Flux: Glaze Chemistry — Support

Need help?

Email roman.kopaliani@gmail.com with your question. Please include:

• What you were trying to do
• What happened
• The iOS version and iPhone or iPad model you're using (Settings → General → About)
• The app version (Flux → More → About)

Common questions

Why does the warning say "compared to the target" instead of "violation"?

Limit formulas are advisory targets, not enforced rules. Tony Hansen at Digitalfire is explicit: "Outside the range isn't broken, inside the range isn't automatically safe." Flux honors that voice — every warning cites the named source so you can judge between recommendations from Digitalfire, Sue McLeod cone 6, and Hesselberth & Roy cone 6 rather than treating one calculator's ranges as gospel.

Two warnings disagree about the same oxide. Which is right?

Both. Different schools of cone-6 chemistry use different windows. Sue McLeod's factorial cone-6 testing produces a different alumina upper bound than Hesselberth & Roy's recommendations. Flux surfaces both so you can choose — recipe development is judgment work, not lookup work.

Is the food-safety chip a real food-safety test?

No. It is an advisory based on UMF coefficients and common limit-formula sources. Leach testing is the only definitive answer for whether a finished glaze is food-safe. The disclosure beside the chip says this explicitly. The chip exists to flag obvious red flags (PbO, CdO), BaO leaching risk per Digitalfire, the Si:Al durability window, and the Hesselberth & Roy cone-6 silica minimum — not to certify any glaze as safe.

Why is BaO surfaced as a warning even at low amounts?

Tony Hansen on Digitalfire is explicit: "Don't use BaO on functional surfaces without leach testing capability." Flux follows that guidance — any presence of barium triggers the advisory, with stronger language once BaO ≥ 0.10 UMF.

The oxide percentages on a material plus its LOI sum to ~100. Is that right?

Yes. Materials are stored on the calcined (post-LOI) basis — oxide weights are what survives the firing. The LOI is what evaporates (CO₂ from carbonates, H₂O from hydrates). Glazy and Digitalfire both normalize this way, and UMF math doesn't need an extra LOI adjustment because the convention is already baked in.

Why doesn't Flux include my favorite material?

Flux v1.0 ships 55 preloaded raw materials covering the common studio pantry — Custer, G-200, Minspar, Mahavir, Nepheline, EPK, OM-4, Grolleg, Whiting, Wollastonite, Dolomite, the Ferro frit series, Gerstley/Gillespie Borate, and the standard colorants/opacifiers. Custom material entry is on the v1.1 backlog. Email if you have a brand or analysis you'd like added — most material chemistry comes from Glazy's CC-licensed library.

Why no Stull chart in v1?

v1 ships the UMF math, named-source warnings, and food-safety advisory — the core "did my chemistry work?" loop. The Stull chart (Si:Al × R₂O:RO scatter) is on the v1.1 backlog. The Si:Al ratio is already surfaced beside the UMF result.

Does the app work offline?

Yes — Flux never connects to the internet. Material chemistry data and limit-formula reference ranges are bundled in the app at install time. There are no analytics, no accounts, no cloud sync.

How do I share a recipe with another potter?

Open the recipe, tap the share icon (top-right). Choose JSON (Glazy-shaped schema, good for importing into another tool later) or PDF (single-page printout — title, materials, UMF table, warnings, food-safety status, notes). iOS standard share sheet handles AirDrop, Mail, Messages, Files, Notes, and any third-party app that accepts those file types.

How do I delete my data?

Delete the app from your iPhone or iPad. All local data is removed along with it.

Studio safety reminder

Glaze chemistry can be hazardous. Lead, cadmium, and barium oxides leach in functional ware; raw materials can be respiratory hazards in dry-mixing; lithium and boron compounds need careful handling. Wear an N95 (or better) when mixing dry glaze, work in a ventilated space, label every container, and store raw materials out of reach of children. Flux presents chemistry information for educational purposes — confirm with material safety data sheets and consult a professional ceramics chemist for production functional ware.