NEW guest designed MUG!! (p7)!!

For the past few months I've been busily sketching, sculpting, and researching what it takes to make a run of my very own tiki mugs.

Searching through the TC forums for "how to make your own mug" I see that the general consensus is: get a book. Good advice. I'm lucky enough to have a smattering of pottery experience and a wife who is one of the best mold-makers in the business. Of course, she wouldn't make the mold FOR me, but... teach a man to fish as they say...

The original sculpt was Van Aiken oil-based clay, because I' used to it and had some laying around. I'd include a picture, but the mold making procedure didn't leave it looking too pretty, which was unfortunately a sign of things to come.

Here's a shot of the finished mold

If I were a professional of any kind I'd have run a MASTER out of silicone. But I'm a lazy sod and wanted to get right into the clay and muck.

I bought my slip premixed from the local pottery store. The more I learn about pottery the more I realize it's like sailing. A weekend to learn, a lifetime to master. So, not wanting to get myself in too deep I let the experts mix the slip for me.
My first pour was by the book, and didn't work too well. Undercuts in my sculpt and mold did a number on the piece as I tried to extract it from it's plaster prison. That and I didn't let the slip sit long enough, so the mug was very thin-walled. So I tossed it into my reclamation bucket and took a dremel and exacto knife to the mold, to minimize some of my undercutting.
The 2nd pull went a bit better, but still required more time in the mold than I gave it. Also, more scraping of the mold itself. I cleaned up this pull and kept it for future glaze testing.
The 3rd pull was good enough to clean up and mark L(for low fire) #1/50. I decided on 50 because of the amount of work that needs to go into cleaning up each pull, which I hope to minimize NEXT time. I only hope the mold lives long enough to give me 50 mugs. I've since cleaned up #2, and poured #3:

Here's the first two (darker, still drying) mugs and my 2nd pull (center w/chip) waiting for their eventual bisque firing:

There are two other sculpts almost ready to mold. But due to lessons learned on the first mug, I keep going back to trim them down, smoothe out potential trouble spots, etc. My wife has become inspired as well. Her first sculpt is nearly done and puts my work to shame.
I'll keep you all updated as to progress with glazes, etc. Hopefully this will all work out for the best and I can keep getting these ideas out of my head and into my collection.

-Joe

[ Edited by: Rum Demon 2008-01-31 09:53 ]

[ Edited by: Rum Demon 2008-08-23 18:40 ]

Looking good!

It was like deja vu reading about your process. I think I went throught the exact same trials and tribs.

Nice looking mug.

-Slacks

That's pretty sweet. I'm looking forward to seeing the end results.

Those mugs look pretty cool. Thank you for sharing the step by step process. I find this stuff very interesting. Good luck on the rest of your project. Be shure to let us know if you will be selling any of these.
Later,
Spermy

Thanks all! It's been alot of fun! It's amazing what one can accomplish when there aren't any good video games in the house. Har har. No, seriously... I have a problem.

Slacks(or anyone): I'd love to hear any wisdom you've gleaned from your experiences. Or at least help point me to other postings that might be on TC that I haven't found yet.

Whale: The first ten or so I'm giving away to friends and stuff, but if the mold holds up for 50 pulls, I'll unload them on the tiki enthusiast community. Probably through Ebay. But I'm also interested in trading them for other mugs. In particular, anyone's original homemade mugs.

more later,
noob

hey RD... wow ~ looks like you're having fun with your new hobby! how long does it take from the time you pour till you can re-use the mold for the next mug? (i'm presuming, the mold sucks out some of the water from the slip?)

can't wait to see those glazed..

and i'd be willing to trade for homemade tiki shaped cookies! (since i dont carve or do ceramics!)

elicia

Tiki mug - cool

Tiki mug you created yourself - way cool

Nice work

great ambition and thanks for posting cause I was thing of trying o produce one but the experience (lack of experience) will kep me from it.

looks great! looks like a lot of fun, too!

Update update!! Big ole UPDATE!!!

