becky schroeder on tue 1 apr 03
hi all,
wrote another chapter in my on going saga entitled "dumbass shit i thought
was brilliant at the time".
my great idea was to take all my flop pots i made out of bmix and turn them
into slip, then pour the slip into plaster molds i've made of my heavily
carved tiles. hahaha. the outcome would be obvious had i given my peanut
brain even a moment to think it through. can't plop the thing out of the
mold until it was drier and as it got drier it shrinks and cracks. duh. i
wanted to eventually work out how to pour one color of slip in then another
so the high points are mother in law blue (or something) and the background
babybutt pink (or something).
anyone have any words of sound or not so sound advise on how to make this
work? i've been trained well by you all to not ask and just try it but my
mammliu syndrome (mom always made me look it up syndrome) is rebelling.
also, anyone tried making paper clay out of ^5-6 b mix without sand? any
obvious pitfalls with this i should be aware of? i'm making a big ass
mosaic mural with irregular shaped tiles about 3-6 inches in diameter. i
know i should be using a heavily grogged kickass clay and not this prissy
stuff but i am carving these a lot and love the way it carves. i don't mind
having to remake a fair percentage of these tiles over again when i get a
reject.
sorry to be so longwinded. brevity is usually the main thing that makes me
tolerable to others.
becky schroeder
just read this over and too many swear words. oh well, tuff shit.
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John Rodgers on thu 3 apr 03
becky schroeder wrote:
> hi all,
>
> wrote another chapter in my on going saga entitled "dumbass shit i
> thought
> was brilliant at the time".
> my great idea was to take all my flop pots i made out of bmix and turn
> them
> into slip, then pour the slip into plaster molds i've made of my heavily
> carved tiles. hahaha. the outcome would be obvious had i given my peanut
> brain even a moment to think it through. can't plop the thing out of the
> mold until it was drier and as it got drier it shrinks and cracks.
> duh. i
> wanted to eventually work out how to pour one color of slip in then
> another
> so the high points are mother in law blue (or something) and the
> background
> babybutt pink (or something).
Us ol' slipcasters do this all the time. White porcelain on a Holland
Blue porcelain field is a favorite of mine.
I use a red sable pointed brush that,(one of the smallish Japanese
calligraphy brushes might do for larger work). I dip the brush into the
white slip and then paint the slip into the detail recesses of the mold.
I continue the process until I have the detail filled as far as I wish.
Then using fingers, small sponge, and rubber kidney rib, I wipe the back
edges of the build it up slip so the filled detail is smooth and the
mold surfaces without the slip are very clean (streaks the blue if not
very clean). Then, if it is a two piece mold, I close the mold and fill
with blue slip. When ready, I drain the mold, and when the slip is
sufficiently set, I open the mold and remove the piece. The finished
appearance will be much like a piece of Wedgewood, Blue field with white
decorations.
As for the cracking, you may have to reduce the amount of water you are
using to make the slip, and add some sodium silicate to adjust the
viscosity. The first impulse is to add more water to make the slip the
right viscosity so it flows (about like cream) , but experienced
slipcasters know this will increase the cracking problems. The other way
to get the slip to a consistency and viscosity that has the right flow
rate is to add the sodium silicate. Don't add it direct, but mix it
50/50 with water. Make yourself a batch of 8 ounces or so, and add only
a few drops at a time to the slip, stiring between drops. If you would
get a viscosimeter it would help. They are a simple little inexpensive
plastic funnel with a calibrated orifice in it. You measure the rate at
which the slip runs out. Slips typically should run out at about 45
seconds. But that varies with the clay density, water and Sodium
silicate in the clay.
Hope this helps
Good luck,
John Rodgers
Brimingham, AL
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