Paul Lewing on sat 9 dec 00
Don Jones wrote:
I think when I turn over the slab to
> get the slab mat off I curve the slab in the process. The clay sags in the
> middle when I transfer them, and the corners turn up; once done, it cannot
> be corrected.
BINGO! There's the problem right there. Clay has a property called
plastic memory. If you bend it when it's wet, it will bend back like
that as it dries and as it fires, no matter how you flatten it out, no
matter how you dry it. People's suggestions about changing clay bodies
and slower drying under weight may help, but if you bend the wet slab,
it will all be for naught.
You need to get these things off your slab roller without bending them.
If they are on some kind of board in the slab roller, you may be able to
pull the board out, put another board on top, and flip the whole
sandwich. Or just use a new board for the next slab, and let them dry on
the board they were rolled on. This is probably not an option on a
Northstar slab roller, though. As an aside, I really hate those slab
rollers that you have to tuck the clay/canvas sandwich through the
rollers on.
The other alternative is to roll each slab on a sheet of paper or
fabric, and DRAG it off the slab roller onto a board without bending it.
Interfacing (Pellon) works well for this. This is how I make tiles.
They dry overnight and then the board and tile is flipped onto another
board and the Pellon peeled off.
Here's another idea. I have a friend who made incredibly flat tiles.
She picked them up off the slab roller on a piece of canvas by the edges
and dropped the tile on the table. If the tile slapped down hard on the
table, like when you used to drop your books on the floor flat to make a
really loud noise when the teacher's back was turned in 6th grade, they
stayed flat. She referred to it as "inducing plastic amnesia".
Good luck,
Paul Lewing, Seattle
Wade Blocker on sat 9 dec 00
Dear Don,
Perhaps your claybody is at fault. I use a fairly smooth cone 6
stoneware body from NM Clay. I use, a Brent slab roller. The clay is rolled
to 1/4"thickness. I dry the tiles between two sheets of 3/4"plywood and
those are fairly heavy. Then I cover the plywood with plastic, so that the
edges of the tiles ,which are exposed do not dry out. I leave the tiles
alone for at least 3 to 4 days before turning them over, and then I cover
them again with the sheet of plywood. With this weather perhaps it might
take even longer for them to dry sufficiently.
In the bisque firing to cone 06, I stack 3 tiles on top of each other,
on a kilnshelf dusted with silica sand. Perhaps one out of three dozen
tiles might show a little warping.
I would take your problem to Brant at NM Clay. He is quite
knowledgeable and helpful as far as claybodies are concerned.
Hope this helps, Mia in ABQ,
Gary Holt on sat 9 dec 00
Don Jones wrote:
>
> since I have been making tiles this past year, most of them are
> warped to one degree or another. I use a Northstar 24" slab roller on a
> slab mat with 04 smooth white clay.
> I've tried different thicknesses, NOT transferring after
> cutting them, turning the tiles over at leather stage etc. I still get
> warpage.
> HELP!
> How is everyone else doing tiles without the warps? How can I change my
> process to eliminate this?
>
> Don Jones (frustrated beginner,.....master no more)
>
>
Don, you might try using paperclay if it's available to you, or if you have the
means to make some. I have clay made up with the addition of some of Roseanne
Gault's standardized fiber, and it almost eliminates cracking, and minimizes
warping a lot, particularly if I wax the edges of the tiles as soon as I can. I'm
using cone 10 clay with 8% grog though, not lo-fire, and what works for me may not
work for you. Good luck....... Gary Holt
Berkeley, CA
www.garyholt.com
Don Jones on sat 9 dec 00
Dear group,
I am very embarrassed to ask this question because I used to be a
"master potter".
However, since I have been making tiles this past year, most of them are
warped to one degree or another. I use a Northstar 24" slab roller on a
slab mat with 04 smooth white clay. I think when I turn over the slab to
get the slab mat off I curve the slab in the process. No matter how I dry
them (always in between plaster wall boards) they tend to warp in firing.