So I've been quiet lately, but very busy. Besides working and other obligations, Katie and I now have some 90+ mugs at various stages of production. Just last week I finally pulled a bunch of low-fire glazed ones out of the kiln.

The first design I'm calling "Primo"....

Primo #1/50 (ta dah!!)

I'm having tons of fun messing around with different glazes and colors. As a result, these things are kinda like snowflakes. Here's a couple other examples:

Primo #2/50 is meant to be the cadillac of the series with all the extra coloring. I'm not sold yet, so I'm going to patch it up and do a re-fire.

Primo #3 & #4 were also a pain to glaze, so of course they're the ones all of my friends want. Here's a glimpse at the back. I've decided to put "Rum Demon" on the back of every design. Or at least an "r.d."

Primo #13 is almost the same as #1, but with a glossy black glaze that I think is preferable. #1 also has the hot red inside.

Primo #14 is all red, in and out, but I'm thinking of re-firing it with the same treatment as #16.

Primo #16

Primo #17

Primo #18 was a bit of an accident. It's supposed to be clear glaze, but something happened. Some say my brush was dirty, but this guy is filthy all over, it almost looks like the glaze reacted to the way the air flowed around it in the kiln. I dunno. But I like him just the way he is.

There's more, too much to show here. I hope to put up a permanent website so everyone can see each of these monsters as they're born. Also, the folks I'm gifting or trading one to can look online to see which ones are available and pick the design they like. Once that's been taken care of, the rest will be listed on Ebay in numerical order, one a week until they are gone.

Meanwhile, there's plenty of work left to do before we can unleash these on the public. Some fell over in the kiln and bled onto each other, so I'll have some touch-up refiring to do.

Katie's first mugs (we'll call it design #3, codename "P.D.") are coming out great, but that will have to wait for another day. Designs #4 and #5 are in the mold-making process. Meanwhile, here's a teaser shot of Rum Demon mug design #2 "Fred"

Fred #4/50

Thanks for lookin'
-Joe

Lucky #13 is sweeet, but heck, they're all nice.

Wow , I have always wonderd how hard it would be to do this. I was told to you could carve a candle and use it to make a mold from. Great work on all of them.

wow. those are all fantastic!
what seller name do you, and katie go by, on ebay? (just tell me, so no one else bids against me, ok?)

Man #13 is awesome (theyre all cool, but thats the best, must the hot rod colour scheme). Fred looks like another winner too.

oh beautiful work!
is it expensive to make mugs?? it would be fun to try

I don't know if you talked me into it or out of it. But it looks as hough you are really getting the hang of it. Sweet work .

nice mugs Rum Demon....looks like a lotta work!

Awesome job! Gotta say, love FRED! Would love to get me one. Fred was my grandfather's name. Look forward to seeing more.

cool mugs - each one a little different. I'm diggin' the multiple colors on #2, looks like a tiki wrestler! Grrrrr!

that fred one is great too. I like that design a lot.

Looks like hard work makin those mugs.

Yes sir! I like the black with the red inside. That's sweet! I might have to start drinking again!!!......

-Gman

JUST RECEIVED RUM DEMON'S GREEN MUG AS A GIFT....IT WILL
HAVE A PLACE OF HONOR IN THE EVER-CROWDING TIKI LOUNGE....
THANKS A LOT R-D....THE MUGS LOOK SUPER IN PERSON!

Loving #16!

Primo #3 and Fred #4 rock ! ! !

Awesome work... I've always wondered about making some myself, but I wonder how much it cost you to set up for a run, then how much per mug?

Really good work, I'm very envious as all I can do is crappy little wood carvings on Basswood.

Thanks for all the comments, folks. Just got back with my mugs from the re-glaze firing and everything came out nicely. Next step is getting all the high-fire mugs glazed and fired. You see, I'm splitting the bunch up between low (cone 06) and high (cone 6) fire slips. I'm not sure which I'll prefer, but it seems you can get better details out of low, due to less running. All the high fire mugs are going to be single color, but some of the more interesting glazes out there are high.

