Sue Beach on sun 14 mar 04
I've been thinking about making some molds of clay to use for handbuilding and
also some smaller ones for sprigging. I know lots of people use plaster, but I
don't want to mess with it in my studio.
My question is, do I fire the molds just to bisque (making them more porous when
I use them for molding) or do I fire them in a glaze firing so they are vitrified?
Any suggestions about making molds from clay?
Thanks.
Sue Beach
Muncie, IN
Cindi Anderson on sun 14 mar 04
Hi
Bisque. The more porous the easier they will release and the faster they
will dry. Many people prefer clay molds.
Fremont, CA
Cindi
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sue Beach"
> My question is, do I fire the molds just to bisque (making them more
porous when
> I use them for molding) or do I fire them in a glaze firing so they are
vitrified?
Elizabeth Hunt on sun 14 mar 04
Hi Sue,
You'll want to fire the clay molds or stamps to bisque temps. The reason
plaster works so well it because this porous material absorbs water from the
clay so that the clay dries and shrinks away from the mold for easy release.
The less porous the mold material, the more likely you will need a release
agent, or the clay will stick and be difficult to pull from the mold. I
haven't made clay molds specifically, but I have students who use an old
bisque fired plate of mine (had a small crack in it so I never glazed it) as
a slab mold...and I love making clay stamps fired to bisque. Clay
molds/stamps also, of course, far outlive their plaster counterparts. Hope
this helps. :)
Elizabeth
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sue Beach"
To:
Sent: Sunday, March 14, 2004 7:43 PM
Subject: Clay molds
>
> My question is, do I fire the molds just to bisque (making them more
porous when
> I use them for molding) or do I fire them in a glaze firing so they are
vitrified?
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