Brilliant design. Would love to watch a segment where you dive into tiki mug culture and explain what makes a good mug design for the marketplace or what makes it collection worthy. Is it all about spinning new concepts with historical drinks and designs for example.
I wouldn’t feel right discussing what makes one mug more collectible than another - for myself I make mugs that I’d want to own and that spark a feeling of adventure and excitement for me. I’m forever grateful that other folks like them too!
What an awesome and ambitious design! super impressed with the complexity of Lil Ammy! Minor pedantic note -- it's moisture trapped inside air bubbles that cause kiln explosions, not the air bubble itself. A completely dry air pocket would be perfectly safe to fire because there would be no steam to build up pressure. Air flows through the pore structure in bisque perfectly fine Your slipcasting skill is wildly impressive and these videos are as helpful as they are entertaining. I've watched a ton as I'm trying to make a mold for my glaze test tiles. How did you like the industrial plaster instead of the pottery plaster? Did it behave much differently?
Thanks for watching!! I’ve seen so much debate on air pockets in ceramic forums and articles. In my experience, any kiln blow ups I’ve had were due to moisture turning to steam in the clay body that wasn’t dried enough. I have fired the Lil ammmy without a small hole in the critter half, and the tests did crack at the seam. I suspect they may make it through a firing if I slowed my bisque down even more. I poke a hole in all my closed forms just to be safe 😄
I truly love your imagination. Yeah - your craftsmanship is a bedrock for creating amazing projects, but to be able to come up with such coherent ideas, revolving around your passion, history, stories and places... That's your magic for me. Being true to yourself and your sensitivity.
I guess I’ve been learning from your wonderful videos because I found myself saying... doesn’t he need to vent the head?!? And I’ve never done any ceramics myself... yet! Just bought a kiln, so excited!
I have been looking forward to this, as I do for each of your Tiki Technical Tuesday vids! It is looking awesome! Can't wait for the next installment! Thanks so much! Lisa
It's so cool watching the mastery happen. You were doing really advanced work when I started watching a while ago, you're doing even more amazing stuff currently, and I can only start to imagine the level of cool things you'll be doing 10 years from now and beyond!
Fantastic video. Taught me a lot about multi part plaster molds. The question I have always had is there any way to use silicone molds to cast slip or porcelain liquid? Not plaster. I understand how a porous mold takes in the water to form the walls of a ceramic part but there just must be some other way do use a flexible mold to take fireable clay pieces out of
I wish there was a way. Believe me, if I could cast ceramic into silicone molds I’d be doing it! Sadly the silicone is a barrier to the thing you have to get out of the clay prior to de-molding: water
Great question! I had to put Fireball on the back burner for a bit to make room for studio work, and to bring in more "fun money" to put towards the paint and wood I'll be needing to finish the game. I haven't forgotten it - and hope to get back onto the build next month.
These videos are always great! Random question, how much evaporation does your casting tank experience? How often do you add water/check specific gravity of the slip?
Good question!! I get very little evaporation , as I keep the tank covered whenever I’m not casting. When beginning a round of casting, I balance the slip, and usually go through slip so fast I don’t bother rebalancing until I mix in the next dry batch.
I looove your videos I'm learning so much!! I was stressed when I saw you only dipping in slip to join the two parts because it was drilled in my head to score heavily first. Are you worried about them coming apart at all? especially in the greenware stage
I too learned to score than apply slip - but that was for slab hand building. Some of the slipcasting artists I follow told me scoring isn’t necessarily for cast pieces, and after doing a bunch of tests I found out they joints held great without scoring
Amazing video, as always! I always appreciate learning your approach and your tips! You can’t get USG No. 1 anymore??? Gosh that’s frustrating. So glad the new plaster is working out for you- guess I’ll have to see if anyone around me can supply it for my next round of molds. Also, if you fire slowly, you can successfully fire air pockets in the kiln without anything blowing up or warping. Air bubbles generally blow up because the air inside them contains moisture. If the mug is completely dry and fired slowly, gas can actually pass through the clay wall. There are organics and other materials that off gas inside our clay bodies, after all! Although putting a tiny hole often isn’t too aesthetically devastating, and firing air pockets can slow down production for some makers, so it makes sense why most people opt for the hole.
True about the air pockets! I remember reading an article on that very subject with great suspicion, but yes - they can be fired! The main reason I add a hole is to normalize the air pressure in the small critter cavity while the piece is air drying. I’ve found that the heat from my hands, or the temperature swing in the studio can cause the air trapped in the cavity to expand or contact. This slightly distorts the casting, and the little hole keeps it from happening. A few years back I did a bowl project with a large closed chamber, and forgot to poke a hole in a handful of the castings before firing. A couple made it through just fine, but most cracked.
When the work is still drying it can deform without an air hole but if your clay is dry, firing pieces without a hole are absolutely fine. I wouldn't fire them on a fast ramp but 60°c/hour is fine. No cracks in the bisque fire nor in the glaze firing at cone 6.
Please can you tell me how to get the same setup as you do ? How much did it cost ? Do you teach or do you have a course or an ebook? I’m really interested
Are you talking about my studio setup? If so, I give a studio tour in this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-A6TQQHDTk1Y.html And if it’s my slipcasting setup, I talk about that here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dmj7XiOd1K4.html And here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2tU6sBD9r_I.html
Thanks for another excellent video! This design is probably my favorite so far of the bunch (which is saying something). Such a fun little character! Question about joining the pieces together with the slip. Does this create a weak point in mug? Or is that not a concern after firing? Love your designs and your channel! Cheers.
Good question!! I’ve used this assembly technique on several mugs in the past (the lava lamp themed Volcanic Vapors mug being the most recent) and the bond is extremely strong. Consider that I’m joining the pieces together with the same material that they are made of, and once fired it all fuses together into a singe body.
To maintain the integrity of the edition. Just like printmakers destroy the plates after completing an edition. If I promise collectors that there are only X number of mugs cast, having the mold means I (or someone in the future) could always make more.