They also warp when I use a tile cookie cutter. The clay sags in the
middle when I transfer them, and the corners turn up; once done, it cannot
be corrected. I've tried different thicknesses, NOT transferring after
cutting them, turning the tiles over at leather stage etc. I still get
warpage.
HELP!
How is everyone else doing tiles without the warps? How can I change my
process to eliminate this?
If this is hidden somewhere in the archives, I apologize, I've been off
list for a while.
Don Jones (frustrated beginner,.....master no more)
www.highfiber.com/~claysky
Mert & Holly Kilpatrick on sat 9 dec 00
It sounds like you are doing the things people would suggest. Maybe a more
open clay body would help. We fire ^6 tiles, and may have some warping here
and there due to carelessness, or maybe a bigger tile, but not the degree of
problems you mention. We use the sheetrock sandwich, as you mention. So I
would wonder if you have a very touchy body that maybe isn't the best for
tiles. Then again too, handmade tiles have variation, I have heard some
tile setters hate to install handmade tiles because they are used to the
factory precision of manufactured tiles.
Holly
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Jones"
To:
Sent: Saturday, December 09, 2000 4:45 PM
Subject: warped tiles
> Dear group,
> I am very embarrassed to ask this question because I used to be a
> "master potter".
> However, since I have been making tiles this past year, most of them are
> warped to one degree or another. I use a Northstar 24" slab roller on a
> slab mat with 04 smooth white clay. I think when I turn over the slab to
> get the slab mat off I curve the slab in the process. No matter how I dry
> them (always in between plaster wall boards) they tend to warp in firing.
> They also warp when I use a tile cookie cutter. The clay sags in the
> middle when I transfer them, and the corners turn up; once done, it cannot
> be corrected. I've tried different thicknesses, NOT transferring after
> cutting them, turning the tiles over at leather stage etc. I still get
> warpage.
> HELP!
> How is everyone else doing tiles without the warps? How can I change my
> process to eliminate this?
> If this is hidden somewhere in the archives, I apologize, I've been off
> list for a while.
>
> Don Jones (frustrated beginner,.....master no more)
>
> www.highfiber.com/~claysky
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> 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.
>
Cyn Blamire on sat 9 dec 00
It could be as simple as the clay body you are using. Have you tried another
body? How quickly are you drying the tiles? The less you handle the tiles
before they are dry, the better.
C. Blamire
Donald G. Goldsobel on sat 9 dec 00
Don,
I found a very helpful bit of advice on this dicussion list. I take no
credit for finding it. The egg crate grids used to difuse the light for
flouescent lamps gives total air circulation above and below tiles and if
they are kept out of a draft can be dried more rapidly and need less
handling. they are more costly than gypsum board, but the results are far
better. No distortion of the design .
Give it a try
Donald
>
June Perry on sun 10 dec 00
Syliva, several years ago Ceramics Monthly (I think) had an article on tile
making the maker used a piece of rebar, rolled on the back side of the tile
which she said helped to prevent warpage.
If the clay body is not too plastic, perhaps has a lot of grog (some articles
I've seen recommend as much as 25%), is rolled in two directions or rolled
using a slab roller that has both a bottom and top roller so you have equal
pressure, minimally handled and dried slowly, etc. should yield you a higher
rate of success.
In some commercial tile manufacturing, they are dry pressing which is why
they can make those tiles so thin, fire so fast, etc.
Most throwing bodies are pretty plastic and unless you add a lot more grog or
sand, dry press, etc. you risk having to deal with the problem of warpage.
If you are going to be making a lot of tiles you may want to try to find or
develop a low plastic, well grogged body to insure greater success.
Regards,
June
Paul Lewing on sun 10 dec 00
I've never noticed that making ridges on the backs of tiles made them
warp any more or any less. But if you roll them out on a textured mat
and bend the tiles as you peel them off it, you will have warped tiles.
