NEW guest designed MUG!! (p7)!!

RD, what cone level are you firing? I didn't read all of the posts, but, I have some experience in glazes around cone 9/10. Looks like you are seeing spatter from moisture still locked inside the glaze/slip. How long are you firing for bisque stage?

Hold on to hope. I still think the mugs look cool. The more you experiment the better they'll get!

McT, these are all cone 6 mugs. I'm not sure how long they were held at the bisq temp. Probably not long at all. The bubbles from my first run I figured were due to the mugs having only been glazed a day before, thus still having the glaze water still in the stone. This time, I had everything glazed weeks ahead of time AND shelved in my basement next to the furnace, sooooo they were dry. Also, there were glazes that didn't bubble last time, but did this time.
Meanwhile, I'm pretty ticked at my ceramics store for not saying their stands weren't rated to cone 6.

I chalk it all up to my own inexperience, but man, what a price. I'm still trying to decide what to do. I guess I'll re-run the ugliest of the bunch, give away some others to friends, and cry. Good thing I didn't bash Primo's mold after I ran #50.

Thanks for the kind words.

Ugh,
Joe

I never complimented you on your designs but, should have in the original post. These are very nice indeed.

Be very patient. You are doing fantastic work.

Mahalo

I think that most of the above mugs, look just fine. The ones with the little bubbles look creepy cool but is the clay explosed. I would only have a problem if fired clay is not protected by at least the smallest film of glaze although, a short use of the mug wouldn't destroy it. The green fred looks good like that. And the green one Primo turned out nice. Its just too bad about the mugs with white spots. A bad mug is better than no mug. You can always do little test peices before going ahead with the mug. With you doing so many different glazes, its amazing that you have done as good as you have. I don't remember what you said about experience but most people go years in school in all different art classes and they don't even sell their wares all over the interent.

The white spots are due to mugs coming into contact with each other in the kiln. This happens when their stands melt and the mugs fall over. That's an easy, but annoying fix. A bit of dremeling off any foreign glazes, a quick reglaze of the bare spot, then a re-firing.

The REAL danger is drinking from the bubble mugs. Each bubble is essentially very thin glass. Doubtless if you poured yourself a mai tai in one of those, some very fine glass particles would end up in your drink and therefore, your stomach. Yikes! Danger!! I admit, I like the look of the bubbles. Mainly because I've never seen anything like them before. But if I'm going to unleash these mugs onto the public, they can't be mugs, they'd have to be called vases or something. NO DRINKY.

Thanks again for all the comments. I feel very lucky to have a fine community of folks who appreciate our tinkerings.

take care,
Joe

There is a liquid wax that you can brush on a small amount to the bottom rim and it prevents glaze to stick there while glazing and holds the glaze back for a little bit when firing. Sometimes the glazes are runny so just use a little less near the bottom. And when maybe you won't need a stand for them. But I guess I don't know exactly how you fire so if this helps. PLus the wax is fun to play with to make patterns. It burns off.

#12 is looking good. I like that glaze. I don't know if this happen to other people but I always think that the mug in the picture is larger and heavier then it really is ? I build my first hand-built large and heavier. But very professional they are and ?/50 is really 1/1 with having all those different colors. -teaKEY

you call some of those tragedies, i call them sheer masterpieces! Can I have one of the bad ones? lol.

Rum Demon, this thread is the best! It had me laughing and crying all at once, as I too learned the evils of glaze gone wrong the hard way and have a shelf of mutant tiki mugs to prove it. Since then I made up a bunch of test chips that I can hang on my studio wall. Here is a pic:

They help out a lot. Each chip is numbered, and I keep a "chip journal" with notes on each chip. They are a "7" shape that lets them stand up on my kiln floor for firing then hang on a wall rack to keep them out of the way in the studio. I do different numbers of coats, different combinations of glazes, all that good stuff. Not to say that I no longer make major glaze mistakes - I just do it half as often!

VanTiki

That would be very useful, wouldn't it? You probably have your own kiln and a handle it's operation and the science of it all. The best I can do is take copious notes on each mug for future reference (anyone want to know on what day their mug was originally poured?) but the intangibles are killing me.

Henrik, what type of clay are you using on yours? Medium to high-fire I'd imagine. Very stoked to see one glazed, especially in my own hot little hands.

