Julie Mackie, mackieclay@hotmail.com on tue 31 jul 01
I'm in the middle of handbuilding (with 2 inch slabs, aprox. 1/2" thick) a
six foot woman. At this moment her breasts are at my eye level! I plan to
cut her in thirds so that she fits into my electric kilm. My urgent
question of the week is...what is the best approach to making the cuts thur
her knees and waist
The clay is geting quite hard as the legs have had to support her weight
which when finished will probably be close to 200 pounds. Thanks in
advance!!!!!! Beautiful day under the redwoods here in California.
Jean Cappadonna Nichols on wed 1 aug 01
Julie,
I would have to concur with Janet about leaving the legs intact and making
the cuts in the areas she suggested. Most of my sculptures are large but
instead of building them in a whole piece and then cutting, I make a flange
on the completed bottom piece, put plastic around the flange, and proceed
with the building of the next section to the necessary height, flange it, and
so on. This helps me to plan where the separations will be in advance. Of
equal importance though is letting them dry stacked. That way, they shrink,
warp and dry all at the same rate, in the same configuration. This is no
guarantee that they won't warp further in the firing process (in fact, you
can count on it). You did not say what kind of clay you are using, but there
is less warpage in clays with grog/sand additions, rather than smooth
earthenwares.
If your clay is not yet too hard, you may still be able to add flanges at the
intersections, cover these with plastic, restack and allow the assembled
piece to dry covered and very slowly.The flanges will add a great deal of
stability to the fired pieces.
Best of luck,
Jean
Jean Cappadonna Nichols on wed 1 aug 01
Julie,
I think I may have skirted around your question. After rereading your message
and realizing that you asked for the best approach to cutting through the
piece...;
First of all, as elementery as this may sound (my apologies), get someone to
help stabilize the piece while you cut. Try to determine if your piece has a
natural parting line (if clothed, maybe under/over a belt?). If the parting
line is not an aesthetic consideration, then you can cut just about anywhere.
My concern is how you will restack the pieces for drying and how you will
reassemble after firing. I don't mean to add to the confusion, but what you
do now will have a definite effect on what happens later.
Jean
Snail Scott on wed 1 aug 01
At 04:26 PM 7/31/01 -0400, you wrote:
>I'm in the middle of handbuilding (with 2 inch slabs, aprox. 1/2" thick) a
>six foot woman. At this moment her breasts are at my eye level! I plan to
>cut her in thirds so that she fits into my electric kilm. My urgent
>question of the week is...what is the best approach to making the cuts thur
>her knees and waist
>The clay is geting quite hard as the legs have had to support her weight
>which when finished will probably be close to 200 pounds. Thanks in
>advance!!!!!! Beautiful day under the redwoods here in California.
>
I have done this sort of thing...
I find that building standing human figures in clay
is a real challenge, especially because of ankles.
The human leg is essentially a tension structure,
with the long thin bones held in alignment by the
muscles and tendons, etc. Clay is essentially a
compression structure, and not readily adaptable to
such forms when any major weight or size is involved
(as I'm sure you are well aware!)
Are you using any armature?
When I have made standing figures, I generally do the
cuts fairly early, and remove the lower body to one side,
to avoid strain on those skinny ankles. It can be a
challenge to visualize the proportions of the figure
as a whole in those circumstances, though.
I have two approaches to making multi-part figures.
The most common for me is to build up to the intended
division, and stop. I level the top with a board, and
cover it with two layers of drycleaners' plastic, then
continue to build. (One layer of plastic will stick to
each side of the division.) When I'm up as far as the
lower section will support, I pull the top off and keep
working. (Putting it at the same level that it was can
help with keeping a sense of the whole form.) Whe I
reach the next division, I just repeat the process.
If the piece is to be permanently joined after firing,
I score the faces of the joint, to allow good grip for
the epoxy. If it's to be joined only temporarily, I
build a ridge into the lower face before covering with
plastic. This ensures a perfect alignment, since the
corresponding groove is built right over it, with just
the thickness of plastic between them. I often do this
for pieces that will have to be transported before
finalinstallation; I join them permanently later on.
When the piece (as in your case) will be cut after
it's made, I generally use a saw to make the cut, as
the clay is often too stiff to cut with a knife, and
might distort if not. Saws with largish teeth seem to
work best for me; hacksaws and their cousins just clog
up. A bow-type frame saw is nice; floppy carpenter's
saws don't do so well onthe horizontal. It helps if
someone can brace the piece while you cut. Try to stay
flat; don't let the line get wiggly if you can avoid it.
Drawing the cut line on the clay all the way around can
help with this. If it's ragged when you're done, true
it up as best you can. I would then add score marks
to the cut surfaces, stopping just shy of the visible
surface of the work. There is some loss of material
to the kerf (cut thickness) of the saw, bur that's good;
when you epoxy the joint, you need room for the thickness
of the adhesive - it's never zero.)
Good luck! -Snail
Janet Kaiser on wed 1 aug 01
Golly! You are wise to ask if you have not made
anything this size before.
I have never made anything this size using 2-inch
slabs, but the problem I always had with anything cut
in this way (small or large) was from warping and
shrinkage, so it was impossible to get pieces joined
well post-firing. The best results were when I treated
the parts exactly like lids. Either add a flange or
insert a band of clay around the inside edge of each
cut piece, which will strengthen that edge and help fix
it back together. It will also prevent too much warping
or slumping out of shape during the firing. It can
usually be made in such a way as to support the
finished piece and slot it together.
I sometimes cut in a zig-zag rather than a straight
cut, but that was only effective on smaller pieces up
to 40lb total weight which could also be fired laying
down.
Do aesthetic or other design reasons dictate cutting at
the knees and waist? I would strongly advise
considering the hips or waist and neck/head, so that
the legs remain in one piece and as stable as possible.
A joint at the waist and neck is also much easier to
work on.
If you measure all the parts carefully at the making,
leather heard and post firing stages, you will also be
better able to remake any part/s which do not make it
through the whole process. Much better to re-work one
piece and not all three, if one is lost...
Good luck with your project and let us all know how you
get on!
Janet Kaiser
The Chapel of Art . Capel Celfyddyd
HOME OF THE INTERNATIONAL POTTERS' PATH
Criccieth LL52 0EA, GB-Wales Tel: (01766) 523570
E-mail: postbox@the-coa.org.uk
WEBSITE: http://www.the-coa.org.uk
----- Original Message -----
> I'm in the middle of handbuilding (with 2 inch slabs,
aprox. 1/2" thick) a
> six foot woman. At this moment her breasts are at my
eye level! I plan to
> cut her in thirds so that she fits into my electric
kilm. My urgent
> question of the week is...what is the best approach
to making the cuts thur
> her knees and waist
> The clay is geting quite hard as the legs have had to
support her weight
> which when finished will probably be close to 200
pounds. Thanks in
> advance!!!!!! Beautiful day under the redwoods here
in California.
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