I'd guarantee it.
Paul Lewing, Seattle
Gail Dapogny on sun 10 dec 00
Don,
I am not a professional tile maker, nor do I make hundreds of tiles as
others on this list probably do, so I hasten to add that I would pay more
attention to what they say than to what I'm about to mentionbelow, but it
might ber helpful.
The grids that Donald mentioned I find helpful also. During the first few
hours of drying, I turn the tiles and I also weight the corners with kiln
stilts over night -- each stilt laid across the adjacent corners of two
tiles. This latter seems to really help.
Incidentally, the well-known tilemaker, Motowi, also uses a grid for
drying, but I know he also uses cement board or something at some stage.
I'll see if I have anything in my notes.
----Gail
Gail Dapogny
1154 Olden Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48103-3005
(734) 665-9816
gdapogny@umich.edu
www.silverhawk.com/ex99/dapogny
Joanne L. Van Bezooyen on sun 10 dec 00
Another angle....I've found I have less warpage if I roll out smaller amounts of
clay on the slab roller, although I don't know why that would matter.
Joanne in Tucson
Mert & Holly Kilpatrick wrote:
> It sounds like you are doing the things people would suggest. Maybe a more
> open clay body would help. We fire ^6 tiles, and may have some warping here
> and there due to carelessness, or maybe a bigger tile, but not the degree of
> problems you mention. We use the sheetrock sandwich, as you mention. So I
> would wonder if you have a very touchy body that maybe isn't the best for
> tiles. Then again too, handmade tiles have variation, I have heard some
> tile setters hate to install handmade tiles because they are used to the
> factory precision of manufactured tiles.
>
> Holly
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Don Jones"
> To:
> Sent: Saturday, December 09, 2000 4:45 PM
> Subject: warped tiles
>
> > Dear group,
> > I am very embarrassed to ask this question because I used to be a
> > "master potter".
> > However, since I have been making tiles this past year, most of them are
> > warped to one degree or another. I use a Northstar 24" slab roller on a
> > slab mat with 04 smooth white clay. I think when I turn over the slab to
> > get the slab mat off I curve the slab in the process. No matter how I dry
> > them (always in between plaster wall boards) they tend to warp in firing.
> > They also warp when I use a tile cookie cutter. The clay sags in the
> > middle when I transfer them, and the corners turn up; once done, it cannot
> > be corrected. I've tried different thicknesses, NOT transferring after
> > cutting them, turning the tiles over at leather stage etc. I still get
> > warpage.
> > HELP!
> > How is everyone else doing tiles without the warps? How can I change my
> > process to eliminate this?
> > If this is hidden somewhere in the archives, I apologize, I've been off
> > list for a while.
> >
> > Don Jones (frustrated beginner,.....master no more)
> >
> > www.highfiber.com/~claysky
> >
> >
> ____________________________________________________________________________
> __
> > 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.
> >
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> 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.
--
Joanne L. Van Bezooyen
520-749-1685
Art Gecko Designs
http://www.arteriordesigns.com/noname.html
voice & fax: 520 760-1584
11220 East Via Madre
Tucson, Arizona 85749 USA
Bill and Sylvia Shirley on sun 10 dec 00
Could somebody please address the idea of making grooves on
the backs of the tiles. Does that help reduce warpage or
not? I was thinking about rolling slabs on top of a plastic
floor runner, or car floor mat, which have those ridges that
stick up.