Meanwhile, I'll be home next week and shall try and update the website with all of the Xenos.

-Joe

On 2006-03-30 20:04, Rum Demon wrote:
You probably have your own kiln and a handle it's operation and the science of it all. The best I can do is take copious notes on each mug for future reference (anyone want to know on what day their mug was originally poured?) but the intangibles are killing me.

Henrik, what type of clay are you using on yours? Medium to high-fire I'd imagine.

Yep - I went all out last year and bought a kiln for my studio as I was going crazy having other people fire my work (I guess I am a bit of a control freak!). Haven't used it nearly as much as I should, but I do love it. Put it on wheels so I can store it under a workbench in my studio when I'm not using it. I'm learning ceramics as I go (my background is more in sculpture/illustration) so the mistakes occour on a daily basis! :)

As far as clay, I am a fan of Laguna's Calico clay (cone 5) and am currently playing around with Laguna's cone 5 porcelain.

RD,

I like the mugs with "Pox". It looks like it gives them that "non-slip" feel. What causes the glaze to bubble like that - water or other debris in the mix? It must be a huge bummer to see that happen after all that work?

-Gman

Rum Demon, nice job on the mold.

The white pox marks on the inside of the mug are underfiring. I've had this happen a few times on molds where the piece was thick and I sent it out to get fired. If your shop is firing with a kiln tender, they tend to go under the correct temperature because the cone is closer to the heating elements and bends before the entire kiln has reached the proper temperature. Some people fire with an 07 cone if their goal is 06 because of this effect. If your shop has an electronic kiln, then maybe they're loading their kiln too full, or your pieces are near the center.

When working with stoneware (i.e., cone 6 versus lower-firing cone 06), you cannot stilt your pieces. You have to dry foot them. That means no glaze where they touch the kiln floor. If you've seen stoneware in restaurants or even at home, you will feel that the base is unglazed (feels rough). Any part of the bisque which is unglazed is unsafe for food, by the way, so your mugs with the pox are unuseable for food.

I am fascinated by what you've done so far. I've learned a lot about how the finishes look on the mugs by reading your thread and looking at the pics. Thanks for all of your great posts, they have helped me understand the ins and outs of what this is all about (being a first-timer it always helps).

Aloha TC!!! I have missed you so!

Life is finally calming down after two months of working my arse off up and down the coast. What else to do with a calm life but get back to work in the studio?

I've started running mugs again. Primo was supposed to be done, but with the horrors recently pulled from the fire, I've decided to CHEAT. Yes, I'm running Primos and numbering them to replace some of the more egregious mutants. Is this a terrible thing? I'm unsure. The old mugs will become "gnomes" in my garden, never to be put on the market, most likely to be broken by neighborhood cats or overzealous hoe-ing. I dunno. Anyway, only the most unsalvageable mugs are being re-run, probably less than 10 (still 20% of the run... jeez, this thinking aloud is depressing me).

Fred and Pina are both within 10 mugs of being retired. Can't wait to smash up them molds. Speaking of molds, I left some broken plaster pieces on the back lawn all winter to see if they'd break down. Well, the result was an uncanny coral-like composition. Soooo the original Rum Demon molds will eventually live forever in a faux reef diorama! Awesome.

Almost ran out of coconuts to sell, so we may have to have a week or two without coco on the block. But since I'm the one pulling and cleaning coco right now, it means they'll have the "hacked" rim that I'm so fond of... Like the two on the lower left here....

Oh, also, there's a new addition to the family. Another angry fruit from the lovely KT! Meet... uh.... not sure she's named it yet.

It's a banana.
Very difficult to cast/build.
Will probably be limited to 25.
More to come.

New auctions start tomorrow night.

It's good to be back. Hope everyone is doing well.
-Joe

right on!

That Bananna is GREAT! Whoo!

VanTiki

Nice to see ya back,RD!

Bwana wanna b-a-n-a-n-a-s!!! :o

Flip-fl0p-fLipPp...

Wow! Wicked banana!

"Is that a mug on your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?" I'm glad you guys decided to not go with the "Ear of Corn" theme for this mug and instead went with Banana.

Haha! Yes. It could totally be glazed up as an ear of corn! YARR!!!! Diablo Del Maiz!!! You could chug your favorite corn liquor from him, IF YOU DARE!

