Making Ceramic Insulators

Homedecor insulator light lamp recycled upcycled vintage design.

Making ceramic insulators.

An electrical insulator is a material. The fundamental materials used are a mixture of feldspar 35 china clay 28 flint 25 ball clay 10 and talc 2. Their sole purpose was to insulate the wire from the wood reason for which materials such as glass porcelain or composite polymer materials had been chosen. The term porcelain refers to a wide range of ceramic products that have been baked at high temperatures to achieve vitreous or glassy qualities such as translucence and low porosity.

Some insulator manufacturers stopped making glass insulators in the late 1960s switching to ceramic materials. Porcelain has a dielectric strength of about 4 10 kv mm. Upcycle a glass insulator as well as an old mattress spring. Porcelain is the most frequently used material for insulators insulators are made of wet processed porcelain.

The spring fits quite nicely around the tapered top edge and creates a wide stable base. Glass has a higher dielectric strength but it attracts condensation and the thick irregular shapes needed for insulators are difficult to cast without internal strains. In 1850 companies such as hemingray bookfield and whitall tatum started producing glass insulators for telegraph lines telephone and power transmission lines later on. Add some decorative ribbon or thread and you ve got a gorgeous upcycled candle holder.