Wet-pressing of handles in table porcelain manufacturing

Due to the need of cost reduction in table porcelain manufacturing new processing techniques like injection moulding, microwave drying or fast firing are of interest. Especially the manufacturing of handles are in the focus of research. Cups and handles are separately produced by jiggering and slip casting, respectively. While jiggering is a profitable technique for rotation-symmetrically parts, slip casting is a very expensive technology, because of degradation of gypsum-moulds, long production time and the necessity of bin location. Thus, wet-pressing is an interesting alternative to avoid these disadvantages. To use this forming technology, a conventional porcelain mass was modified concerning water content and organic additives, and the effects of these modifications on the rheology of the mass, the workability, the sticking behaviour of the mass to the tool, the strength of the green body, and the shrinkage behaviour were analysed. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.