Xtra News wrote:
"Bubbles" wrote in message
...

"Steve Mills" wrote in message
.. .

Make them out of clay slabs cut from a pre-rolled sheet, using cardboard
templates.

Steve


Yup. Slab-building. Try to roll the slabs in 2 or 3 motions in varying
directions, to avoid "memory" in the clay.

A good "trick" at the joins is to use something slightly harder than a
toothbrush (I use a bunch of steel strands from a steel brush, which I
have
glued into a dowel - but strands cut from a stiff broom can also work) -
dip
that in water and brush both join sites - makes slip at the same time as
you
roughen up the edges for a better join.

Also - consider wrapping the houses in plastic for a few days, giving them
a
_very_ slow dry - possibly helping to avoid unevenesses that result in
cracks when firing.

Marianne



Ya know I used to do the old score style join. IMO (possibly controversial
here) it creates more problems than it fixes. It was at a demonstration
(forget who) but a potter said that they didn't do it, waste of time. So I
started experimenting and joined with just slurrying up the surface with
water or vinegar. The vinegar appeared to initially make it stick better,
but as the vinegar made no difference in the long run I gave up using it.
You need to really work up some slurry, and use a little force when pressing
the two parts together.
I found that my joins were not only tidier, but failed less often. Since
then a friend said he uses terra sig made from whatever clay he is using to
join it. I have made terra sig sometimes, but find that just slurrying up
works ok for most things.
I think scoring messes up the area so makes it more untidy, it has the
possibility of introducing air, and it does not seem to improve the join
quality. )



I'm pretty new to all this, so please forgive my naivety. I can't quite
work out whether you are agreeing with Bubbles about the "wirebrush"
method of joining or if you're talking about something else Could you
say what exactly do you mean by "slurrying up"?

Thanks

pbhj