GLOSSARY

| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |

Face Shield - A clear curved plastic protection device with movable shield worn over the head to protect the face and neck from debris while carving stone or wood.

Fahrenheit - A thermometric scale. Boiling point is 212° above zero, freezing point is 32°.

Fat, Fatty - In working with clay and ceramics, indicates a texture resulting from excessive bentonite or water, making the material difficult to control.

Fat Oil - Oil derived from animals; has a high acid content.

Feldspar - Constituent of nearly all crystalline rock with aluminum silicates. Used in the ceramic field.

Female - The negative half of a mold or die.

Fettling - Shaping an object.

Fettling Knife - A tool designed to shape and texture models in sculpture and pottery.

Fiberglass - Glass in a fibrous form used in making casts that are light weight but strong.

Fifth Wheel - A heavy gauge ball bearing device from 12 to 36 inches in diameter used to hold and turn heavy pieces of sculpture; sometimes used as a table turning mechanism to rotate live models for sculpture classes. In the early 1900’s used to turn trains around to head them back in the direction from which they came.

File - Tool with cutting ridges used to shape sculptures in stone, wood, plaster and resin. These cutting edges are usually cross cut rather than punched, forming small ground cutting surfaces.

Filler - Ingredient which when added to a base material bonds or strengthens the mixture.

Fimo - A self-hardening cellulose body of light weight that dries white.

Fine Cut Rasps - Smoothing and finishing tools that have close cut surfaces for extra fine finishing in the last stages of reduction.

Finishing Material - Sanding, rasping, or buffing compounds used in the final stages of sculpture.

Firebox - Chamber that contains a heated area such as a kiln.

Fire Brick - The insulating brick or interior walls of ceramic kilns used in firing pottery.

Fire Clay - Clay that can withstand the high temperatures used in ceramics and pottery. Also used to make fire brick for the interior walls of ceramic kilns.

Firing - The process of heating ceramic clay to a temperature at which the particles merge and become hard. In glazes the dried material liquefies and becomes glasslike when cooled. With clay the material becomes non-porous in its final state, not always necessary when firing pottery.

Firing Range - The temperature that a clay can withstand without distortion or warping either in the bisque or glaze firing; generally in cone ranges 014 to 10, temperatures from 1418°F to 2345°F. The point at which vitrification occurs (merging of the molecular structure) as stated in cone number.

Firing Scale - The temperatures at which different clays can be fired, given in cone ranges.

Firmer - In wood working a type of chisel with a thin flat blade cut at an angle.

Fish Tail - A wood working tool where the sweep or cutting edge fans out on both sides, resembling a fish tail.

Fissure - Break or crack, in stone carving and sometimes in bronze casting.

Fit, Clay/Glaze - When a ceramic glaze adapts well to a certain clay body without grazing, cracking or pooling. It can be a long experimental process to find a fit, especially with special formula clays and glazes.

Fitch - Section of wood prepared to be dried prior to carving. It is usually sealed and arranged so moisture evaporates naturally to prevent checking (cracking) in the future.

Flaking - Pieces of fired glaze chipping off pottery after firing, usually caused by incompatible clay and glaze.

Flashing - A web-like residue on casting material where the seam lines meet and the casting material has escaped, common in most castings (bronze, slip, and plaster casting). The flashing is removed by cutting, scraping, and finishing.

Flash Point - The temperature at which an item or material will combust. In sculpture used when working with wax or bronze.

Flat Chisel - A tool with a straight flat cutting edge used in wood and stone carving.

Flaw - Defect in a cast or forging, (even a stone), that renders the material unusable.

Flexible Bowls - Rubber bowls of varying diameters and sizes used in mixing plaster for casting and for repair work. Casting material is easily removed by flexing the bowl.

Flexible Mold - A mold that can be removed from a cast by stretching.

Flexible Paint - Paint that expands and contracts with an elastic effect when applied to a rubber casting. Usually sprayed on a movable object where flexibility is desired.

Flexible Pallet - A thin scraping device used in mold making, casting, and ceramics to smooth the surface of wet plaster or moist clay.

Flexite Gelatin - Flexible reusable horsehide glue. Used in the production of hollow cavity molds in the early 1900’s; use of the material has been discontinued in mold making and casting.

Flint - Mass hard quartz, used as a binder in clay bodies.

Flourspar - Used as a flux in making glazes.

Fluidizing - Making flow like a liquid, as in mixing plaster or ceramic slip for casting.

Flux - A substance used to promote fusion in ceramic and welding bronze sections of a mold.

Footing - Bottom section of a piece of pottery generally raised from the base of the pot or bowl.

Foredom Tool - Trade name of Foredom Electric, Co. Electric, rotating, variable speed, heavy duty grinding machine with interchangeable handpieces. Motors are available in different R.P.M.’s and horsepower.

Forge - Oven in which tools or metal are heated making them easy to shape to specific designs. The process by which a tool for working in stone, wood, plaster or wax is heated and shaped.

Form - To shape to resemble a vision of thought or sight. Free form is an unconventional shape inspired by an inner vision.

Formula - A combination of different materials blended to achieve a desired effect in clay, wax, plastilina, and glazes.

Foundry - A studio wherein molten metal, usually bronze, is cast into sculpture.

Fracture - To break or go beyond the limits or tolerance of an object, usually occurring in bronze casting or ceramic firing. Can also be a break in a boulder to be used in stone carving.

French Clay - Known to sculptors of the early 1900’s as a fine quality smooth modeling clay for marquees or models of their sculpture. Replaced in the 1990’s by Hugo Grey Moist Clay.

Frit - A component used in making glaze and glass of varying meshes and colors.

Frosting Tool - Tool with multiple pointed cutting edges on a squared surface, somewhat like a waffle iron, mounted on a hammer type handle. It may vary in dimensions from ½ to 2 inches. Its primary use is to reduce stone for sculpture.

Fuller’s Earth - A clay that lacks plasticity, used as a filler in certain clay bodies to bind other plastic clays together.

Furnace - A chamber used to fire pottery or enamels at high temperatures. Also known as a kiln.

Fuse - To join together as in ceramic slip firing of glazeware. Bronze or plaster pieces that cannot be cast in a single piece are fused in sections to make the total casting complete.