Post #325148 by VanTiki on Sun, Aug 12, 2007 7:50 PM

So much awesome support! As many have expressed interest in the ceramic tile process - I took a bunch of shots as I spent an exciting Sunday pressing bathroom tiles!

First off, the clay. I am using a nice white cone 6 clay body from Laguna clay:

To waste as little clay as possible, I take a 25lb bag and whomp away on it until it has stretched out a bit and is roughly the same size as the tiles I am pressing. Here you see the stretched out 25lbs next to a standard bag of clay.

I then slice up the clay like a loaf of bread using a handy-dandy clay cutter thingamabob.

The slices are neatly stacked and bagged to keep them from drying out too quickly

I then prep the plaster tile molds - brushing out any clay dust or particles. I have more info on making these molds on the separate Tiki Tile thread.

I place a slice of clay into the mold and press it in with my fingers. This can be the tricky stage when dealing with very high-relief tiles (like the skull tiles), but this design is fairly low-key.

I place a piece of canvas over the clay and then an oak square that will act as the "Plunger" when I press the tile. The canvas keeps the clay from sticking to the wood.

I stick the prepped mold into my tile press

and I pull the lever! I dunno how much pressure I put on the tiles - but I actually do a chin-up for ever tile I press (lifting myself off the floor). Very dramatic stuff :)

here you see a freshly pressed tile with the excess clay oozing out around the wood plunger block.

All 4 zig-zag tile molds freshly pressed with the canvas and blocks removed

I cut away the excess clay with a wire cutter, then scrape the tile flush using a wood tool

The mold is set aside for a minute or two to allow the moisture to get sucked out of the clay and into the plaster mold. As the water leaved the clay, the tile shrinks. When I can see a gap between the tile edge and the mold, the tile is ready to be released. I flip the mold over and slam it down on a set of raised blocks - and if all goes well the clay tile drops out! (once again, very dramatic!) :)

At this stage I clean up any air bubbles or bad edges on the tile, then I set it on the rack to dry. Here you see one 25lb bag of clay transformed into tiki tiles:

Ta da! Now - I wanna be sure to give credit to tile artist and author Frank Giorgino and his amazing book Handmade Tile. If you ever want to "press your own" - his is the book to get. I've got a mini-library of tile books, and his is the best by far!

I'll post more bathroom photos soon. We are set to demo the existing bathroom this Wednesday. Good Times!

Henrik "VanTiki"