GLAZE DIPPING
Well, it’s harder than it looks! You need a system that delivers consistent glaze coverage for all shapes and sizes of ware, that works in harmony with your drying and firing schedules, that minimises waste, that is closely and easily controlled, and, above all, that conforms to all prevailing (and impending) health and safety regulations.
The main surprise, to many at least, is that hand dipping is still commonly found in low biscuit -fired / once fired ceramic tableware operations all around the world. You would be forgiven for thinking that this only persists in what are regarded as cheaper labour regions. Not so.
The problems
- Health & Safety is top. An operative is literally continually immersing hands and arms into glaze. This can lead to skin irritation. Additionally, dippers are performing highly repetitive actions, involving hand, wrist and elbow, that clearly run the risk of RSIs (an experienced dipper might be achieving a rate of 100 items per hour). Also, there’s the stance – it’s not easy to adopt a position that will be comfortable over the period of a typical shift.
- Speed variation. Inevitably, even if only marginally, some dippers are faster than others. So, you may need to plan around this.
- Consistency. Well, in addition to the obvious point that some dippers are simply better than others, also no two dippers have the same performance. Pieces from different dippers may all be satisfactorily glazed, but they won’t be the same. Also, on an off day, an individual dipper’s own work might not be consistent.
- Comfort. The glaze held in a dipping vessel is not at room temperature – it’s cold. It’s not a particularly pleasant material to work with.
- Danger. A hand dipper is in close proximity to glaze material for prolonged periods. Great care has to be taken all the time in order to avoid accidental ingestion of what is a potentially poisonous material.
MLC Solution
The key advantages we offer are safety and repeatability. Our automatic, multi-head glaze dipping machines address all the problems outlined above and are operating successfully in ceramic factories with both medium- and high-volume production schedules.
The only main external factor concerns the glaze recipe and batch-to-batch consistency, which needs checking before loading the machine’s glaze holding vessel. However, this task would need to be performed anyway.
An experienced hand dipper may well be quicker than one of our machines; however, a single operative can load and unload two of our machines at the same time. Robotic loading/unloading is also possible.
What you get with MLC
- A safe working environment for your team. An operation that will help you conform to health and safety legislation.
- Consistency of glaze application. Same coverage, same thickness, every time.
- Adaptability. Our machines can glaze internally, externally and, where necessary, can be programmed to carry out full foot glazing.
- Agitation. Our system sees the glaze being continuously pumped out and back into the holding vessel. During any break or downtime, the pump continues in operation, maintaining the correct glaze viscosity. No manual stirring here!
- Fully automatic control via an HMI. Once the optimal automatic glazing operation has been established for any particular item, including glaze dosing, then this is entered into the HMI and becomes an easily selectable programme. We use the same HMI design for all of our machines, meaning that operatives can move around the factory with confidence.
- Remote troubleshooting. Because we incorporate an HMI, if you need MLC assistance then once you have permitted us access to the system, our software experts can carry out parameter resets, install entirely new programmes etc.
- Foot wiping. We manufacture foot wiping units that sit conveniently alongside the glaze dipping machines.
Got any questions for us? No problem, send us a quick e-mail:
steve.lunt@mlc.pt
or
jcardoso@mlc.pt