Taylor Hendrix on wed 15 aug 07
No, this is not a question about dominoes.
I have posted some pics on my pot blog that show a casting of one of
my chicken's feet. Don't worry, I asked for volunteers. Anyway, the
cast went just fine but I realized that I needed to carve away quite a
bit of plaster as I am going to use this cast as a clay stamp rather
than a press mold. You know, "Damn, the chickens got into the studio
again and ruined some of my slabs" kind of thing. Learning is fun.
While I was letting the cast set up I tried beating out some clay onto
my hump mold. I wanted to try some Russel bowls but both times I had
trouble getting the bowl off. They both ripped to pieces when I tried
to lift them off. Argh! So do people put some kind of separator
between the plaster and the clay? Did I just not wait long enough for
the clay to stiffen up. The rim was fairly sold and all the sticking
occurred toward the middle of the bowl. Learning is not fun.
Marci, check out some of the small slabs I threw. I hope they dry
before next week!
--
Taylor, in Rockport TX
http://wirerabbit.blogspot.com
http://wirerabbitpots.blogspot.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wirerabbit/
Richard Aerni on thu 16 aug 07
Taylor,
I'm sure that you will hear plenty of response from this one from the
plaster folk. Molds, like cars, like lots of new things, take a bit of time
to "break in." When I do casting, whether for press molds, jigger molds,
slip molds, whatever, I always figure the first few attempts will be
wasters. Something about smoothing the surface of the plaster and getting
it just right for release. One way to insure better castings is to give
your molds some air time before a fan (on wads, so the air can get all
around the mold) before getting filled again.
Good luck! (but you'll have better luck if you call US Gypsum's technical
help line in Illinois and have them send you all the freebie info they have
on your area of plaster interest. It's a lot to go through, but will be
worth it in the end. BTW, I just cast up a number of tile molds from two
year old #1 pottery plaster that had been kept drydrydry, and it worked just
fine.)
Richard Aerni
Rochester, NY
On Wed, 15 Aug 2007 22:35:50 -0500, Taylor Hendrix
wrote:
>
>While I was letting the cast set up I tried beating out some clay onto
>my hump mold. I wanted to try some Russel bowls but both times I had
>trouble getting the bowl off. They both ripped to pieces when I tried
>to lift them off. Argh! So do people put some kind of separator
>between the plaster and the clay? Did I just not wait long enough for
>the clay to stiffen up. The rim was fairly sold and all the sticking
>occurred toward the middle of the bowl. Learning is not fun.
>
Rikki Gill on thu 16 aug 07
Hi Taylor,
I have two suggestions.
You can try either Saran type wrap on the mold itself, or Pellon which
you buy at a fabric store.
I roll clay on the Pellon, place clay and Pellon in/on mold. I use
either depending on size, shape, type of mold, etc.
Saran is cheaper, Pellon, an interfacing material, wears out faster, [both
are reusable] . Both peal off easily.
I usually allow them to dry overnight.
Best,
Rikki Gill
rikigil@sbcglobal.net
www.rikkigillceramics.com
www.berkeleypotters.comBoth
c----- Original Message -----
From: "Taylor Hendrix"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2007 8:35 PM
Subject: Chicken foot
> No, this is not a question about dominoes.
>
> I have posted some pics on my pot blog that show a casting of one of
> my chicken's feet. Don't worry, I asked for volunteers. Anyway, the
> cast went just fine but I realized that I needed to carve away quite a
> bit of plaster as I am going to use this cast as a clay stamp rather
> than a press mold. You know, "Damn, the chickens got into the studio
> again and ruined some of my slabs" kind of thing. Learning is fun.
>
> While I was letting the cast set up I tried beating out some clay onto
> my hump mold. I wanted to try some Russel bowls but both times I had
> trouble getting the bowl off. They both ripped to pieces when I tried
> to lift them off. Argh! So do people put some kind of separator
> between the plaster and the clay? Did I just not wait long enough for
> the clay to stiffen up. The rim was fairly sold and all the sticking
> occurred toward the middle of the bowl. Learning is not fun.
>
> Marci, check out some of the small slabs I threw. I hope they dry
> before next week!
> --
> Taylor, in Rockport TX
> http://wirerabbit.blogspot.com
> http://wirerabbitpots.blogspot.com
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/wirerabbit/
>
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