Any tape that will stick to bone dry clay?

[CeramicShapes]

Hi,

 

Does anyone know of a tape that will stick to bone dry clay? I'm trying to mask a slab of clay with tape, then cut a shape out of the middle of the tape, and then apply shellac only to that area so that I can then use a sponge to remove the clay around the shape.

 

Thanks

 

Steve

[TypicalGirl]

What if you used wet newspaper?

Cut the shape from the newspaper, then wet it and smooth it onto the clay?

The shellac won't care if the paper's wet, and will work on damp clay...

[BeckyH]

Did you see the recently posted video about this very topic? Damp newsprint is the way to go! Cheap, sticks well, peels off cleanly.

[CeramicShapes]

I guess the general consensus is newspaper......I'll give it a shot.

 

Becky......I didn't see the video......can you point me toward it?

[Marcia Selsor]

I guess the general consensus is newspaper......I'll give it a shot.

 

Becky......I didn't see the video......can you point me toward it?

 

I have used wet newspaper for masking greenware when spraying on a colored slip. But when I am applying shellac for the process you describe, I just brush on the shellac. I usually have several pieces in progress because down here with 90% humidity, it takes a while for the shellac to dry. I guess much would depend on the shapes you are working with.

Marcia

[CeramicShapes]

Hi Marsha.....intricate shapes......some, very intricate. Primarily text.....but some fonts are quite intricate. Which is why I'm not sure the newspaper will work.

 

I tried painters tape the other day, and it kinda worked.....but small pieces (like the inside of an "A") wouldn't stay on. The other problem that I encountered, was when I removed the tape, the dried shellac pulled up with it.

 

I'm wondering if painting the piece with a white underglaze first would allow the tape to stick better.

 

 

[Marcia Selsor]

Hi Marsha.....intricate shapes......some, very intricate. Primarily text.....but some fonts are quite intricate. Which is why I'm not sure the newspaper will work.

 

I tried painters tape the other day, and it kinda worked.....but small pieces (like the inside of an "A") wouldn't stay on. The other problem that I encountered, was when I removed the tape, the dried shellac pulled up with it.

 

I'm wondering if painting the piece with a white underglaze first would allow the tape to stick better.

 

 

 

I would say my designs are intricate..painting livestock and trees, etc. then shellac resist washing. See attached jpg. Why can't you do it with out the tape?

I still don't see the need if you are masking to apply the shellac. If you goob, carve it off or wipe it before it dries.

 

 

[CeramicShapes]

Hi Marcia,

 

The difference between you and I is that you are talented and artistic, whereas I am not. LOL!

 

I assume you hand painted that tree on there.......what I would like to do, is to take a flat piece of bone dry clay......let's say 11"x8"x1/2".......then cover the top with tape, then cut out a design (like your trees), peel away the tree parts, cover with shellac, remove the rest of the tape, and then wipe down such that the trees are raised. But I can't get the tape to stick and then, even if I did, when I remove the tape after the shellac dries, the shellac came up with the tape when I removed it.

 

Steve

[TypicalGirl]

OK, I wonder if maybe masking is not the best method.

What about screen printing?

You could easily create a screen with your letters/image on it and run shellac through the screen.

If you let the shellac thicken up a bit it will take longer to dry and give you more working time.

[CeramicShapes]

A good idea, but not practical from my point of view for two reasons: 1) I don't have screen printing capabilities; 2) Most of these will be one-offs, so making a separate screen for each one would end up adding too much cost to the piece.

 

The application that I'm hoping to perfect is signage........so let's say it is an 11" x 8" rectangular sign that says "Jones" and "Est. 2011"......but instead of just painting it on, I want the letters raised......and I want the ability to use multiple fonts and sizes......so having stock letters isn't an option.

 

 

 

 

[Veranos]

A good idea, but not practical from my point of view for two reasons: 1) I don't have screen printing capabilities; 2) Most of these will be one-offs, so making a separate screen for each one would end up adding too much cost to the piece.

 

The application that I'm hoping to perfect is signage........so let's say it is an 11" x 8" rectangular sign that says "Jones" and "Est. 2011"......but instead of just painting it on, I want the letters raised......and I want the ability to use multiple fonts and sizes......so having stock letters isn't an option.

 

 

 

 

 

[Veranos]

Try a light bisque fire, then use your tape or press on letters and sandblast the piece. Harbor Freight has inexpensive small hobby type blasters or a monument company will do it for a fee.