We'll have to be careful with any green skinned banana variation. ; )

-Joe

Website update. The link in my signature is at this moment an accurate reflection of the Rum Demon enterprise.

More soon. Soo much more.

-Joe

Awesome Awesome work there Demon. I love my Rum Demon Coconut mug. He gets compliments all the time @ McTiki's!!! Love the Banana!

Now for a set of Kiwi shot glasses... Rum Demon style lol.

Mahalo

now that is an awsome banana! good job. looks real hard to make. keep it up

Just received #25 Pineapple ! We are stoked!

Thank you!

Keep em coming!

Mahalo!

Mc

[ Edited by: McTiki 2006-07-27 15:51 ]

Aloha Tiki Centralites! It has been a long and busy summer at the demon shack. Unfortunately, most of our busi-ness has been of a non-tiki mug related variety. Without too much new excitingness to announce, I miss you all so very much and cannot bear the silence any longer. It is with humble apologies that I provide this update from the bowels of the RD tiki mug empire...

The blessing of "day job work" leaves us so sad. Still, let me look around the room in which I sit... two, three, yes- four new mugs sculpted, and yet to be temporarily immortalized with mug-bearing molds. Three are from yours truly, and one sure-fire winner is from the brilliant mind of KT! I'm quite happy about my coming offerings, but Katie has outdone me again. Seriously, we have agreed to break our rule of "50 mugs per batch" and make hers a run of 100 because we love you and want more people to get them if possible. I've said too much....

I can't bear to show you anything until they are at least cast in plaster. I am a superstitious old cuss.

Sorry for the hyperbole.

By the way, I do not count the Banana de Diablo among the new offerings, of course. The yellow one has been among us for many months now, and is approaching albatrossian(?) status. This is a mug that requires all the patience of both parties involved.

It shall be very limited. Neither of us want to do more than 25. Currently we have four casts in the testing stage. I promise that at least one will look like a stalk of corn.

My big story these days are the horrors from the kiln. No more med-high fire mugs. Strange things happen at such incredible temperatures. Strange and wonderful things. Much of what happens results in deadly tiki mugs that would attack any drinkers with microscopic shards of glass!
Behold!!!

This is a terrible thing that I would NEVER release upon the ohana, therefore I regret to have to step away from such mighty volcanic powers for the time being and retire a good many Primos, Freds, and even a Xeno to garden gnome duty for all time.

I give you the damned...

Look at them all! So very many. So much work. SO much time invested. Alas, they have bubbles and crazy crap happening and I cannot in good conscience release them upon the public. It's really a heartbreaker. Some really nice colors and textures must put on the back burner until I can get a hanle on this thing called ceramics. All of these mugs shall be dutifully marked and relegated to garden duty as gnomic guards, talismans of protection (and hopefully fertility) with all due ceremony in the coming days. Of course their numbers are being recycled into their respective lineage in low-temp form to be made available to the public at large.

Let us avert our eyes from such tragedy. Come and look at some of the replacements for the valiant fallen ones, available soon at an eBay near you...

The IMPOSTERS! Dun dun DAAAA!!! Pretty cool, eh? Guess who, right?

Here's one I thought up, executed by the lovely and talented KT:

We sure do like our 'Trek...

Also, I give you "The Blancos", every Rum Demon must represent.

Additionally: a specially marked, non numbered Coco has been given to the Denver ohana for their 2006 Tiki Links event.

Note the orange and blue eyes. Go Denver!

I hope the late summer finds you all very well and in good spirits, the top shelf spirits.

-Joe

I just found this thread and thoroughly enjoyed reading the whole thing! I must say though, after looking at all those mugs, I really want a cocktail! Keep up the great work. How about trying angry lemon and lime shot glasses? Just an idea.

Angry lemon and lime shot glasses are very much on the list of to-do's. KT will handle that one of course. She has it all drawn up. They should be pretty good, thanks in part to some ideas put forward by another TCer. The time for these is definitely here, yours is at least the third call I've had for them. Thanks.
-Joe

Hi Rum Demon,

Brilliant and entertaining update, thanks! I love the brown/green mugs, they look fantastic!

you are doing very cool mugs...I love the one that you sent me a number of months ago...whenever
people ask about my mugs (nobody knows tiki up here) I tell 'em it's a gift from my Tiki Central
Buddy Rum Demon. Keep up the good work.