Thanks,
Sylvia Shirley
Jim Bozeman on sun 10 dec 00
Pete Pinell in one of his workshops I attended, shows how to get perfect tiles every time. It's kind of difficult to explain in words here, but basically one constructs a tile making device out of wood and you pound the clay into this form , then with your cut off wire, cut off excess clay and then push this device onto another piece of wood with dowels, and the dowels pushes out the tile. You sandwich the tile between pieces of sheetrock to dry it out slowly. You can construct any size or shaped tile imaginable. Pete also states that the clay body one uses for tiles should have enough grog or sand to eliminate warping. I've made wooden shapes for 4 inch tiles, 6 inch tiles, 10 inch tiles, and triangular tiles (keeping in mind for shrinkage). Somewhere I typed up how to build these wooden forms with diagrams. If I can find it, I'll make some zeroxs and can mail out a copy to anyone interested.. regards, Jim Bozeman
Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer down
load : http://explorer.msn.com
Cindy Strnad on sun 10 dec 00
Sylvia,
The grooves in the backs of tiles improve adhesion when laying the tiles. I
don't know if they have any effect on warping, but I kind of doubt it.
Cindy Strnad
Earthen Vessels Pottery
RR 1, Box 51
Custer, SD 57730
USA
earthenv@gwtc.net
http://www.earthenvesselssd.com
Anita Rickenberg on sun 10 dec 00
Re: grooves to decrease warpage in tiles.
It's been my experience that grooves don't make any diference in the =
amount of warping. They do provide a "key" for adhering to a =
backing--there's more surface area for adhesion.
Anita
NCGHandmadeTile@AOL.COM on sun 10 dec 00
I roll out slabs on my Northstar slabroller and if I can, I use 25 lbs to
make the biggest slab. Then I take a 24" by 18" sheet of drywall and place
that on top of the slab (which is on top of the canvas). This makes a
sandwich of canvas, clay and drywall. I grab the canvas which is on the
bottom over the edge of the drywall and FLIP it over. The clay then ends up
on the drywall sheet, with practice it goes on pretty straight. Before I cut
out tiles freehand or with a tile cutter, I let it set up a little, sometimes
overnight. If the clay gets stuck in the tile cutter as you describe, it
will curl and warp. I agree with all the advice you have been given.
I also agree wholeheartedly that the clay you are using could be the problem.
I am using a terra cotta now for 10" tiles that are 1/2" to 5/8" thick.
These are made in a mold. I stand them up in my kiln for bisque - and
sometimes they are warped. However, for glaze at ^6 I lay them down in the
kiln and they flatten out. Cone 6 is the maximum temp. for this clay. I
don't sandwich tiles and I have an unending supply of drywall scrap that I
use for ware boards.
Nancy G.
Lana Reeves on sun 10 dec 00
Hi Sylvia- It's my understanding that the grooves are there to help the
tiles bond with the adhesive. I've found the most important things in
keeping tiles flat are: don't bend the slab, don't cut too wet, and let the
tiles dry slowly, flipping them often.
Lana in Somerville, MA
kilnkat@rcn.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill and Sylvia Shirley"
To:
Sent: Sunday, December 10, 2000 5:19 PM
Subject: Re: warped tiles
> Could somebody please address the idea of making grooves on
> the backs of the tiles. Does that help reduce warpage or
> not? I was thinking about rolling slabs on top of a plastic
> floor runner, or car floor mat, which have those ridges that
> stick up.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Sylvia Shirley
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> 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.
Gayle Bair on mon 11 dec 00
I found the cause of my tiles warping was
using a cut off wire that was too thick.
When I switched to a much thinner monofilament
the warping stopped.
Gayle Bair- Bainbridge Island WA
Lana wrote>
Hi Sylvia- It's my understanding that the grooves are there to help the
tiles bond with the adhesive. I've found the most important things in
keeping tiles flat are: don't bend the slab, don't cut too wet, and let the
tiles dry slowly, flipping them often.
Lana in Somerville, MA
kilnkat@rcn.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill and Sylvia Shirley"
To:
Sent: Sunday, December 10, 2000 5:19 PM
Subject: Re: warped tiles
> Could somebody please address the idea of making grooves on
> the backs of the tiles. Does that help reduce warpage or
> not? I was thinking about rolling slabs on top of a plastic
> floor runner, or car floor mat, which have those ridges that
> stick up.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Sylvia Shirley
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> 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.
