Carol David on sun 8 jul 07
Hi-
I'm new to the group. It's a bit overwhelming :-)
I make tiles, and need to make a lot of 6" tiles. I've been
researching tile setters and they're quite expensive. So it occurred
to me: is there any reason not to make my own out of clay? I only
do low fire, and would only use it for the glaze firing.
Ben Shelton on mon 9 jul 07
It is totally doable with the right equipment. follow this link
http://www.precision-terrafirma.com/extrusiondies.html
You could also hand build them.
Either way it would be helpful to have the right clay body fired to the
right temp. Does anyone else want to weigh in on this aspect of the operation?
I would think that a cone 10 clay body fired to ^6~7 would do just dandy at
low fire glaze temps.
Good luck,
Ben
WJ Seidl on mon 9 jul 07
Carol:
You don't say what cone you're firing to, only "low fire", but
if you make your tile setters out of a high fire stoneware or porcelain and
fire them to cone 10 or so, you should be able to use them again and
again in a "low fire" firing.
To me, "low fire" is cone 6, but I understand that to some tile makers,
"low fire" is cone 024 or thereabouts.
You should have quite a bit of fun designing your own tile setters!
Good Luck,
Wayne Seidl
Carol David wrote:
> Hi-
>
> I'm new to the group. It's a bit overwhelming :-)
>
> I make tiles, and need to make a lot of 6" tiles. I've been
> researching tile setters and they're quite expensive. So it occurred
> to me: is there any reason not to make my own out of clay? I only
> do low fire, and would only use it for the glaze firing.
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
>
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
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> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
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> melpots@pclink.com.
>
Pat Lindemann on mon 9 jul 07
Hi Carol,
I have made many kiln posts out of an equal mixture of grog, kaolin, and
sagger clay- I don't see why you couldn't make a sitter out of the same
materials. I am not sure of what design would be best- but the benefit
would be that you could make it to fit your kiln and your tiles! Tailored to
your needs :)
take care!
Pat in SD
On 7/8/07, Carol David wrote:
>
> Hi-
>
> I'm new to the group. It's a bit overwhelming :-)
>
> I make tiles, and need to make a lot of 6" tiles. I've been
> researching tile setters and they're quite expensive. So it occurred
> to me: is there any reason not to make my own out of clay? I only
> do low fire, and would only use it for the glaze firing.
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>
Nancy Guido on tue 10 jul 07
I've made a lot of tiles and, to be quite frank, hated the tile setters. I used 3" posts and invested in a lot of full size kiln shelves for my kiln.
I think its a lot of extra work to even consider making the tile setters and really quite experimental - would you want to trust an entire kiln load of tiles to tile setters that might warp or fail even just a little?
You might save some money making your tile setters, but you may lose work if its not just right. Then you are back to making the tiles over again. Your time is worth something too.
If you are not a full time tile maker, then the full kiln shelves and 3" posts won't be a waste either.
just my two cents.
nancy g.
Linda Blossom on sat 14 jul 07
I'm new to the group. It's a bit overwhelming :-)
I make tiles, and need to make a lot of 6" tiles.
I've been
researching tile setters and they're quite
expensive. So it occurred
to me: is there any reason not to make my own out
of clay? I only
do low fire, and would only use it for the glaze
firing.
You can make them out of the refractory clay that
Laguna sells which is made from the formula that
Carl Miller used to make his shelves. It used to be
2272 but has a new name. Joe Koonz (is that the
right spelling - it's been a while) knows what it is
named today. I have made setters from this and 8
years later they are doing fine.
Linda
Ithaca. NY
John Sankey on sun 15 jul 07
"I've been researching tile setters and they're quite expensive."
As is everything else that is made, shipped, and sold in very
small quantities. For example, our local pottery supply sells
wood batts for $6. The material costs 40c. No, no one is ripping
anyone off - by the time you include the supply trips, the
investment in tools, the time, the taxes, the rent ... that's
what it costs to sell them in quantities of 100 or fewer.
Since I'm retired, and a woodworker already, I made my own. But,
if I had to make a living at it, I'd have to sell them for $6
too.
I make my own supports for firing drippy glazes - just my regular
stoneware clay fired raw to one cone more than I fire my glazes
at. They work perfectly. Why not try it for your tile setters?
--
(Add 'Byrd' to the subject line of your reply to get through my spam filter)
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