Marley Wolhud on sun 5 oct 97
I am having trouble with my tiles warping. I am using an all purpose
stoneware purchased from the local pottery but am a novice in these
things. What is the best clay to use for tiles without warping? Also,
does anyone have any good drying techniques?
Thanks.
Lori Leary on mon 6 oct 97
Marley,
This year, we have done a good bit of slab work in my various kid's
classes (tiles, picture frames, ect). I always use a stoneware clay
straight out of the bag. I have had no difficulty with warpage...I am
sure this is because all of the work has been dried between pieces of
sheetrock/drywall as Leslie mentioned. I have tons of the stuff, in all
sizes... booty from my periodic raids of construction site dumpsters as
well gifts from dear friends.(does not take much to make me happy!)
Just be sure to duct tape the edges to prevent the gypsum (or whatever
one calls that stuff) from getting into your clay and all over your
workspace. You can stack each layer of boards up to a certain point, so
it is a space saver, too. Also, they make wonderful ware boards.
One thing we have done for tiles and plaques with uneven surfaces;
place the work on a level layer of sand in a shallow box, then cover the
entire piece with sand. When it is dry, take the work out, and
carefully use a soft brush to remove the sand that remains on the piece.
This takes up a bit of space, and you have to put it in a safe place
during drying (people are always trying to put things in boxes...go
figure...).
Hope this helps,
Lori L.
lleary@sccoast.net
Pawleys Island, SC (almost 90 degrees today)
....you know you are a potter when you are estatic over gifts of
sheetrock, scrap wood, pickle buckets, metal trash cans, horsehair(no
tails, please) and sawdust....
Dina Barnese on thu 22 feb 07
For those of you experienced with tile making... what would you consider
to be the best white clay body for floor tiles? I've been asked to make
some specialty tiles but have never made anything that needs to
withstand being walked on. I currently mostly work with Laguna ^5 B-Mix
- would this work?
Thanks,
Dina
Flagstaff, AZ
Michael Wendt on thu 22 feb 07
Dina,
Janet Starr wrote me to let me know that
she has had great success since she went
to stack and slam wedging and guess what?
It works with fine grain clay so you don't
have to make the tiles with a grogged body
to beat warping.
I suggest you do some trials to see if it
will work for your clay body too.
Regards,
Michael Wendt
Wendt Pottery
2729 Clearwater Ave
Lewiston, ID 83501
USA
208-746-3724
http://www.wendtpottery.com
wendtpot@lewiston.com
Dina wrote:
For those of you experienced with tile making... what
would you consider
to be the best white clay body for floor tiles? I've
been asked to make
some specialty tiles but have never made anything that
needs to
withstand being walked on. I currently mostly work with
Laguna ^5 B-Mix
- would this work?
Thanks,
Dina
Flagstaff, AZ
stephani stephenson on thu 22 feb 07
DIna,
though i don't use B-mix, one of the students from my
tilemaking workshop told me he has been using
Laguna's B-mix with sand and having good results. his
forming technique is pressmolding.
by using the B-mix with sand he can still get pretty
much the same glaze response as he did with the
regular b-mix. he fires to cone 5 and uses the cone 5
b- mix with sand.
cheers
stephani stephenson
http://www.revivaltileworks.com
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Jon Pacini on fri 23 feb 07
Greetings All---Hi Dina
We don't actually stock a B-mix 5 with sand ---it's 'with Grog'--Wc 436.
sorry Steph--
But that would be my first suggestion to try since you are already using
B-mix.
We have had a lot of favorable response from potters who have changed over
to that body. The grog does a good job of correcting many of the
eccentricities of the smooth body. It has a bit less shrinkage and gives up
water more readily, less warping and cracking during drying. And the grog is
not so pervasive that it is a problem with throwing.
Best regards,
Jon Pacini
Clay Manager
Laguna Clay Co
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