Welcome to the Joss Research Institute.

Links to Work Areas:

• Lasers
  
  
• Ceramics
  
  
• An irregular set of Research Updates, to which I add from time to time.

• Inexpensive and easily-constructed nitrogen laser designs for reasonably high performance; (see this design, for example)
  
  
• Building an organic dye laser and a doubled-Nd laser that will be suitable for pulsed holography, and building a power supply for a surplus “M-60” ruby laser, also for pulsed holography;
  
  
• Making holographic films and plates for that project, because commercial ones are too expensive to waste on the learning curve;
  
  
• Reproducing some Song Dynasty glazes with modern Western ingredients;
  
  
• Figuring out how to use the colloidal gold pigment in high-fire glazes;
  
  
• Developing fluorescent glazes [mostly using "rare-earth" elements]; (See my article in Clay Times magazine)
  
  
• Developing microcrystalline and macrocrystalline glazes;
  
  
• Developing extremely translucent porcelain formulations and glazes for them;
  
  
• Developing flameproof clay-body formulations and working up some novel applications for them;
  
  
• Converting a second old electric kiln to gas [I’ve already converted one old electric, which I use for reduction firings, but it is very small. See this page for information about it];
  
  
• Building a small electric test kiln, and bringing a surplus electric test kiln online;
  
  
• Trying to create blue roses [this is, if I may make an understatement, seriously nontrivial; I doubt that I’ll succeed, but it’s a lot of fun to try];
  
  
• Trying to build a small R/C Platz-Gleiter (possibly powered) and perhaps also a small electric-powered R/C boxwing aircraft.
  
  

Email: a@b.com, where you can replace b with joss, and a with my first name (no “h”; only 3 letters: jon).

My phone number is +1 240 604 4495.

Last modified: Wed Feb 27 10:44:11 EST 2008