Aw'rite RD!

Now this is a mug I can dig...reminds me of da kids!

Whadda you think? A 'MUST HAVE' for this collector?!?! :D

Flip-flOp-flipPp...

"What R.U. BANANAS, yet?"

Just stumbled onto your post,Joe! Incredible stuff! I feel so bad for all those poor casulty mugs,especially Fred #32! His poor Bottom! And the leprosy? You're "kiln" me with the commentary! You got a great attitude,purposeful drive, and major talent! Can't wait to grab some time and visit your website! Keep it up Bruthah! So many great mugs are comin' outta that garage of yours! Mahalo for sharing the experience!

Aloha!

Great update - can't wait to see the new mugs. Have you considered drilling a hole in the bottom of the "damned" mugs and offering them as planters? That way they'd get to see the world and feel the love.

VanTiki

Wow! Thanks for all the love, people!
Van Tiki, I'm waaay ahead of you. Not sure what plants will work best for such a small/deep pot.
TJ, best of luck on the Fred auction. Those are some DAMN cute dogs! Thanks alot, now Katie wants a dog more than ever. Speaking of pets, I have to show off something I was doing with my late summer that had nothing to do with mugs or tiki... but....

It's a goddamn TANK for my stupid kitties to play in!! YAY! They were sleeping in a couple of boxes that were sitting in that corner anyway and well, it wasn't all that CLASSY so I figured, as I'm sure most of you would have, that I should construct a cat-sized tank for them to play and sleep in. No, it doesn't roll, but the turret rotates. It still needs a paint job and some sort of armament, but I just had to share.

Feline battle aside, it's been tough to keep up on mug stuff lately. As a freelancer, I've been pretty blessed with work this year, which takes not only my time, but my arse (out of town). Be sure and catch the wacky stop-motion effects in next week's episode of "My Name is Earl" to see where I was last month! Unless you hate that show, then please don't watch. Anyway, I'm back now and I'm only kinda tired but HEY!!! I have some time between gigs sooooooo....

LOOK! It's a new mug!

The friggin float! I think we're just calling it "Glass Float". Anyway, we made ourselves a nice master, soooo we're thinking a run of 100 for this one, though I'd like to make more. It all depends on how smooth we can make the casting process. As you can see it has a LID! WOOO!! Yeah! Lid technology reaches the backwater of Portland! It's a beaut I tell's ya! It's a bit smaller than Coco, but YOWZA what a hot idea! I can say this because it's a Katie mug. Of course it was. She's all like: "Hasn't anyone made a glass float mug?" And I said: "Not that I'm aware of." And whiz! Bang! She was off. The rest is history. This is the first one out of the kiln. It's OURS! so hands off. There will be more. Please have patience.

Meanwhile, here's a new one you CAN get your paws on! Finally, after all the teasing and whining... tomorrow.... friday.... the first foogin Banana is ready to go home with YOU! Check ebay tomorrow night. Whee!

That there is Banana #3. #3 of 30. Yes, thirty. This here thing is a ROYAL pain to put together so we're limiting it to 30 and yes, we will dance on it's grave when all 30 are done. Still, a hell of a glazing job. Oh, and I WILL make one that looks like an ear of corn. Why not?

Ok. I'll see you all on the block tomorrow. Good luck!!

-Joe

PS don't even ASK about the website.....

its black its white, perfect.

Love that float mugs. Creative like the TikiKIng mugs were.

Hey Joe, nice tank...tanks not very tiki though? How's the website? :D
BANANAS! FLOATS! and TANKS! Oh MY!!! :roll:

Flip-flOp-fLipPp...

Wow, 'Joe Bananas'

THOSE LOOK REAL RIPE! BETTER SEND ONE TO ME QUICKLY!!!

Nice!!!!

Mahalo

McTiki

Go Bananas b a n a n a s . How fun! Now I'm in the mood for a banana daiquiri! ................

Can't wait for the Float and the Banana! :D

Very cool and very original!

Keep up the good work!
:sheckymug:

That float mug is a work of genius (not that the banana isn't either). It looks like it could come from some forgotten 1950s vintage bar.

