Clay is the main ingredient used in the making of different kinds of ceramics including ceramic cups.
Water is added to the clay material to make it workable enough to mould into the required shape of the cup.
The cup šµ can be moulded by hand only, hand and spinning wheel or industrially. Industrial moulding gives the best finish followed by the hand and spinning wheel method.
After moulding, the cup is left to dry after which it is engraved, painted/glazed. Glazing is very important, apart from giving it it’s aesthetic look, the cup will be impervious to water and have a smooth finish. Another method used after drying the cup is to oven dry to remove most of the moisture before paint/glazing.
The final stage is the oven drying of the cup. The cup is subjected to temperatures of over 1200 Ā°C. This process will remove all the moisture inside of the cup and give the cup it’s characteristic hardness. The heating and then cooling process can take up to half a day.
The main material used in the production of ceramic tiles is clay. Clay is readily available in different types and in large quantities. Different types of clay and other similar binding materials can be combined in a particular proportion to create ceramic tiles.
The 3 major types of clay available are earthenware, stoneware and porcelain.Ā
earthenware clay
stoneware clay
The earthenware clay is red in colour while the stoneware and porcelain are classified as white clay. All the 3 above mentioned types of clay are suitable for making ceramic floor and wall tiles.
The process of making ceramic tiles industrially will be discussed under the following stages.
Grinding the raw material
Moulding
Initial heating
Painting/ glazing
Final heating
Making of ceramic floor tiles in a factory
Grinding the raw material
clay and other binding and waterproofing substances are grinded in required proportions to smooth power. This is done using an industrial grinder.
Moulding
To the powder mixture a very little amount of water is added and thoroughly mixed to make it plastic. The powdery mixture is then placed into a mould and compressed under very high pressure and temperature to form a flat solid mass that has been shaped into the required time size.
Initial heating
Before the tiles can be glazed it needs most of the moisture to be taken out. This can be done by heating the tiles in an oven. The tiles are heated up to a temperature of over 900Ā°C and then cooled.
Painting/glazing
Next the tiles are painted and or glazed.
Painting gives the tiles its waterproofing properties and aesthetic look. Glazing does similar work in addition to design and engravings.
Final Heating
After the tiles have been given its waterproof and aesthetic look. It is heated in an oven for the final time to dry up all the moisture and make the tiles stronger in the process. Temperatures in the oven are above 1000Ā°C.The heating process can last for several hours, after which it is allowed to cool completely. After this final process, the ceramic tiles are ready for packaging and distribution to sale outlets.
Gran Turismo 7 will be coming soon on the PS5 and PS4 platforms. The game will be available from March 4, 2022. You can preorder on playstation.com.
Kazunori Yamauchi, the creator of Gran Turismo has promised that this latest series will be the best yet.According to him, if you love cars, you will love this game. He called Gran Turismo 7 a car life stimulator.
The cars will look more as in real life than ever before. Upgraded graphics display. Real life weather has been fully stimulated into gameplay. More music and sound tracks have been added. There will even be a game mode that will emphasize more on enjoying the music than racing. Fine tuning and upgrading your car is now much easier than before.Ā
The game will require an online connection in order to protect data and prevent cheating.
So if you are someone that likes to admire cars or real life simulated car racing. Gran Turismo 7 is for you. Coming soon to PS4 and PS5
Senegal are through to the final of the African Cup of Nations (Afcon) 2021. They defeated Burkina Faso 3-1 to set a date against either Egypt or Cameroon. Senegal, who have never won the Afcon, have a very big chance to win it now. Senegal are the current top rated football team in Africa according to the latest FIFA rankings.
Burkina Faso’s very good run in the tournament came to an end in the semifinal. They gave a very good account of themselves but the Senegalese team was just too tough for them to handle. The first half of the match ended goalless with Senegal just edging it. Senegal were unrepentant with their fast attack on the Burkinabes defence. They were finally rewarded as the Burkina Faso defence made critical mistakes which led to all 3 goals Senegal scored.
Burkina Faso should be proud of themselves. They had a good tournament. They will have a chance to claim third place as they will play the loser of the match between Cameroon and Egypt.
The writing material inside of a pencil is known as lead. This lead is made from graphite and clay. The graphite and clay are mixed together in the required proportions in the presence of water. The workable lead is then moulded into long thin cylindrical shapes. These thin leads are then dried and fired to reach the required toughness and strength required for writing without breaking.
Typical lead of a pencil is gray to black in colour. Coloured leads can be made by mixing the graphite, clay, and colour pigments together during the lead making process.
After the leads have been prepared, the next thing is to enclose them inside the specially prepared wooden material.The leads are sandwiched between 2 sets of grooved flat and thin woods.
Grooves are cut into a long flat thin wood that can take up to 10 pencils. (10Ā grooves). Next glue is applied to the surface of the groves. Then the pencil leads are inserted into the grooves. Similarly a long flat thin wood similar to the bottom wood is then used to cover the leads. The leads are sandwiched between the upper and lower wood casings. Pressure is then applied to ensure that the upper and lower wood casings areĀ fused together holding the sandwiched leads in place.
The wooden sandwich leads are then fed through a cutter which cuts and separates into single pencil units.
The pencils are then engraved, coloured, and eraser inserted at their back end before packaging and distribution to sale outlets.
Glass is made up of sand, soda ash and limestone. These constituent materials are mixed together in required proportions and heated up to about 1260Ā°C ( 2300Ā°F). The mixture is molten at the above named temperature. The molten mixture is then placed into mould then pressed and or blown as required to take the shape of the mould.
The hot glass is then removed from the mould and polished to give a smoother and finer finish. Next the glass is then tempered by letting it pass through heat to give it more toughness. Finally the glass is allowed to cool down and packaged.
One of the reasons why glass is cheap is because the raw materials are readily available and broken glasses can be recycled.