Anyway. As for the other nuts and bolts, the whole process isn't cheap when you figure in all the tools and what-not to get set up. Raw materials alone come to about $2 or $3 per mug, maybe less.

The real cost for a project like this is time. The process of creating each mug, not including the time sculpting the original or making the mold, comes out to about 1-2 hours each or more. It's really been a part time job for me since this last may. And only now am I starting to see the final results!

A new pain is that I'm going to be in LA all next month for work, so production will be at a halt. With any luck I'll be able to put the first five up on the EvilBay while I'm down there. My goal is to get the first one listed by november 1st. I'll let you all know.

Meanwhile, when I get back to Portland there will be five molds ready and waiting to resume production. There's also a bowl I'm still sculpting for snacks or cereal or whatever. That will be an unlimited run so anyone that wants one can eventually get one. That means making a master and multiple molds, which will be a whole new experience altogether.

I'll post again when I get some pictures of the finished high-fire gang.

long-windedly yours,
Joe

Aloha TC!

Splitting my time between LA and Portland these days. Here's a quick peek at what's new in the Demon's garage:

High fire Primo and Fred...

And finally introducing....

"Pina Diablo!!"

That last mug is the product of my beloved wife KT. Bless her for showing me up in
nearly every capacity.

Now that I'm here and all excited, I just had to share the two newest mugs in production, still unfired and without proper names:

"Coco-nut"

More anthropomorphic edibles from KT! With and without machete'd rims!

"Alien Tiki"

My favorite non-KT design to date. Perhaps it's not terribly tiki, but the demons of rum are not confined to polynesia, NOR... the planet earth! DUN DUN DAAAH!!!
In any case, I still plan to fill it with rum and other tropical delights...

Well that's the latest. A website to keep track of them all is under construction. And VERY SOON I'll take the plunge and throw the first batch up on eBay.

thanks for lookin,
Joe

You did a nice job on those mugs, they look great.

Great looking mugs rum demon! I'd love one of your 'Primo' guys in blue, I'll have to keep my eyes peeled on e-bay.

In the middle row that Primo in green is very cool too.

Lets see....#13, 17?, 4-50 and Pina Diablo! How much? I really love the pineapple.
Great job. Really sweet.

The Demon Gots Mad Skillz!

[ Edited by: Loki 2006-01-24 16:39 ]

Those top one kinda remind me of poison mugs. The next ones are sweet. Robot / metal feel too them. Are those heavy? The pineapple are my favorite. Tell your wife that shes good. I see that you have a bunch of your made up. I'm going to have to find out the price on those. The coconut ones are just as crazy as the pineapple. You guys do tiki fruit mugs good.

Where are you having them done at. Is it a local pottery shop.

Wow those are all fabulous. Can't wait to see them up on e-bay & place my bid. The pineapple & the "coco-nut" are my favorite so far and I can't wait to see the Coco-nut all fired and glazed. And what can I say Fred & Primo are real charmers!! Alien Tiki huh?

How long until they are on e-bay?

Tikisgrl

Congrats, mugs are lookin good. Its great you are getting to produce low and high fire pieces. The high fire glazes are rich. Look forward to seeing more and having another ceramicist on the board to discuss the artform.
TT

Cool mugs! I really like the pineapple guy

WOW WOW WOW. We're not worthy!

Thanks for sharing your mug making experience - it's been an eye opener to say the least.

very nice mugs , i dig the coco-nut guy the most.

Pina Diablo wants to come play at the Woo.. I know he does. I shall watch ebay with great anticipation!!!!

Very nice work. I dig the alien mug.

Hokay. Aaaaaat some point http://www.rumdemon.com will get you to this site, but in the meanwhiles go here...

http://www.consumption.net/user/toadfrog/ht_docs/

Yay! A cheesy yet informative inter-web-site!

Click the mug you like and you'll get a page showing thumbnails of every mug that's yet been glazed. I'll update eventually so you can click on those for a closer look.

