Malone & Dean McRaine on thu 5 feb 98
Aloha all: I have been making tile following the techniques in Giogini's
book 'Handmade Tile'. I am pounding clay into a plaster mould for 6x6"
tiles. My problem is that not only do they lift up off the board in a low
arch as they dry they also contract in the middle of each side so that the
finished tile is slightly star shaped. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Dean in Kauai where we can see our breath in the morning.
Carol Ratliff on fri 6 feb 98
Dean,
you didn't mention how you removed the tile from the mold- are you prying it
out and maybe twisting the tile alittle or turning upside down & letting fall
out when it shrinks alittle?)
Anyway, after removing from mold put the tile on a board and let it settle
some by dropping the board a few inches a few times onto a table top - just
enough to help the clay molecules lay down some. Then try placing the tiles
between 2 boards, or dywall, or tile backer boards - anything that will evenly
suck out the moisture. Then flip occasionally . Place several boards on top
to weight it down & force to dry flat. forget about them forever, till dry.
If edges are drying to fast still, then cover loosely with plastic and wait
even longer. If they dry flat ,they tend to fire flatter.
Good luck,
carol ratliff
san diego
Tom Colson on sat 7 feb 98
Dean-
To keep your press molded tiles flat, remove them from the mold as soon as
possible, then dry them between pieces of drywall for a few of days until
they are leather hard. After that, move them to a open rack until they dry
enough for firing. Your problem is that you are getting uneven drying on
the top and bottom surfaces.
Regards,
Tom Colson
---
Tom Colson tcolson@aimnet.com
Tiles On The Web: http://www.aimnet.com/~tcolson/webtiles.htm
The web site for handmade and historic tiles.
Laura Conley on sat 7 feb 98
Hi Dean,
I have not made tiles myself, but I worked in a production studio where many
potters made tiles. The method you use for removing them from the mold is
VERY important. As soon as the tile will come out, perhaps an hour later,
prop the plaster mold over some wood blocks or dowels etc. Tap the back of
the mold until the tile pops out, flat on the table (only 1/4 - 1/2 inch
below). Gently, WITHOUT BENDING, lift the tile. The most common drying spot
is on an old refrigerator shelf, the metal rack type. This should prevent the
warping. I don't know what to do about the edges curving in. I hope this
helps...
Laura Conley
Boulder, CO
Malone & Dean McRaine wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Aloha all: I have been making tile following the techniques in Giogini's
> book 'Handmade Tile'. I am pounding clay into a plaster mould for 6x6"
> tiles. My problem is that not only do they lift up off the board in a low
> arch as they dry they also contract in the middle of each side so that the
> finished tile is slightly star shaped. Any suggestions?
> Thanks,
> Dean in Kauai where we can see our breath in the morning.
Marion Barnes-Schwartz. on sun 8 feb 98
I can't answer why your tiles contract, but I dry tiles in the following
manner with excellent results in preventing warping:
After forming I place the tiles between two pieces of sheetrock and I weight
the top sheetrock with bricks. When the tiles are dry enough to be handled
but well before they are leather hard, I stack them one on top of the other
until there are 10 or so tiles in a group. They are stacked on a piece of
sheetrock slightly larger than the tile. Then I put another piece of
sheetrock on the top of the stack and weight this down with a brick or two and
let them dry.
Marion
Karen Mickler on mon 9 feb 98
Hi Dean,
I made a thousand tiles or so for myself, hand-cutting the tiles using
wooden templates. Using a NorthStar slab roller and a strip of burlap
under each slab, I roll rectangular slabs and place burlap side-down on a
painted plywood floor overnight - a matter of lifting the slab using the
ends of the burlap. The next day, the slab is lifted to a work table and
burlap removed. The clay is soft enough to cut and stiff enough retain a
sharp edge. I use one template the size of 3 or more tiles depending on
the size of the tile, and another template the size of 1 tile to cut the
individual pieces. The cut tiles are then placed between drywall boards
and stacked atop one another. The top piece of drywall is weighted with
whatever works - bricks, tiles, more drywall. Before the tiles are
completely dry, the next step is to roll out another 1/2" thick slab and
cut little squares of clay to use for spacers. A stack of tiles is made
using a piece of clay at each corner and one in the middle. The tiles
continue to dry and are bisqued in the stack.
One learns from experience just when to remove the tiles from the drywall
boards and rack up for further drying. Too soon and warping is more
likely....too late and the corners of the tile can crack due to the
moisture in the clay setter squares. I was quite happy with the speed I
developed with this process (drying time not included). In a few hours, I
was cutting 60 tiles in the morning and rolling out 20 slabs each evening
at the end of the work day. Using commercial clay, I cut off just enough
to roll out a slab and trim before setting on the floor. The trimmings are
used for more slabs. I also made wooden templates for making curved edges.
One thing I love about working in clay is the experience of looking at what
needs to be done and discovering the process to do it. I have to hand it to
all of you who contribute so much to Clayart with your helpful information.
It is a challenge to write clearly about the processes we use.
Cheers,
Karen
Yellow Branch Pottery
kmickler@graham.main.nc.us
>
>Malone & Dean McRaine wrote:
>
>> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>> Aloha all: I have been making tile following the techniques in Giogini's
>> book 'Handmade Tile'. I am pounding clay into a plaster mould for 6x6"
>> tiles. My problem is that not only do they lift up off the board in a low
>> arch as they dry they also contract in the middle of each side so that the
>> finished tile is slightly star shaped. Any suggestions?
>> Thanks,
>> Dean in Kauai where we can see our breath in the morning.
rscorl on tue 10 feb 98
Mudskippers,
All Ya'll keep talking about sandwiching tiles between drywall. That's jim dandy
but what about relief carved or molded tiles? Won't this squash some of the
modeling? If so what is a relief carved molded boy to do?
Ron
Big Baby Head Studio
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