Slipcasting Porcelain - Tiki Technical Tuesday 

Thank you! Sorry for the epic long time between episodes!

Oooo - that’s a great idea for a future glaze!

Good question! That is one part of my process I like to keep a mystery. I will say there are lots of different ways to do it, and I’ve used several techniques throughout the years to do the mug bottoms.

Perfection paralysis is a constant issue for me!

Thank you! Porcelain demands focus - I have a whole shelf of failed castings that proves it 😂

Thank you!!

Ha! Sorry!

Thank you! When I finally finished it I just couldn’t wait a week to release it 😄

No way! That is amazing - thank you so much!

Thank you!

Yes! My old boss would say “done is best” whenever he saw us chasing some impossible ideal

Thank you! I love both the red and black - AND we’re testing some new interior colors now!

Brilliant! I’ve been thinking of making a porcelain cart - perhaps that will be a future TTT!

Thank you for watching!! I hope someday you get the studio space of your dreams!

Thanks! In the end the practical models probably did the job better than my planned animation 😄

I love that blue as well! So glad it is working for you!

The red will return! I also have a beautiful moss green that I’m testing that I’m really excited about!

@vantikistudio i bet that looks amazing too.

So glad you found my channel! I’ve done a few Instagram live videos of us working in the studio, and may do more in the future - I always think is working in real time is boring 😂

Don’t stay up too late! The video will still be there tomorrow 😄

Awesome!! That is the goal!

Thank you! Always important to share the real talk

Thank you so much for watching!! You can reclaim all the trimmed bits - but I don’t. My slip tank is carefully mixed and balanced, and I’d need a separate reclaim tank for the scraps to avoid messing up the balance of my main tank. My studio is small, and my time is limited, so I don’t reclaim.

Ha! Thanks. Full disclosure: I had no idea who Alton Brown was until folks started comparing me to him. I have watched some since, and I’m happy to be compared - passionate folks sharing their craft is never a bad thing 😄

The craftwork you put into educating and entertaining us in these videos is just as caring and fun as your tiki casting work. Thanks for these all these years!

Aloha! Full disclosure: I’ve never mixed porcelain from dry bags - I’ve only purchased pre-mixed porcelain slip. If it was me, I’d make the whole bag. Most likely it will give you around 5 gallons of slip. It will stay liquid - just jive the bucket a stir at least once a week to be safe, and mix it well before casting with it.

@@vantikistudio thank you for your reply! I hope I don’t bug you too much with my journey 😅 hmm, 5 gals is a lot, I guess I underestimated how much there would be! With my lack of storage space, I may halve or even quarter those ratios to help dole out the amounts - which will be easy enough to do the math. Thank you!!!! Until next time van tiki!! ❤️

@@vantikistudio hi van tiki! i'm back with another few questions after pouring some test figures (the mixing went great btw! specific gravity and viscosity is perfect). as these figs I'm making are very small porcelain pieces that are around 3" tall (as an aside, I originally found your channel through your "Small Plaster & Silicone Molds for ceramics - how to avoid undercuts!" vid, dealing with a similarly small casted figure); however, I have some questions as i encounter/anticipate them: 1) trimming the flashing and best times/practices for cutting off the pouring spout: I find that lower portions of my figs break off easily near the base as i trim off the spout, and as well as this, it's not the easiest to smooth out the flashing. do you have any ideal methods for dealing with these on such a small scale? what's the best time to cut them off? similarly, what's the best time to trim the flashing marks (should it be ASAP/wait a day)? also, are you aware of any references i can watch/read to help my techniques in trimming them? 2) the upcoming glazing/best methods for applying glaze on such a small scale: as this will be my next step after the initial bisque fire before the final firing, I'm thinking of going the underglaze route for different colours + applying a transparent glaze coating to finish. i understand i can colour my pieces in underglaze all the way to the bottom of the piece, but do i have it right that my transparent glaze should only go to 1/8" just before the very bottom of the piece to avoid the transparent glaze sticking to the kiln shelf? for a small figure with lots different colours, do you think this might be the most effective technique? will the 1/8" be noticeably less glassy/look odd near the bottom? on a similar note, can you think of alternative methods/techniques for my situation (like using stilts within the kiln)? thank you in advance mr. van tiki!!!!!! ❤ you have been so crucial to my journey, it's thanks to watching your videos that i haven't had any major mishaps so far touches wood

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 🤙

@@vantikistudio I obviously wrote that before finishing watching the video because you talked about that!! THANK YOU! (and can't wait for that video!)

For mugs and vessels that have an opening, the opening is simply the best place to get the slip in and out of the mold. On occasion I’ve made shapes that don’t have an opening (pendants for example) and I’ll make a special insert piece that I place into the mold that allows me to cast a hollow object with no holes or openings. Someday I’ll do a video showing that technique 😄

I’ve used the premixed laguna porcelain with great results - but they don’t offer a premixed black. I tested a few other black porcelain options and Art&syn worked the best by far.

you know - I'm not really sure. Since I have a silicone master, I would go ahead and cast a fresh new plaster mold if I wanted to try slip casting this design with a different clay body just to be safe. The black color would definitely show up if I tried to cast a light body of clay into the mold after casting the black porcelain.

We release them in small batches every month or so - we won’t have another drop till after the holidays

Clear glaze would work on the interior - buuuut, I don’t like gloss glaze, and satin clear ended up looking grey. As for my firing schedule, I follow a “no pinhole” glaze schedule I found in the excellent Amaco glazes Facebook group

I’d print the mold, and make a silicone master of that mold. Check out Hammerly Ceramics on instagram, that is his workflow instagram.com/hammerlyceramics?igsh=cXd2ajVvdzJtOHF4

Thanks so much! 🌟

I’m not really sure. I’ve never tried it, as I’m worried about cross contamination. I usually pour a fresh plaster mold if I want to try casting something in a different clay body (that’s another reason why having a silicone master is nice)