Great thread I real enjoy reading it! I think you are a really inspiring couple!!
so creative and supporting with each other! all the designs are very creative!! but I specially love blue Fred I think he is a must have!! keep rocking,Greetings!

i really dig the new styles. you two are very creative.

Couldn't hold back. I always jinx myself by showing stuff before it's ready to be released into the wild. Case in point, the farking glass float. It's a beauty, but damn if it isn't giving banana a run for it's money in the technicality department. Also, we've had terrible luck in the mold department above and beyond the fact that there are many pieces. One mold was made with a splash coat of a stronger plaster which proved tricky, giving us an inconsistent mug thickness. The 2nd mold was made with a "bad" batch of plaster and was far too fragile to use. So we're on attempt #3 to fabricate a mold that was a pain in the ass to make in the first place. Ugh. Anyway... on with the jinxing:

Now I've never been a fan of the tongue-hanging-out type tiki, but my original sketches of this guy had a little tongue up in his mouth. It didn't look right, so I made it bigger. And bigger. And bigger...


I'm calling him Edgar.

Edgar can taste what you've spilled.

The other guy that's been staring at me for a long while is this guy...


Ollie. Yes. That will be this one's name. He's a little bigger than a shot glass. The fez comes off and can be used a secondary vessel if you really want. YAY!!

Edgar's first three glaze tests/artist copies are in the kiln right now....
Ollie isn't quite as far along.

There will be 50 Edgars, and maaaaaybe 100 ollies.

Also, Katie's two new fruit mugs are getting really close to production. The new molds are ready for the pouring. More pictures of that stuff to follow.... I hope.

Meanwhile, a short stint of unemployment and finally having a kiln has made everything move along much faster than ever before. Our coffee table constantly looks like this:

Needless to say we haven't been entertaining much...

Work again draws us away from the ceramic monsters, but we'll try and keep things going. New mugs, new glazes, and the kiln (the novelety of having it on hand still hasn't worn off) should keep us interested for quite a while.

Yay!!

Thanks for looking!
-Joe

I love Ollie! The new mugs are super - and congratulations on the kiln acquisition! What kind/size did you get? Are you happy with it? Love the photo of the living room table - reminds me of our kitchen when Ms. VanTiki offers to help out in the glaze department. Can't wait to see the new mugs fired up and glazed!

Wow, great thread. Equal parts inspiring and horrific :)

LOVE the float mug and Ollie and the bannana and.... :) :) :) Threads like this make me wish I had more money. I had an idea for a float mug Decemberish, looking at your mug its a good idea. I love how the fez is a seperate drinking vessel too.

Shazam! Thought I'd bump the thread up and give youz all a peek at the goods promised and not delivered in my marketplace thread.

What else?! Lemons and Limes of course!! Or as KT so cleverly dubs them:

Lem N Lime!!!

Yep, that's the litter so far. The lemons in the back had runny eyes that made KT cry, so we are scrambling to make their replacements. Meanwhile, the runny bunch are getting their numbers sharpied over with the names of beloved friends for immediate adoption.

"Here's a present for you, Matt! It's one of our mugs that was too fugged up to sell! Yeah, it's basically garbage! Happy spring!"

Nah, they're still pretty cute. Especially when you find a fez that fits them.

So we're making 100 of each and selling them in pairs. Every tenth pair will have the colors reversed (lime is lem, lem is lime), and we'll probably throw a fez or two in there every now and again. Big fun, hopefully starting next friday, but don't hold your breath.

Special thanks to Travellin Jones for his brilliant and timely "slice mouth" design. The first two pairs are yours, bub!

Thanks for lookin,
Joe

:blush: ** AaaaaW SHUCKS! ** :blush:

Dim'Sum sweeet -N- sooour kidz, Lem & Lime...

Chokest Mahaloz on your kindness and ALoooHA! :D

:music: Tooooty FruuuiTy!...Tooooty Fruuuity!...a-whop-babaloo-bop-a-whop-bam-boom!!! :music:

Flip-flOp-fLipPp... :blush:

oh MAN!

The Lemons and Limes are perfect! I LOVE the slice detailing and "skin" (?) texturing. Is Ollie out of the kiln yet? I see his Fez....