Ceramic Dictionary

VACUUM CLEANER

es: ASPIRADORA

Vacuum cleaner is an electrical appliance for cleaning carpets, floors, etc., by suction. All potters should have one, they save work and are cleaner and much better for health than brooms which spread dust and a mop that leaves the floor damp for hours. Buy one that can be used to clean everything, furniture, floor, walls and shelves, etc. Choose the type where the motor and the accessories are separate and connected by a long tube, which makes it easier to get into small and difficult places.

Note Normally an electric tile cutter throws water and ceramic dust over everything.To avoied this the motor of the vacuum cleaner can be attached to it. You have to add and alter certain parts so it does not need water and collects all the powder thrown off during the cutting. When we invented this about eight years ago this type of machine did not exist, it does now! For more about this problem.
See: Tile – Cutter electric

VARNISH

es: BARNIZ

Varnish is used by potters as an adhesive to hold colors and other decorating materials on to already glazed work. Cover the glazed surface with a thin layer of ordinary, colorless wood varnish. When dry the colors adhere to it and when fired the varnish burns away. For on-glazing you mix 1 part varnish with 3 parts pure turpentine, this is then mixed with a color and can be painted directly onto an on-glaze surface.
See: On-Glaze

VASE

es: FLORERO

Vase is an open container that can be made of different products, glass, porcelain, ceramics and metal and is made to hold cut flowers in water for ornamentation.

VENTILATION

es: VENTILACIÓN

Kiln ventilation, is also known as a chimney. It is above a kiln, has a very large hood with a fan controlled by electricity. When operating it sucks the air that is around the kiln up through a metal tube to the outside of the building. They are made to remove odors and fumes. With gas kilns it is essential to have exhaust ventilation. See: Chimney

VIBRATORY SIEVE

es: TAMIZ VIBRATORIO

Vibratory sieve: these are small industrial sieves, run by electricity and supplied with different sized meshes. When working, the motor vibrates and passes slips and glazes through the mesh to clean and mix..
See: Sieves

VINEGAR

es: VINAGRE

Vinegar is a sour liquid consisting of dilute and impure acetic acid, obtained by acetous fermentation from wine, cider, beer, ale, or the like: used a condiment, preservative, etc. From: Webster’s

In the past, when mediums and industrial dissolvent’s did not exist, it was added to colors to make them run well.

VISCOSITY

es: VISCOSIDAD

Viscosity is an internal property of a fluid that offers resistance to flow. For example, pushing a spoon with a small force moves it easily through a bowl of water, but the same force moves mashed potatoes very slowly. In fact, one of the major differences between styles of mashed potatoes is the viscosity of the starchy mass: some people like their potatoes running and teeming with milk and butter (they are fans of low-viscosity potatoes), while others like their potatoes drier and stickier, so they almost crack rather than flow (these people are devoted to high-viscosity potatoes.

There are many ways to measure viscosity, including attaching a torque wrench to a paddle and twisting it in a fluid, using a spring to push a rod into a fluid, and seeing how fast a fluid pours through a hole. This exercise uses one of the oldest and easiest ways: we will simply see how fast a sphere falls through a fluid. The faster the sphere falls, the lower the viscosity. This makes sense: if the fluid has a high viscosity it strongly resists flow, so the sphere falls slowly. If the fluid has a low viscosity, it offers less resistance to flow, so the ball falls faster.

The measurement involved determines the speed of the falling sphere. This is accomplished by dropping each sphere through a measured distance of fluid and time, so you also know its velocity, which is distance/time.
This has been copied with permission from the following Web.

Link to Spacegrant College. University of Hawai

VISE

es: PRENSA

Vise is a tool used when working with carpentry or metal to hold a piece firmly in position. It is made in metal and can be secured onto a protruding object like a shelf or table. It has two jaws that can be brought together holding the piece in place by means of a handle that works as a screw

a) Movable jaw b) Fixed jaw c) Clamping screw d) Swivel lock e) Turning handle

VITRIFY

es: VITRIFICAR

Vitrify is when heat converts glaze into glass. A ceramic surface of clay or bisque is covered with a glaze, then when fired to the correct temperature it vitrifies, this changes the surface, which becomes shiny and non-porous.