____________________________________________________________________________
__
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.
Steve Mills on mon 11 dec 00
Another trick is to dry your tiles on a piece of plaster-board or
calcium silicate board (the latter is often used as a non-asbestos fire
proofing board), as top and bottom of the tile dry at the same rate. I
often use one of these boards for quick drying pots straight off the
wheel, as the foot then dries at the same rate as the rim. Another use
for this sort of board is in place of a plaster slab for drying down
slops; its chief advantage here is that when not in use it can be
stacked against the wall out of the way rather than take up bench space!
Steve
Bath
UK
In message , Paul Lewing writes
>Don Jones wrote:
>I think when I turn over the slab to
>> get the slab mat off I curve the slab in the process. The clay sags in the
>> middle when I transfer them, and the corners turn up; once done, it cannot
>> be corrected.
>
>BINGO! There's the problem right there. Clay has a property called
>plastic memory. If you bend it when it's wet, it will bend back like
>that as it dries and as it fires, no matter how you flatten it out, no
>matter how you dry it. People's suggestions about changing clay bodies
>and slower drying under weight may help, but if you bend the wet slab,
>it will all be for naught.
>You need to get these things off your slab roller without bending them.
>If they are on some kind of board in the slab roller, you may be able to
>pull the board out, put another board on top, and flip the whole
>sandwich. Or just use a new board for the next slab, and let them dry on
>the board they were rolled on. This is probably not an option on a
>Northstar slab roller, though. As an aside, I really hate those slab
>rollers that you have to tuck the clay/canvas sandwich through the
>rollers on.
>The other alternative is to roll each slab on a sheet of paper or
>fabric, and DRAG it off the slab roller onto a board without bending it.
>Interfacing (Pellon) works well for this. This is how I make tiles.
>They dry overnight and then the board and tile is flipped onto another
>board and the Pellon peeled off.
>Here's another idea. I have a friend who made incredibly flat tiles.
>She picked them up off the slab roller on a piece of canvas by the edges
>and dropped the tile on the table. If the tile slapped down hard on the
>table, like when you used to drop your books on the floor flat to make a
>really loud noise when the teacher's back was turned in 6th grade, they
>stayed flat. She referred to it as "inducing plastic amnesia".
>
>Good luck,
>Paul Lewing, Seattle
--
Steve Mills
Bath
UK
Jeremy McLeod on mon 11 dec 00
> She referred to it as "inducing plastic amnesia".
Is this what happens to Soap Opera characters?
Incidence of amnesia on the Soaps is hundreds of times higher
than among the rest of us. Perhaps Paul's friend has a side
job in New York and Los Angeles.
Sorry folks. Sleep deprivation. Couldn't help myself.
Jeremy
ILENE MAHLER on mon 11 dec 00
Thanks Jim me too as I am going to start after the 1st to make 300 4"
tiles in SHINo for the backsplash in my kitchen usually use wall board
to dry in between Ilene in Conn
Jim Bozeman wrote:
>
> Pete Pinell in one of his workshops I attended, shows how to get
> perfect tiles every time. It's kind of difficult to explain in words
> here, but basically one constructs a tile making device out of wood
> and you pound the clay into this form , then with your cut off wire,
> cut off excess clay and then push this device onto another piece of
> wood with dowels, and the dowels pushes out the tile. You sandwich the
> tile between pieces of sheetrock to dry it out slowly. You can
> construct any size or shaped tile imaginable. Pete also states that
> the clay body one uses for tiles should have enough grog or sand to
> eliminate warping. I've made wooden shapes for 4 inch tiles, 6 inch
> tiles, 10 inch tiles, and triangular tiles (keeping in mind for
> shrinkage). Somewhere I typed up how to build these wooden forms with
> diagrams. If I can find it, I'll make some zeroxs and can mail out a
> copy to anyone interested.. regards, Jim Bozeman
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer down load :
> http://explorer.msn.com
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> 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.
