Porcelain Buttons - How Can We Make It ?

We wear buttons everyday without thinking how it's made. Porcelain is traditional and a little bit special. See how you can make it by your own ! :)

Step 1: Follow the Steps One by One

All is resume here !

Step 2: ​Porcelain Is Simple !

You just need porcelain slip / plaster mold / and of course a ceramic kiln !

• Porcelain can be stamped or casted. For more facilities, we use the stamped technique. The porcelain is pressed in the plaster mold by hand.

Step 3: Porcelain Is Easy to Cast !

The porcelain clay have to be push in the mold.

• You can use a credit card to smooth the surface of the back of the button.

Step 4: Fresh Porcelain Is Easy to Perforate

A button have to be perforate. You can make all the holes you want.

• If you work on a wet clay, you can usually make holes with a pin
• if you work on a dry clay, you can use a drill.

Step 5: Porcelain Is Esay to Clean

The buttons after being out of the mold have to be cleaned.

• We use a wet sponge to clean the piece

Step 6: Enamel for Porcelain : EASY … !!!!

Finally, you can enamel the buttons !

• Enamel for porcelain can be in different color but you have to choose an enamel for high firing (1300°C). Just the face of the button have to be glaze. So we use a brush for that.
• Take care about the back of the button, it don't have to be glaze. If you forget it, the button will stick to the firing support.

Step 7: Final Product : the Porcelain Button !

The buttons are firing at 1300°C in a ceramic kiln.

• In this case, we make a single-firing. But traditionally, porcelain have to be fired in 2 times. (You can see that below).