Post #650177 by danlovestikis on Thu, Aug 30, 2012 8:00 AM

Kele today we open the kiln and find out if the hand stayed on. It is a journey through treacherous waters of heat and fire.
hang10tiki if you come here with Jonelle then our list of those who have stayed in the Buzzy Bedroom will keep growing.
VampiressRN I've craved more Crawl mugs. You've set up the biggest event so far. You always go the extra mile, thank you so much.
tigertail777 it took 10 years of 40% off Michaels coupons to build the jungle. dartharnie will be glad to hear you like his Wolfman Bob. It too comes out of the kiln today. That's scarier than Wolfman himself!

Progress Report:

I have learned a great lesson. As I have started to pull down the previously poured mugs and bowls I've found that the plastic wrap did not keep them from drying out. These were wrapped in 10 to 20 layers. I would just roll them, cut, roll them from a different direction. It didn't matter every thing I've made ahead has dried out.

So to assemble anything I've had to place them in a bucket of water to soak it up and then keep the work in plastic bags to equalize. This doesn't work well at all. It is hit and miss. Sometimes the object comes out of the bag perfect and sometimes the tikis will pop off the bowl.

Example:

There are ways to make this go away but in the end the extra work involved in using dried objects involves way more work. So pouring ahead and stock piling as I did for this third Wish List was not a good idea. It actually has slowed me down.

bavtech/Nelson of Mahalo Tiki purchased a peanut mug mold that I've been casting. I originally got into tiki art because Dan kept saying there shouldhavebeen a bowl to go with this mug. I made many shouldhavebeen bowls for him in clay. Now I'm making one in ceramic.

The first Peanut Mug Bowl for my husband Dan courtesy of Mahalo Tiki.

First step:

I'm doing one mug a day. The bowl will have three. First I roll out some clay and added slip to the top as glue.

I pressed the top of the mug onto this clay and cut off the excess.

I cut a hole in the bottom so air can escape and not blow up the mug. I forgot to put plastic on the table so I use my parsley cutter to release the mug from the table top, oops!

The top is a bit indented. As it dries some I'll be able to add clay until I can make it level.

So even though I have bowls poured we made another one to save time and effort.

I learn something every day and that will not end. I hope sharing will save you from the same errors. Cheers, Wendy