My Ceramics Initiation

After reading every post from Wendy Cevola's thread I figured it was time to start one of my own, to document my journey into the ceramic arts...
This is the rough start of my Duncan-esque moai mug, modeled in plasticine on a PVC tube to save material.

I built a wooden rig to hold the model horizontally, to see if i could get around having to embed the model halfway in clay for the first pour by just pouring the first part in the bottom of the mold space, then pouring on top of that... here's the rig without the model.

then with the model attached by sliding it onto on a smaller PVC pipe.

I drilled a hole thru both pipes so I could secure the head sideways for casting.

I then put the other 3 wooden board around this and sealed it up tight and poured 2 batches of plaster. it worked out pretty well, no leaks or anything. But I apologize as I didn't get any pics of that process, will remember to do that next time.

After letting the mold dry for a week, I cast my first mug this past weekend and opened up the mold after 5 hours of drying - waaaaay too early, the mug collapsed in my hands. So I recast again right away, and this is the result after 30 hrs of drying in the mold:

I had some cracking right at the sharp angles, no doubt a result of poor design on my part (or leaving it in the mold too long...

no worries, as I learned from Wendy to save the extra slip and use it as glue to fill up the cracks. Right now the mug is double-plastic-bagged, trying to equalize the dryness so I can work on it. Not sure how long I should wait till I can start cleaning it up, I assume I need to take humidity into account.

Anyhow, I hope this thread will be entertaining as I work my way thru this. Haven't had a pottery lesson since college, many many moons ago. Seeing how much fun Wendy has been having, made me want to try this. I'll take more pics of my mold-making process, stay tuned!

thanks for watching, Elika-tiki

Welcome to the world of ceramics for fun and for... well, for fun anyway :lol:

I like that! May have to give that a try.

I was hoping to log on and find that you had started your thread. You can edit your header title each time you post.

You can just drip slip into those cracks and push them together. Glad you bagged it too. You mug looks great.

My biggest tip is to enjoy it all, especially all the friends you are going to make here. MadDogMike is a honest to goodness sweetheart.

Cheers, Wendy

Elika- kool
Have fun

Mike said:
I like that! May have to give that a try.

Ok
He asked for it

Love to see you trying it out for yourself. Just started doing molds myself and have already learned so much just in the first few. Keep having fun with it.

I just knew this would be a fun thread! Wendy

Elika is probably thinking "what have gotten myself into?!? :lol: Keep an eye on Hang10Tiki, at least you know what I look like now :wink:
PS - thank you Wendy :blush:

When you hurry through life, you just get to the end faster.
Pirate Ship Tree House

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2015-06-02 14:43 ]

I've seen you characters all over Wendy's thread over the past few months, I appreciate the welcome!

I'll post as much as I can, unfortunately my Day Job and my kids (11 and 13 yrs old) keep me going all day so you'll see more from me over the weekend.

Soon I need to go find somewhere in town to kiln these mugs, I don't have a cool oven... yet :wink:

thanks, elika-tiki

Elika-tiki,

Great to see someone new trying out mug making! I enjoy Wendy's thread so much and hope one day to make a mug too so I'll be eagerly awaiting your adventures. So far you've accomplished more than I. Looking good! Keep the updates coming, I'll be happily following.

Hey there, long time no tiki, I know... i've been busy doing other hobbies, like getting 10 gallons of homebrew into kegs:

But I digress... finally completed a sculpt of the mascot of my Alma Mater: behold, Hokie-tiki!

so I mount it into the rig and I decide I want to try a multi-part mold like Wendy just did on her thread, so I build a base out of an old sour cream container:

I quickly discover that these containers are too flimsy to rely on, and I replace it with an old paint container I had laying around.

The Hokie-tiki snug in his box:

I start by weighing out the proper ratio of plaster to water - i'm not experienced enough to do it by eye/touch yet. the proper ratio according to the manufacturer is 7 parts water to 10 parts gypsum.

The first layer, just up to cover his tail:

After the second pour and about to pour the third layer to cover. I use Murphy's oil soap instead of actual mold soap - it seems to work fine, when I remember to use it (more on that below).

The behemoth, on its side so I can get to the last part. this stuff is heavy, especially with all that wood attached to it.

The bottom finally cleared out of the way. After sweating in the 95-degree garage for the last 3 hours I'm so excited to be at this point, that i go right to pouring the last part without remembering to brush on the soap like i've done everywhere else...

and I pay for it. the bottom wouldn't detach from the top section, and I now have a 6-piece mold (one of the side pieces also broke in half).

you can't really tell from that last picture but the bottom is firmly attached to the piece on the right, which split right in two after trying to un-stick it from the top part. I quit trying after that, i might still be able to use this mold. we'll find out next week I guess!
oh and here's my Moai mug I cast, all dry and ready to be bisque fired:

it's been a long hot day. Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there.
thanks for watching and GO HOKIES!
eliki-tiki

You are not alone. We too have forgotten the mold soap or have put it on too thinly. Wonderful photos. That's a cute Alma Mater. Bisqueing. It's best to have a 20 min. hold at the end for maximum shrinking. Best Wishes, Wendy