Mike Gordon on mon 11 dec 00
Hi,
The grooves onthe back are for adhesion only. The tile press you
describe is shown along with a lot of good info in Frank Giorgini's
book, "Handmade Tiles", Mike Gordon
Roger Graham on sat 29 jun 02
I've been following the posts re warped tiles, and wondering whether it's
really necessary to make tile slabs by rolling, rather than slicing. My slab
roller doesn't get as much work now as it used to when first made. I wasn't
happy with the grain-oriented structure produced by the rolling, with
resulting shrinkage being more in one direction than another.
I picture all the little flat clay flakes lying one upon the other, being
stretched and smeared over each other by the rolling action. No matter how
you flip or rotate the slab, it seems inevitable that the final slab must
have a directional set that would result in non-uniform shrinkage. So, for
slabs of moderate size, I mostly make them now by slicing. It's quicker too.
Slicing in the traditional way involves two flat sticks lying on the table
top, with a lump of clay between them, and a taut cut-off wire pulled along
the sticks to cut off a slice. Needs four hands, two to hold the sticks and
two for the wire, but you can manage with two. It's easier to do this than
to explain it, but let's try. Suppose the slabs are to be 10 mm thick.
(1) Prepare two flat sticks, say 10 x 20 x 300 mm. Nice and flat, especially
on the faces that are 10 mm apart.
(2) Get a piece of fibro-cement wallboard, say 300 mm square. (In Australia
it's called fibro" or "fibro cement". Do Americans call it "hardwall", or is
that something else? It's about 6 or 8 mm thick, grey, hard, porous, smooth
on one side, a bit rough on the other.)
(3) Glue the two flat sticks onto the flat side of the wallboard, one near
the left edge, the other at the right.
That's the slicing board ready for use. I have a set of these, from a little
one for 5 mm slabs up to a king-sized one for thicker stuff.
Now for the harp to do the slicing. It needs a particularly strong thin
steel wire, held really taut. Fishing line just isn't good enough, too
stretchy. Guitar strings are a bit thick. But there's a truly excellent
steel wire used by bee-keepers, for supporting the wax "foundation" in the
wooden frames when setting up a new bee-hive. The stuff I have is 0.015
inches thick (that's 15 thousandths of an inch), high tensile steel, very
smooth, supplied on a little plastic spool that must have held a hundred
metres or more. I've been giving it away for years, and the spool never gets
any smaller. Wonderful stuff, and not expensive.
For the body of the harp, use a length of steel rod say 700 mm long. Needs
to be pretty strong, say 10 mm diameter, to keep enough tension on the wire.
Make a groove around the rod say 1 mm in from each end, deep enough to hold
two turns of wire. A hacksaw does this better than a file. Measure in say
150 mm from each end of the rod, and bend the ends up at right angles to
make a |________| shape. The ends of the harp would be about 400 mm apart,
given the example figures above.
Wrap one end of the wire twice around in one groove, and twist the end over.
Now bend the harp by pulling it hard against your tummy while you anchor the
other end the same way, and snip off the excess wire. The harp wire should
be good and tight. Goes "ping" when you pluck it.
We're nearly there. Suppose the tiles are to be 100 mm square. Wedge up a
big block of clay, say 2 or 3 kilograms. No bubbles. Carefully wedged, since
you're trying to get all the clay particles oriented in random directions,
no grain. Pat the lump into a more-or-less square block a bit bigger than
your tile. Stand it on the fibro slicing board and cut a slice with the
harp. Discard the first one, it's probably lumpy. But after that, just cut
slice after slice until the block is all gone. Cut them to size straight
away if you wish, but it works better if you let them stiffen a bit.
For flat tiles, the slabs dry well if sandwiched between flat faces of two
more pieces of fibro board and left to stiffen. Cut them to size whenever it
suits you. They may or may not remain truly square as they dry a bit more.
