I stumbled upon your channel when my interest was piqued watching another video about slipcasting. Being completely devoid of any ceramics knowledge I've found your Tiki Technical Tuesday videos super helpful to understand the process! I'm a professional sitter (software engineer) so I've found your videos great for just watching and unwinding while learning a thing or two. p.s. I just noticed the ampersand on your apron looks suspiciously familiar.
I watch from home in the evenings or first thing in the morning if you have posted a video. These pendants are super cool! My favorite is the black or, is it? Oh, who am I kidding? I would need one of each to go with what I am going to wear! I love Tiki Technical Tuesdays! Thank you! Lisa
I noticed the clay model (in the comparison shot at the end) has a notch in the tongue but the casting don't. Was it lost in the casting/shrinking process or did you remove while cleaning up the castings?
Good eye! The master model got a bit roughed up when I pried it out of the plaster mold. I heat the plaster mold prior to opening to soften the monster clay to make opening easier, but that means the sculpture usually takes some damage.
I can’t find any business called The Blue Marble to pick up the little textured marble. If you get a chance, can you post a link? I really like that texture! Oh, and I’m watching from Northern California. Thank you, sir!
It’s not a business but an actual tree. The tool I’m using is a seed from the tree’s fruit which look like bright blue marbles on the tree. Here’s a link for more info: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaeocarpus_angustifolius
Thank you so much for taking the time to write and explain this to me! I enjoy your unique videos and have learned so much from them. ❤ Reading about the Blue Marble tree is fascinating. Thank you!
I bought some of the black porcelain slip after seeing it in one of your mug videos and it’s incredible! So I went back and bought blue, red and light blue…all really amazing clays!
Usually watch TTT on tv. Love fart sounds also. Do you reuse your porcelain that you remove from the well? Thank you again for another great and informative video.
I drain the molds back into the porcelain jug, so that gets re-used. The little bits I pry out of the well don’t get re-used. I suppose I could, but the time it would take to get them back to balanced slip isn’t worth it for me (time is my most precious material in the studio)
thanks so much for doing a small casting...i make miniatures(1:12), and gonna start to make molds for a few thinks i dont like throwing on the wheel time after time...this helpt me a lot...i watch your video's on my pc on my diningtable
Awesome as always, thank you for sharing your journey and your learning with us. I like to watch from my couch with my wife who is also a ceramic artist.
I am a retired Prison Officer I find this so relaxing and stress free, I am watching from the UK Lytham near Blackpool. I have only just started so my learning curve is long and slow, but your craft, explanation and demonstration have taken me to order materials to have a go. Thank you so much for the videos
Again, thank you for the video, real youtube gold. My mind read "pendants" before "slipcasting" and I was wondering if you were going to do some sort of press mold. I'd be super interested to know if you have ever done this type of mold. My first (and only) slipcasting experience was making ramen spoons. I had a goal of making the perfect ramen spoon (for me) size and shape (I'm somewhat picky!) and made a mold from a spoon I loved but modified to account for shrinkage. I made my own slip (mainly to save money and because I wanted to try) with a healthy dose of Darvan 7 (which is magical stuff!). I wanted the spoons to be as near solid as possible as I hated to think about somebody using a spoon and biting through a super thing spoon and ending up with a mouth full of glass :/. Anyway I knew physics wouldn't allow me to have NO void but I was hoping if I kept the mold topped up I'd do OK. In the end the small spaces in the mold (just the shape of the spoon!) meant I ended up with (relatively) huge voids in the spoon bowl, so I ended up having to hand fill / score / slip / reshape each spoon bowl by hand. They came out pretty well and relatively solid but what a pain! I guess the point is, I'd be curious if you've ever made any totally solid shapes with molds, something like a press mold? How would you make a spoon, or other smaller / thin shape where you don't want a huge void? Thanks again, as always!
Great question! I have indeed made solid pendants with a press mold. Years back I did a lot of hand pressed tiles, and built a tile press for the studio. I used this press to make a series of small pendants. It worked well, but this was before I had ever used porcelain.
