SWIZ - Mugs 'n' Stuff....wall hanging. - Other Crafts

S swizzle Tiki Socialite Melbourne,Australia Joined: Jun 03, 2007 Posts: 1460	S swizzle Posted posted on Wed, Mar 30, 2011 5:13 AM I'm going to start of this post with just saying how much respect I have for all the talented mug makers on this site. You already had it from me before but after tonights class you have soooo much more of it. Wendy Cevola, Mauitiki, MadDog Mike, Beachbumz, GROG, and then what can you say about the 'true' masters at this caper. Munktiki, Crazy Al, Gecko, Bai, Squid, Babalu, Bowana, Vantiki and anyone else I might have missed. It is a truly HUGE time consuming effort to produce consistent high quality mugs. (Thanks also hewey and LOL Tiki). Alright, what an exciting, and informative class I had tonight. I pulled my first mug from the mold that I have spent the last eight weeks making in my weekly ceramic course and i'm VERY happy with my first attempt. Here's some pics of the mold and the mug opened for the first time. The mug on it's own showing the 'spare' on top which allows for shrinkage as the slip is settling and water is being drawn into the mold. (I know it's not level on the top, I cleaned that up after). These close-up pics show the seam where the two parts of the mold meet which needs to be cleaned up and also several places where it looks like I might have left some slight undercuts. (There was also a small one on the top of the goatee in the pic above. That, and the one on the eyebrow, left pic, were the worst). After seeing these imperfections I then scraped away at the plaster mold in the places where those appeared and made the mold much smoother in those spots. I then reassembled the mold and poured another mug which i've bought home and will remove tomorrow. Now the REALLY big thing I learnt tonight after seeing the mug out of the mold the first time, is to get you master as PERFECT as you can before you start on the mold. This will save a hell of a lot of time you spend cleaning up each mug you pour. The plaster really does pick up every single detail in the master, and if it's not smooth and/or even you will have to clean it up after. I'm really looking forward to seeing how the second mug comes out after cleaning and smoothing the mold out. As i've said in past posts, the mold itself is not as daunting as it might seem (unless you start making 6, 7, 8 piece molds etc. Wendy, i'm looking at you :P). Glazing is a whole other ballgame to learn, but any other mugs I might make in the future, I know now that i'll be spending a lot of time on the master, getting IT right, before I even think about making a mold from it. You either spend several hours getting ONE perfect- the master, or you can spend several hours getting each and every one you pour perfect. I know which one i'd rather do in the future.:D Anyway, after all that rambling here are a few more pics of where I got up to cleaning the first pour before the class ended. Still needs a little work but i'm stoked. I'll post some more pics tomorrow of the second mug with the cleaned up mold.

I'm going to start of this post with just saying how much respect I have for all the talented mug makers on this site. You already had it from me before but after tonights class you have soooo much more of it. Wendy Cevola, Mauitiki, MadDog Mike, Beachbumz, GROG, and then what can you say about the 'true' masters at this caper. Munktiki, Crazy Al, Gecko, Bai, Squid, Babalu, Bowana, Vantiki and anyone else I might have missed. It is a truly HUGE time consuming effort to produce consistent high quality mugs.
(Thanks also hewey and LOL Tiki).

Alright, what an exciting, and informative class I had tonight. I pulled my first mug from the mold that I have spent the last eight weeks making in my weekly ceramic course and i'm VERY happy with my first attempt.

Here's some pics of the mold and the mug opened for the first time.

The mug on it's own showing the 'spare' on top which allows for shrinkage as the slip is settling and water is being drawn into the mold. (I know it's not level on the top, I cleaned that up after).

These close-up pics show the seam where the two parts of the mold meet which needs to be cleaned up and also several places where it looks like I might have left some slight undercuts. (There was also a small one on the top of the goatee in the pic above. That, and the one on the eyebrow, left pic, were the worst).

After seeing these imperfections I then scraped away at the plaster mold in the places where those appeared and made the mold much smoother in those spots. I then reassembled the mold and poured another mug which i've bought home and will remove tomorrow. Now the REALLY big thing I learnt tonight after seeing the mug out of the mold the first time, is to get you master as PERFECT as you can before you start on the mold. This will save a hell of a lot of time you spend cleaning up each mug you pour. The plaster really does pick up every single detail in the master, and if it's not smooth and/or even you will have to clean it up after. I'm really looking forward to seeing how the second mug comes out after cleaning and smoothing the mold out. As i've said in past posts, the mold itself is not as daunting as it might seem (unless you start making 6, 7, 8 piece molds etc. Wendy, i'm looking at you :P). Glazing is a whole other ballgame to learn, but any other mugs I might make in the future, I know now that i'll be spending a lot of time on the master, getting IT right, before I even think about making a mold from it. You either spend several hours getting ONE perfect- the master, or you can spend several hours getting each and every one you pour perfect. I know which one i'd rather do in the future.:D

Anyway, after all that rambling here are a few more pics of where I got up to cleaning the first pour before the class ended. Still needs a little work but i'm stoked. I'll post some more pics tomorrow of the second mug with the cleaned up mold.

Post #582470 by swizzle on Wed, Mar 30, 2011 5:13 AM