Or (believe me, I do this and it works) let the slabs dry until very stiff
but not really dry, and cut them to size with a circular saw. Sounds awful I
know, but the result is truly excellent and the saw fence makes it easy to
get all tiles the same size. Surprisingly, doesn't make much mess either.
Roger Graham http://members.optusnet.com.au/~rogergraham
Stephani Stephenson on tue 2 jul 02
ALLISTAIR WROTE:
Anyway, the early makers [before dust pressing took over] used a
sandwich of clay to make their tiles - a thicker grogged layer between
two finer layers with the tension presumably being taken up by the
middle layer [filling?!].
I have an example from my garden which has been conveniently broken to
expose the layers and which has some other quirks which aid drying - I
would happily describe if there is interest.
Alistair, welcome to the list! I hope you find it a pleasurable and
worthwhile experience!
And now of course, I 'd love to 'pick your brain'!
I am a tilemaker and sculptor now in S. California, and love to learn
about the traditional techniques and the people and companies involved
with tilemaking and architectural ceramics.
I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR MORE ABOUT THIS LAYERING TECHNIQUE AND OTHER
'QUIRKS!"
I have seen many photos of Maws Co tiles and read about theor place in
'tile history'
I have never come across mention of the layering technique, , prior to
introduction of dust pressing, .
Do you think the outer layers of finer clay were clay slips, i.e. liquid
clay applied to the inner layer of grogged clay?
Or do you think that they were regular moist clay ?
Do these tiles have surface design? are they glazed?
I winder if the outer smooth layers were for improved impermeability,
glaze respinse, etc?
how thick are the individual layers in comparison to each other?
As to warping, I have found that hand pressing moist clay into open
faced plaster press molds works well.
It seems to me that a pressed tile is less prone to warp than a rolled
tile.
I think it has to do with the fact one is compressing the clay, not
stretching it.
I have several press molds, for 4X4s, enough to press 5 square feet at a
time, 3 tiles to a mold..
With this method the sizes are already measured, the sides already
squared and the edges already have a 'finished' look.
Because the molds are shallow , by the time I finished loading all the
blanks and tamping them down, the first ones are starting to
release. If left to dry completely in the mold they will begin to cup,
but as soon as they start to separate, I pop them out, place them on
boards and let them dry. I do dry them on a set of shelves, protected
from sun and wind, simply dried on boards though.
Best wishes
Stephani Stephenson
Carlsbad CA
Alistair Gillies on tue 2 jul 02
>Alistair, welcome to the list!
Thank you Stephani,
I think that I covered most of your questions in my main description I
shall attempt the rest:
>Do you think the outer layers of finer clay were clay slips, i.e. liquid
>clay applied to the inner layer of grogged clay?
>Or do you think that they were regular moist clay ?
I think that slip would have far too much water in it and would have
cracked on top of a plastic clay, also the lines where they join are
exactly like you would expect from two plastic clays being pushed
together.
>I winder if the outer smooth layers were for improved impermeability,
>glaze respinse, etc?
The middle clay certainly would not have accepted the precision of the
pattern that was impressed and the middle clay is very rough - although
the composition is basic, from the top this is a highly sophisticated
product.
>As to warping, I have found that hand pressing moist clay into open
>faced plaster press molds works well.
Yes I have used this method a lot - both whilst producing restoration
tiles for the Ironbridge museum and now I am using this technique to
develop a range of decorative building fronts and products based upon
architecture - use a mold to make a basic shape [front, roof, windows,
doors] and then add half timbering, brickwork etc by hand.
>It seems to me that a pressed tile is less prone to warp than a rolled
>tile.
Perhaps, though at present I am rolling out a slab and then pressing -
does this mean that I get the best or worst of both worlds?!
Do you make relief tiles?
How do you decorate?
All the best
Alistair
AGP Studio
01952 882909
07973 866198
www.agpstudio.co.uk [The builders are still working]
www.allblackedup.co.uk
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