I did notice the missed cleaning part lol I usually watch a majority of RU-vid at work while I’m on my lunch hour - iPads are great 😊 love your episodes!
"Where do you watch from?". I have a "work from home" day job. I share my lunch with you on Tiki Tuesdays. My backyard is next to a undeveloped green belt in the Pacific Northwest. I can always hear bird's chirping while I'm eating my lunch.
I’m a retired engineer (RADAR research) and I like it sit with a coffee, relax and enjoy a TikiTechnicalTuesday. An absolute delight. Thank you for all your hard work, your videos are an education.
Love the black porcelain. Have you ever come across a good deep flat black glaze? I am making hundreds of casting of a mug and want some gloss white and some flat black. I want to do them all on my slip casting table so would rather use a glaze instead of two slips. But the black slip really looks amazing. Have been wanting to use it on a different (smaller) project since your last video with it. Oh and usually just watch wherever I happen to be! (Home, studio, parked car). Watched this just before going into work.
Full disclosure, I rewatched parts at my desk to see better detail. I noticed the little “tongue” looks different on the original monster clay sculpture vs the cast. It looks like a slight under cut in the original, but not sure how it is still there after you already made the plaster molds?
Good eye! The original sculpture was slightly damaged when I pulled it out of the mold - that’s why it looks different when placed next to the final castings.
Now you're just spoiling us with all this excellent content! The pendants look great. I especially love the black ones. One question: if they were real adzes, which end/side would be the sharp part? Just trying to picture how it would be used IRL. Thanks again for another great video.
Great question! Here is an image of a slightly larger adze from Hawaii lashed to a handle. The bottom edge of the pendant would be the cutting edge of the adze images.app.goo.gl/nD721Rrc7fvdydaF8
@@vantikistudio Thanks so much! I was actually thinking it was the other way around so this really helped. I also just love the word adze because I am a huge crossword lover.
You wouldn't think 12% would look so drastic. Also, Watership Down always has me bawling! Do you avoid certain sections? Watching while I work on my 3D work.
I keep meaning to check the dimensions and calculate if it is indeed only 12% - it looks so crazy when I open the kiln! I am guaranteed to tear up many times while listening to the adventures of Hazel-rah and Fiver, and I am always a mess in that last chapter 🥹😭🐇
Flickering Fire Bulb for the WIN! Absolutely LOVE this build! Thanks for the more in depth explanation of how the Shaper works. I finally get it and must have one of my own! The Chyrons of Impending Doom™ are hilarious and completely relatable. Thank you for sharing the screw ups with us. It really helps people to see even the pros get it wrong sometimes. Speaking of which, I thought you were leading up to the ultimate irony of wearing a "Smokey the Bear" tshirt during the rewiring the bulb segment. My father would often talk about performing a "smoke test" to make sure any home electrical project was wired properly. Thankfully, your wiring passed with flying colors (as if it wouldn't given how careful you are!). More lamps!
Thanks Mark! The shaper is indeed a crazy fun (and sometimes frustrating) tool to use. As brilliant as it would have been, my Smokey shirt was unintentional (and thankfully I didn't burn down the studio) :D
I have the same slip table, but I’m a babe in the woods. It seems like I have to disassemble the pump and clean everything to get it to work daily. It’s hot as heck here, that’s probably a contributing factor. I have the manual, but I can’t find anything else. Do you have any suggestions?
Do you keep the table covered? And do you cycle/mix the slip daily before you turn on the pump? Lastly, is the slip properly balanced (prover specific gravity - does it cast well)?
@@vantikistudio thanks for writing back I appreciate it. I don’t have the original cover I’ve been using black plastic. I am going to get a tarp. I imagine that would work better. I run the agitator for 20 min or so before I pour. My specific gravity was 1.72 when I checked yesterday after mixing. My pours are coming out well.
@@Lindsayplank I cover the table with a plastic tarp after casting. I don’t close the gate to the pump, but I do hold up the nozzle when I’m done casting, turn off the pump, and lift the nozzle high up and open it to drain slip out of the hose. I then spritz some water into the nozzle holding rhe handle open and closed to get moisture into the hose and nozzle valves. Before hanging up the nozzle I put a rubber cork in the end of it. If I don’t cast for more than 4 days, I make sure to mix the slip in the tank and cycle the pump motor to prevent the slip from drying out anywhere or setting.
