Post #608111 by danlovestikis on Mon, Sep 26, 2011 8:43 AM

Hi Swizzle, thank you. I haven't picked a favorite myself.

tigertail777, when I started doing ceramics every thing I made was shipped to Gecko in Hawaii. Because of that I sculpted in Sculpey and baked it hard before it went into the mail. It's much better to use sculpture clay. Now that we do it all sculpture to finished product I use Roma Plastilina number 4 clay. This way I can change it at any time if there are undercuts. You can still make multiple molds. When your project is done you can reuse the clay. Right now I'm using the clay from the crawl decanter to make a new mug.

You need some masks to wear. When you pour the plaster out of the bag or mix in the water there are particles too small to see. They stay in the air a long time. When you inhale them they harden in your moist lungs. Over time you will destroy your lungs. It's the same problem with the slip and clay. When it dries and becomes dust or you sand your work you are breathing a toxic substance. We wear masks all the time and after a day of working Dan while continuing to wear masks he mops the garage floors while I wipe down all the table tops with wet paper towels that I throw away. If you don't start good habits now you will have a very bad old age.

The cold paint I use is Liquitex glossies. I buy them on line from Dick Blick on-line because I've not found an art store that sells them. Michael's used to but stopped in my area. It is a wonderful product and has the same colors as old vintage mugs. I can use them straight out of the bottle or mix them into colors to repair nicks and chips. The best filler is Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Filler. Over fill and then sand when completely dry. Paint and bake.

The glossies says it will work on primed metal. The instructions for ceramics are to clean with alcohol before painting. It doesn't say if that works for metal. Since you can't put the bike in an oven you could use a heat lamp or leave it in the sun. Hot water will make it come back off of ceramics so you don't put it on objects for the dishwasher and I wouldn't submerge them in any water just in case. They are not to come in contact with food or drink.

Maybe primed metal is sanded metal to make it a bit rough. Maybe customized bike posts on-line could lead you to someone who would know best. Good Luck and post photos if you do it. Cheers, Wendy