Jeff Lawrence on fri 16 may 97
Hi,
All this talk about slab rollers. I don't have one, having used up available
funds on other vital stuff (I'm certain those blacksmiths tongs will be very
useful someday). Besides, I needed slabs of my slip clay, for glaze color
samples for my marketing.
Solution: I made a mold of a big flat piece of 1/4" melamine-coated particle
Gotchas:
(1) mold leaks like a geyser if you pour it standing up (that column of slip
is just too heavy).
(2) slip shrinks so much in setting up that you end up with a hollow slab,
the two sides separated by an almost alveolar pattern.
Workarounds:
(1) Pour the mold almost flat, through a small hole in the flat side. This
reduces the weight of the slip column and banishes leaks.
(2) Make a reservoir/pour spout/riser with plastic funnel stuck with clay
into that hole. Fill the mold, top off the reservoir and check it for
drain-down -- mine goes down 2-3 times over 10 minutes. Keep it full.
If you have some plaster and some scrap wood, maybe this'll work for you,
too. Do yourself a favor and bevel your board if you try this.
If I needed slabs of plastic clay, I'd grab an old orange book I have by
Wettlaufer "Getting into Pots" or something like that, and look up his/her
directions for making a slab roller for $50. Maybe I could forge one with
those tongs...
Jeff
Jeff Lawrence
Sun Dagger Design
ph/fax 505-753-5913
JULIE ATWOOD on thu 22 may 97
Why use a slab roller or pour slipcast slabs at all?
My solution (after frustration with the warped nature of slabrolled
slabs) was to fling it all in the air...literally. I slice off a good
chunk of pugged clay, and throw it on a canvas covered table (or the
cement floor). I pick it up, throw it down again. I alternate between
throwing it towards me (I pick up the slab by the edge furthest from me,
and throw it out, flipping it towards me), and throwing it sideways (I
pick up the piece with my palms to avoid stressing the clay in a few
spots and flip it sideways). I've found no warping problems, almost
total control of the thickness (although in some spots, depending on how
you throw it, you may get some unevenness), and some delightful things on
textured walkways!
I did a handbuilding class for some kids the other summer, and since I
didn't have any canvas table to throw slabs, I threw them out on the
brushed cement sidewalk outside. Those nice little lines in the sidewalk
were neat, I thought, and so did the kids. Since then I've tried it on
all sorts of surfaces, and I've found I like DIRTY surfaces. Dirty
asphalt or cement is nice...little rocks and snips of grass and even
pieces of pinecone get themselves stuck in my clay and look pretty much
at home.
Anyways, that's all beside the point...I almost forget what the point
was. Oh yes, ways to make slabs...I have found I can live a
slabroller-free life! Whee! ;)
Julie in Seattle
("Hi, my name is Julie, and I've been slabroller free for two years...")
On Fri, 16 May 1997, Jeff Lawrence wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Hi,
> All this talk about slab rollers. I don't have one, having used up available
> funds on other vital stuff (I'm certain those blacksmiths tongs will be very
> useful someday). Besides, I needed slabs of my slip clay, for glaze color
> samples for my marketing.
>
> Solution: I made a mold of a big flat piece of 1/4" melamine-coated particle
>
> Gotchas:
> (1) mold leaks like a geyser if you pour it standing up (that column of slip
> is just too heavy).
> (2) slip shrinks so much in setting up that you end up with a hollow slab,
> the two sides separated by an almost alveolar pattern.
>
> Workarounds:
> (1) Pour the mold almost flat, through a small hole in the flat side. This
> reduces the weight of the slip column and banishes leaks.
>
> (2) Make a reservoir/pour spout/riser with plastic funnel stuck with clay
> into that hole. Fill the mold, top off the reservoir and check it for
> drain-down -- mine goes down 2-3 times over 10 minutes. Keep it full.
>
> If you have some plaster and some scrap wood, maybe this'll work for you,
> too. Do yourself a favor and bevel your board if you try this.
>
> If I needed slabs of plastic clay, I'd grab an old orange book I have by
> Wettlaufer "Getting into Pots" or something like that, and look up his/her
> directions for making a slab roller for $50. Maybe I could forge one with
> those tongs...
>
> Jeff
> Jeff Lawrence
> Sun Dagger Design
> ph/fax 505-753-5913
>
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