The sun comes up, the sun goes down
Hands on the clock go round and round
I just get up and it's time to lay down
Life gets teejus. don't it?
Carson Robison
Seems like I'm not getting anything done. Of course when you start about 10, quit about 3, and take a generous lunch break I guess that's bound to happen. In the mean time I've got to send in my Ohio Sales Tax, pay some bills, get my booth fee in for a Christmas show, mix glazes. glaze several loads, warm up my coffee, scratch Blondie's ears etc. It's always something, especially if you tend to let them pile up. With all this on my plate, I'm going to address it by going to a noon jam session for a couple of hours before I go to the evening jam session. And you thought I didn't have a plan.
In the studio, I have been heading off in a different direction. If you have ever seen my work, you know it is 99.99% wheel thrown. This week I got the wild hair to make some slab serving dishes and do some glaze trailing in them. I had some very old sugar pine from an old house I helped demolish 30 years ago. It cut like butter and after sawing the angles, a few strokes with a sharp plane made them ready to go . I also had a few blocks of hard Styrofoam. It cut very easily and I did not try any smoothing as it would just crumble. A finer grain foam would be better I think. This left some texture which might be nice on some pots but I smoothed it out with a rib on the one I did this week. I'll post some after firing pictures if they make it that far.
Roll a slab, rough size it, drape it, smooth it down, final trim. Next morning, off the mold, clean up edges with a peeler. Set aside to dry. Here are the results, molds and tools.
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| results from 3 molds |
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| Styrofoam and wood molds |
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| Handy tools |
very nice, those look large, use some porcelain sand under them when you fire them so they can easily shrink on the kiln shelf. did you make the wood molds?
ReplyDeleteThose are going to be sweet. A friend made me some square drape molds years ago. I wish I had some rectangular ones. I especially like the angles on the first mold on the left.
ReplyDeleteDoes not hurt to step outside your (wheel) box.
ReplyDeleteHave fun with those.
Thanks for the tip Linda. Yes, I made them. Michele, do I hear a subtle hint in that comment? These really are quick and easy if you have a good block of not too hard wood. White Pine, Basswood, or Poplar would all be ideal. If you hear me talking about a trip south, remind me and I'll make you a couple.
ReplyDeleteHi Dennis ... I use sanding screen when I make styro molds. It works much better than sandpaper. Love the wood molds. Would like to try some of those .... hmmm, maybe another hubby project ;)
ReplyDeleteThose look fantastic! I have a bunch of trays and use them daily. Everybody needs some trays in the house!! Now to get them through the warping stage :)
ReplyDeleteThe molds are as pretty as the platters.
ReplyDeleteHey Dennis I'm thinking to be comfy as cups the 24 oz vessels would need to be super light (thin walled) and the user might still need to be large handed. Also a textured or unglazed band in the bottom third would help counteract any slipperiness resulting from condensation from a cold beverage.
ReplyDeleteThhis is a great post
ReplyDelete