Judy Smith on thu 20 jan 11
I have several pottery designs in mind that will include delicate lacy
cutouts. I was wondering if you could give me advice on the best way to cu=
t
holes in the clay. These holes will not be circles. Should I do them at
leather hard with an x-acto knife or should I let the clay dry and do them
with some sort of rotary tool (like a dremel)? I have tried making cutouts
with an x-acto before and it didn't work as planned. I ended up tearing th=
e
clay between the holes. Maybe the clay was not hard enough.
Thanks,
Judy Smith
Nashville, TN
John Rodgers on thu 20 jan 11
Judy,
A lot depends on the design and the thickness of the material. In some
cases you want the clay in a softer state of leather hardness. For
others it needs to be in a more hardened state. And always use a brand
new exacto blade or surgical knife blade. Do a test. Cut out a circle,
Remove the material. Then trim the inside of the circle. If the trim
does not curl and break, the clay is in the best cutting condition. If
not, then perhaps you need to with a wetter piece of greenware.
If you need to cut dried greenware - use a new knife blade - and cut
gently, making pass after pass with the blade. Don't try to cut deep all
at once. That is a sure-fire was to break something. Slow and easy gets
the job done.
In my shop in Alaska way back when, we daily cut hundreds of pieces of
dried porcelain. I will tell you, if you can master porcelain greenware,
you can master anything.
Good luck
John
John Rodgers
Clayartist and Moldmaker
88'GL VW Bus Driver
Chelsea, AL
Http://www.moldhaus.com
On 1/20/2011 7:49 AM, Judy Smith wrote:
> I have several pottery designs in mind that will include delicate lacy
> cutouts. I was wondering if you could give me advice on the best way to =
cut
> holes in the clay. These holes will not be circles. Should I do them at
> leather hard with an x-acto knife or should I let the clay dry and do the=
m
> with some sort of rotary tool (like a dremel)? I have tried making cutou=
ts
> with an x-acto before and it didn't work as planned. I ended up tearing =
the
> clay between the holes. Maybe the clay was not hard enough.
>
> Thanks,
> Judy Smith
> Nashville, TN
>
>
Marcia Selsor on thu 20 jan 11
Why not use a dermal on leather hard?
I got a flex shaft for my dermal. Use a slow speed and a flex shaft s =3D
your arm doesn't get tired.
Marcia
>=3D20
Marcia Selsor
http://www.marciaselsor.com
William & Susan Schran User on thu 20 jan 11
On 1/20/11 8:49 AM, "Judy Smith" wrote:
> I have several pottery designs in mind that will include delicate lacy
> cutouts. I was wondering if you could give me advice on the best way to =
cut
> holes in the clay. These holes will not be circles. Should I do them at
> leather hard with an x-acto knife or should I let the clay dry and do the=
m
> with some sort of rotary tool (like a dremel)? I have tried making cutou=
ts
> with an x-acto before and it didn't work as planned. I ended up tearing =
the
> clay between the holes. Maybe the clay was not hard enough.
The X-acto knife should prove to be the best tool for cutting for cutting
small areas of clay. The clay must be stiff/leather hard. The knife will
drag and pull if clay is too soft, distorting and tearing the design.
When you make the cuts, it's usually better to cut from a corner it towards
the center of a line. This helps to prevent cutting outside the desired
shape and distorting the shape.
Working on the clay dry could lead to it breaking much easier. Then you'll
have the clay dust issue. You'll need proper respirator and eye protection.
I would also suggest this is not something you'll want to do inside your
studio.
Bill
--
William "Bill" Schran
wschran@cox.net
wschran@nvcc.edu
http://www.creativecreekartisans.com
Steve Mills on thu 20 jan 11
X-acto are way too coarse.
Use a Scalpel with a long thin double-edged blade.=3D20
Steve M
Steve Mills
Bath
UK
Sent from my Itouch
On 20 Jan 2011, at 13:49, Judy Smith wrote:
> I have several pottery designs in mind that will include delicate lacy
> cutouts. I was wondering if you could give me advice on the best way to =
c=3D
ut
> holes in the clay. These holes will not be circles. Should I do them at
> leather hard with an x-acto knife or should I let the clay dry and do the=
m=3D
> with some sort of rotary tool (like a dremel)? I have tried making cutou=
t=3D
s
> with an x-acto before and it didn't work as planned. I ended up tearing =
t=3D
he
> clay between the holes. Maybe the clay was not hard enough.
>=3D20
> Thanks,
> Judy Smith
> Nashville, TN
Tommy Humphries on fri 21 jan 11
The best tool I have found for doing fine cutouts in leather hard
clay, is an old hacksaw blade, ground down to a long thin point, and
then sanded or ground down almost paper thin and sharp on the edges.
To do cuts in dry clay a heavier blade is needed, a standard x-acto is
good, but use the blade backwards digging a grove with the flat back
of the blade. The clay will not chip out doing this.
Tommy Humphries
On Jan 20, 2011, at 7:49 AM, Judy Smith wrote:
> I have several pottery designs in mind that will include delicate lacy
> cutouts. I was wondering if you could give me advice on the best
> way to cut
> holes in the clay. These holes will not be circles. Should I do
> them at
> leather hard with an x-acto knife or should I let the clay dry and
> do them
> with some sort of rotary tool (like a dremel)? I have tried making
> cutouts
> with an x-acto before and it didn't work as planned. I ended up
> tearing the
> clay between the holes. Maybe the clay was not hard enough.
>
> Thanks,
> Judy Smith
> Nashville, TN
Lee on sat 22 jan 11
My Sempai Masayuki Miyajima uses a dremel to make patters in
greenware. You can see here:
http://gcac-frc.gripserver3.com/november2010/sneak-peak.php
--
=3DA0Lee Love in Minneapolis
http://mingeisota.blogspot.com/
=3DA0"Ta tIr na n-=3DF3g ar chul an tI=3D97tIr dlainn trina ch=3DE9ile"=3D9=
7that is, =3D
"The
land of eternal youth is behind the house, a beautiful land fluent
within itself." -- John O'Donohue
| |
|