Thank you!! I am trying to maintain composure - I’m thrilled that you checked out the video! I love my Shaper - thank you for all the fantastic updates - auto pass is THE BEST!
Nice video. I've seen that golfers tape on amazon that you used. But I never tried it. Now I'm not sure I will give it a try. Anyways I've messed up cuts because of tape/material slippage. I've started using wood screws outside of the cutting area(s) along with tape and have never had a slippage problem again. It messes up your spoil board on work station. But they're inexpensive and easy to replace. Great lamp. Great job. Good luck.
Thank you! Ug - the dreaded material slipping! You may not have seen it, as it happed very quickly in the time lapse, but I shot a couple of brads into the board with the domino tape on it to really lock it down
Thanks! The white bulb I had in the video was actually a programmable Hue bulb - but I didn’t want to try to get it working at the show in San Diego so I opted for the flicker bulb 😅
I just spent most of yesterday watching your videos... I'm OBSESSED!! Thank you for all your awesome content!! I have a dumb question... why did you choose to use porcelain instead of stoneware for this mug? I would love to learn more about all things porcelain... when to use it, firing it, etc. etc.
Thank you for watching!! I chose porcelain for the piece for two reasons: I wanted a deep black color (I tried several black stoneware slips and they all looked great but had significant issues with glaze foaming or reacting to the black tint), and I also wanted a vitrified surface that would feel great unglazed. Porcelain is very close to glass - and has low to zero porosity. Porcelain is tricky stuff - I’m doing an episode next week about casting porcelain pendants 🤙
Does the shaper origin self correct? I only have a standard router that i've been trying to get better at using, but all of the shaper origin stuff i've seen looks SO GOOD!
It does correct! It has motors that move the cutting head and compensate for any wobbles and user movement to over a thousandth of an inch accuracy. It is a wild tool!
I find if I mix carefully and pour a thin steady stream I don’t have issues with bubbles. I picked this silicone specifically because it works well for me without vacuum de-airing (it sets too quickly I feel for using a vacuum chamber). I talk more about my silicone choice here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-12UahLu-NYw.htmlsi=04KmjhrscV05_N4s
@@vantikistudio interesting! This will come in handy for large molds. Thank you for your great knowledge - my kids and I have started slip casting and they're excited to start selling!
Make a tester out of MDF or something a little less expensive next time and then you can make the mistakes with the domino or suss out other issues. However, the lamp looks great. Well done!!! Regarding finishes, I use a beeswax/linseed oil mixture that doesn't stink too bad and leaves a really nice finish. You can probably order it online from Lee Valley Tools if you're interested. Flickering flame lightbulb has a nice ambiance.
Good call on making a MDF tester - I always feel like I don’t have time to do testers, then end up spending time fixing mistakes 😄 I’ll check out that beeswax finish! Have you ever used Rubio monocoat? That is another one I want to try.
@@vantikistudio I've not used monocoat. But a lot of woodworkers and makers on RU-vid use it. I guess it depends on what you're looking for in terms of protection. Blacktail Studios uses some sort of UV based finish. The beeswax/linseed is durable enough that I coated my kitchen drawers with it, but not so toxic that you are required to mask up to use it. That's what I like about it. Before deciding to pursue art as a career I worked as a cabinet maker and for a piano refinisher. I used many toxic finishes and so I try to avoid most of them these days.
@@dylanm3519 agreed on the avoidance of toxicity! I used monocoat on our house floors and it went well - and I love all the color options for tinting wood
Nooooooo! Really a minor mistake, a matching wood plug could patch those errant mortises (maybe for home use). Important learning curve though! And teaches those evil perfection demons a lesson you are not one to trifle with.
I do enjoy an adult beverage on occasion! This mug is MASSIVE - I’d fill it with a batched version of a Jet Pilot or Three Dots & A Dash and share it (or sip it veeeeery slowly) 😄
