plasterjfl@AOL.COM on wed 14 mar 12
In 1988 I was in a bind. I had just done the ACC show in St Paul and had a
great response. Not a lot of orders but a lot of "let me know when you have
more inventory" responses.
I was happy with the way my pots looked but I was unhappy with the
technical challenges I was encountering. (Air bubbles galore.)
As I was somewhat new to slip casting I was at a loss for solutions. Most
of my "clay world" friends were potters so I didn't really have anyone to
turn to for advice. By chance a potter friend knew another potter and by
chance he knew someone who worked at Kohler. (His grandfather.)
I met this potter at the Uptown Art Fair and explained my situation. He
told me he would talk to his grandfather and get his advice.
A few days later we met again and he told me that his grandfather
recommended that I drill holes in the molds to release the air.
I couldn't wait to get back into the studio. I FINALLY had a solution to a
problem that had been plaguing me for years.
So a few days later I went back into the studio and drilled small holes in
all my molds. (Teapot molds and pitcher molds, specifically.)
First bummer, that I didn't know about, was that the sodium silicate
hardens the inside surface of the mold face. Drilling from the outside resu=
lted
in huge chunks of plaster chipping away from the inside surface. Second
bummer, for some really strange reason the holes created even LARGER air
pockets/air bubbles. I was stunned. Here I thought I had "word from the mo=
unt"
and it proved to be very un useful.
It was only eight years later, in 1996, when I saw a plaster caster put his
fingers in wet plaster, to manually MOVE the air bubbles, that I finally
had my solution.
Sometime solutions take time.
take care
Jeff Longtin
Minneapolis
_www.jefflongtin.etsy.com_ (http://www.jefflongtin.etsy.com)
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