Fine cracks resulting from shrinkage on the surface of glazed pottery, concrete, or other material
Tiny cracks in the finish film, usually along the edges of a surface Caused by the finish drying too fast in high temperatures
Small hairline cracks in glazed surfaces that usually appear after firing but can appear years later It is caused by a mismatch in the thermal expansions of glaze and body A glaze of higher expansion shrinks more than the clay to which it is attached and therefore crazes There are many treat-the-symptoms approaches to crazing but the bottom line is: If there is a thermal mismatch it will reveal itself sooner or later no matter how you adjust firing or glaze thickness to hide the problem If crazing is visible, it is an indication of a significant problem This is because long before crazing becomes visible, serious strength problems result where glaze and clay are not expansion-compatible See the Magic of Fire book for many chapters on dealing with crazing Ceramic calculations are very useful in dealing with crazing and the INSIGHT manual has an example of dealing with a specific problem
A series of hairline cracks in the surface of weathered materials, having a web-like appearance Also, hairline cracks in pre-finished metals caused by bending or forming (see brake metal)
Development of fine cracks on the surface of a plastic part, sometimes extending into the body of the material Can be caused by exposure of an unstabilized polymer to ultraviolet light or chemical attack
Fine cracks on the surface of the paint Can be caused by old age, or recoating a synthetic paint before the finish coat has dried properly Also, an excessive delay in applying a second coat of synthetic where the first coat has started to cure
Also referred to as "crackle" and "spiderwebbing", it is considered a defect in the glaze brought about by a difference in the amount of shrinking in the clay and the glaze Usually undesirable, it is sometime used as a decorative element, but should be avoided for pieces intended for dinnerware and kitchenware See also glaze
A defect in clayware glaze consisting of a network of tiny cracks caused by the difference in the rates of expansion and contraction between body and glaze It is almost the same in appearance as deliberate crackling
Fine cracks which may extend in a network on or under the surface of , or throughout, a film layer or adhesive or on surfaces of glazed materials such as glass, plastics, and painted or enameled surfaces
The admired crackle in some Oriental potteries and porcelains is crazing produced in a foreseen and regulated way
- Tiny cracks in the finish film, usually along the edges of a surface Caused by the finish drying too fast in high temperatures
Crazing is the phenomenon manifested by slight breaks in the surface The break should be called a "crack" if the underlying surface is visible For precision evaluation, crazing is described as "microscopic crazing" (as observed with a stated magnification, minimum), "visible crazing" (as seen at close range with the naked eye, 12 inches), and as "distant crazing" (as seen at 3 feet with the naked eye)
minute lines appearing in or near the surface of materials such as plastics, usually resulting as a response to environment Crazing cannot be felt by running a fingernail across it (if the fingernail catches , it is a crack)
fine cracking of the glaze finish This generally occurs as a result of differential thermal expansion and contraction of the body/glaze Whilst modern production techniques permit a good 'fit' of the glaze to the body and tests are available to verify craze resistance (see below) it is important to remember that to achieve a good colour match compromises sometimes have to be made in regard to its performance characteristics However it is equally true that crazing is not always inevitable, at least not in the short term
Unlike alligatoring which is deep cracking, crazing is fine close set cracking, usually the result of drying of an non-elastic finish coat