue spreading. At the same time it should not be applied so
thickly that there is a tendency for the film to run down during the firing. It
applied too heavily the gold or platinum will tend to fire out with a scummed
finish and may even blister on. If applied too thinly it will have a purple tint after
firing. It is often worth keeping an unfired sample for reference so that it can be
compared with the fired results.
In firing, it is essential to have good ventilation which is best obtained by leaving
the kiln door open slightly until the gold has "smoked off", and this will be
achieved by the time the kiln approaches a dull red heat. Without adequate
ventilation the metallic film will fire out giving a finish which is neither
attractive nor durable. This is particularly evident when large quantities of pieces
are fired close together. If difficulties of this type are experienced then the rate of
firing should be slowed down and the ventilation increased. Earthenware, china
and porcelain should be given a firing corresponding with the hardness of the
glaze. If under-fired the metallic film will wipe off and if over-fired it will sink
into the glaze and look dull or cracked.
The ideal firing method and temperature for gold and platinum in any particular
kiln is the same as for hanovia Lustres and is best determined by experience. The
following temperature ranges will be useful as an initial guide.
Earthenware 640-740°C
Bone China 680-760°C
Porcelain 760-820°C