Now you can get a better idea of what's coming up. Hooray!

-Joe

the red X most mean sold. Good for you gooding out and making such a fine looking mug/mugs and then marketing them like you have.

On 2006-01-24 15:02, Tikiwahine wrote:
Great looking mugs rum demon! I'd love one of your 'Primo' guys in blue, I'll have to keep my eyes peeled on e-bay.

I saw you out there on ebay, TW :wink: I went with my first choice of Pina Diablo. He's my fave, plus that way I wasn't bidding against you :wink:

Someone has outbid the heck outta me for Pina though :o

RumDemon....Really choice mugs! Just glanced thru yet again and saw the Coco-Nut. How I missed that the first time around is beyond me! Can't wait to see that fired and ready to sip from!

Do you have a picture of Coco-Nut & Alien Tiki all glazed & fired up?

Tikisgrl

Ok. Yes. Late. But. I've updated the website http://www.rumdemon.com with all the new mugs we've made since I've last posted.

Primo is all but finished. We FINALLY ran #50 this week! I'll destroy the mold soon (and post pictures of the fun!). An artist friend told me that I'm entitled to 5 Artist Copies, so I'll run those off before busting things up.

I've been drinking and don't much feel like a long post, but felt the need to point the curious towards our website. There are 9 Coco's there to look at, ONE Xeno (which is what I'm calling the Alien), and several new Freds and Primos, hooray!

-Joe

Ladieeeeees and Gentlemen!!! Step right up to witness the most tragic conundrums ever to grace the kilnmaster's circle! Yes! It's "Tales From the Kiln!!", a horrifying journey through 2200 degrees Farenheit where no man can survive and few demons escape without horrific deformities!!

Here we have a Fred, beautiful on the outside, but what's this????

A strange POX upon his insides! WTF!! I don't know. Most of these poooor poor mugs have already made their journey through the kiln once before, only to find themselves as bad off, or worse than they were before.

Whygodwhy!!!

Another, avoidable tragedy was the little stands on which we place the mugs in the kiln were apparently not rated for such high temperatures. The result: stands melting and mugs falling into each other, making sweet, horrific love in the kiln. Witness the horror!!

Then there's this handsome fellow...

who looks quite normal...

But then I turn him around and see....

good lord!!! Chunks taken from his bottom! What ever could have happened!? Who would want you now, Fred #32!?

But this isn't the greatest of tragedies, NO!!!! For one particular glaze in which I had held so much hope, I found so much heartbreak!!!!

Well, that doesn't look so bad, butwait!! What's this???

Some sort of horrible leprosy has stricken you!!! And what of your brethren!??

Not so bad, but WAIT!!

Noooooo!!!!

Et tu?? Acne-scarred Fred?

And then there's my favorite... an overly glazed primo whose drips I'd dremmeled for hours only to find...

What? He's standing crookedly...

Noooo he's dripped again... what's an amateur ceramist to do!!!???

Yarrr!! So that's my week. "But where are the Cocos and Pinas in all of this?" you might ask. Well, all of Katie's mugs are low fire. Low fire mugs are much more manageable. Great beaty comes from the mid-high Cone 6 firings, but also great tragedy.

So I'm still trying to figure out what to do about these horrible mutants. The guys that fell into each other are easy enough to fix, but the acne ridden, bubbly, and runny mugs? I just don't know. I guess I could retire them to my garden, to act as gnomes or scarecrows (scareslugs?) and retire their numbers like legends of the NBA. Or I could take the merciful hammer to them and pretend they never existed. None of these feel right, yet something must be done....

In the meantime, happy Hallowe- I mean, happy St Pat's everyone!

-Joe

M

[ Edited by poptiki on 2022-10-12 05:27:41 ]

Oh no!!!!! I'm afraid now as to how my second batch will turn out like, considering my first glazing was too thin.... What if my glaze is thick enough but then I get pimples, bubbles and drips??!!!! Arghhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!