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Christmas houses?



 
 
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  #1  
Old December 12th 05, 01:20 AM posted to rec.crafts.pottery
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Default Christmas houses?

I was thinking about starting to make my own Christmas town houses. So far
my idea is to press some tiles in the shape of walls and roofs and bonding
them together. This is (IMO) better than attempting to make a multipart mold
and slip casting it.

But since I don't know the pro's and con's of either, I thought I'd better
ask around first. If you wanted to make Christmas houses, how would you do
it?


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  #2  
Old December 12th 05, 11:38 AM posted to rec.crafts.pottery
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Default Christmas houses?


"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


  #3  
Old December 12th 05, 01:38 PM posted to rec.crafts.pottery
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Default Christmas houses?

Steve Mills mentioned in passing :

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


Don't you then have to reduplicate detail for each piece? I was hoping
to save my miniature sculpture work by making a mold or template from
plaster. I am planning to make them "n scale" to match my trains, which
means each house would be about an inch or two high (1/160).

I know that most people make larger ones, but that's why I want to make
my own. I probably should have mentioned that to begin with... I do
appreciate your response and any further suggestions you and fellow
Norwegian "Bubbles" might have.


  #4  
Old December 12th 05, 02:01 PM posted to rec.crafts.pottery
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Default Christmas houses?

Bubbles mentioned in passing :

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.


I have been doing other miniature work, progressing the detail of
carvings in drying clay, and I've used plastic storage containers to help
them dry evenly. I have never had problems with cracks in firing, but I
always assumed that I would and work to avoid it.

I failed to mention that my intent is to make fairly small houses,
N-Scale (1/160).


  #5  
Old December 12th 05, 04:18 PM posted to rec.crafts.pottery
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Default Christmas houses?

Hi Bill, I would go for a two part mould and slip cast.If you decide to
go for a single press mould I would caution you to make the surounding
plaster of a fairly good thickness (inch and a half or thereabouts).
Iv'e often seen people make press moulds for small parts only to have
the mould snap after short usage due to too thin walls.
Andy

  #6  
Old December 12th 05, 04:22 PM posted to rec.crafts.pottery
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Default Christmas houses?

Oops! I meant to say also that you might consider making the mould in
biscuit fired clay, less danger all round!
Andy

  #7  
Old December 12th 05, 07:06 PM posted to rec.crafts.pottery
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Default Christmas houses?

Ah, now I see where you are coming from.

If you make a set of basic House Fronts moulds, that gets a lot of the
fiddley work done pre-assembly, as customizing each one will take
relatively little time. Backs and sides can be plain or likewise
moulded.
The other thought was provided by Andy (2 part slip mould) which for N
gauge additions would probably be the best option. Again the cast piece
can be embellished or not as required.

Steve


In article , Bill DeWitt
writes

Don't you then have to reduplicate detail for each piece? I was hoping
to save my miniature sculpture work by making a mold or template from
plaster. I am planning to make them "n scale" to match my trains, which
means each house would be about an inch or two high (1/160).

I know that most people make larger ones, but that's why I want to make
my own. I probably should have mentioned that to begin with... I do
appreciate your response and any further suggestions you and fellow
Norwegian "Bubbles" might have.



--
Steve Mills
Bath
UK
  #8  
Old December 12th 05, 07:18 PM posted to rec.crafts.pottery
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Posts: n/a
Default Christmas houses?


"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. )


  #9  
Old December 12th 05, 09:25 PM posted to rec.crafts.pottery
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Posts: n/a
Default Christmas houses?



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
  #10  
Old December 12th 05, 10:05 PM posted to rec.crafts.pottery
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Christmas houses?


"pbhj" wrote in message
...


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


Well I did not want to be rude, but I was disagreeing )
What I mean exactly - generally people are taught to score the two surfaces
of a join, then wet that down and bring up slurry with water worked into it.
So you keep rubbing at the scored surface with a little water until you have
a good wet thick clay area, then you press the two parts together.
I suggested you skip the scoring bit and just work up the thick slurry
instead because I think the scoring makes it messy, can introduce air and
IMO does not work better. Working up a good slurry, or even better using
terra sig makes joins that are strong. If you have trouble with joins
coming apart or cracking when drying painting around the join with brush wax
helps, this is particularly useful for porcelain handles.
Terra sigilatta is the very finest of clay particles. Lots of info on it if
you do a google search.


 




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