[TypicalGirl]

Steve,

I wouldn't discount the screen printing.

An 8"x11" screen only costs about $4 or so and can be used over and over.

Slap your tape down onto a piece of glass and cut out your design. Then pull the tape up and stick it onto the screen, and tape off the rest of the screen too.

Sort of like cutting rubylith (does that date me?)

 

 

[Marcia Selsor]

Hi Marcia,

 

The difference between you and I is that you are talented and artistic, whereas I am not. LOL!

 

I assume you hand painted that tree on there.......what I would like to do, is to take a flat piece of bone dry clay......let's say 11"x8"x1/2".......then cover the top with tape, then cut out a design (like your trees), peel away the tree parts, cover with shellac, remove the rest of the tape, and then wipe down such that the trees are raised. But I can't get the tape to stick and then, even if I did, when I remove the tape after the shellac dries, the shellac came up with the tape when I removed it.

 

Steve

 

 

Steve,

I don't think it is easier to cut with an exacto knife than painting with a brush. Just my opinion.

M

[Guest HerbNorris]

To answer your original question, the answer is yes, tape will stick to bone dry clay. It helps if your clay is porcelain, poreclaineous stoneware, or another clay that is smooth, and free of grog. It will also work with a lightly grogged clay, but takes more fussing.

I have used masking tape in various sizes to use in water etching. I also tried the blue painter's tape, but it has a low tack, and is harder to work with.

Duct tape also sticks pretty well, but can have a raggedy edge, and is harder to cut.

Clear packing tape will sometimes work, but it depends on the brand, and age of the tape; fresh tape seems to work best, as with all of them.

Electrical tape will also work.

The secret is to try to put the tape down in one firm pass, and not lift and reposition the tape. Every time you lift it, you take away some dust, which stcks nicely to the tape, and prevents it from sticking to the clay surface. Once you get it on there, smooth it quite a bit, but don't overdo it, that seems to cause it to lift away. After a bit of practice you will get the feel for it.

Typicalgirl had a good suggestion when she said to apply your tape to a piece of glass, which you can use as a substate for cutting your design out with an exacto knife. Is it easy? depends on your design and your level of perfection I guess. I have an old mirror I slap tape on to cut, then carefully peel it up; that can take quite some time, but what's the rush? You could even make a layer of tape on the glass, then glue your drawn or computer generated design on the tape, using spray adhesive, then yu cut it out, and peel it up.

Just some ideas.

Here's a couple of pics showing a jar I etched a couple of years ago. One shows the taping in progress, which can take some doing, and isn't pretty, but fun. This is smooth cone 6 stoneware.

[Marcia Selsor]

Herb,

Beautiful examples. Please explain your process. Are you water carving using tape resist? The vase is more organic lines than the tape demo. Very nice depth on the carving. I guess we all develop in ways that work best for us.

Marcia

 

 

 

[jo4550]

Hello Steve

Have you thought of the possibility of using signwriter's vinyl for making the stencil. The vinyl can be precut and then transferred to the pot with application tape. This system of using vinyl is employed in sandblasting. I regularly use this on glazed and bisqued work but I have also used it successfully on green ware. Instead of sandblasting you could use the shellac. If you were to do a number of these you might find it useful to investigate the use of your computer and a small vinyl cutter (think here of a printer with a blade instead of ink cartridges). Small inexpensive vinyl cutters have come onto the market through the scrapbooking craze. This could open some doors as a stencil is simply a stencil no matter how it is cut. I would also feel that the vinyl's glossy surface would also help to repel the shellac more than paper and tape.

 

Johanna

[lynny]

Hi Steve

you could also try a totally different approach if the tape/etching method is too fiddly.

purchase some vinyl lino cutting mats used for lino cut printing-you can get these in varying thicknesses. Then carve the 'letters & number' details out of the vinyl.

Cut your slab of clay and allow it to just stiffen up and then impress the lino cut over the soft clay which will rise into your cut spaces = raised letters. Make sure with this method you carve all your letters in reverse!

The other way is to create your slab and while its soft draw your design, let it set up to cheesehard and then carve away all the 'negative' space around the design making your letters remain in relief or 'higher' than the background.

I have created lino cuts of various fonts in different sizes and can re use them when needed over and over

hope this helps with your decision making

regards, Lyn

[jo4550]

Hello Steve

 

Just to clarify, in my earlier post I took the liberty of mentioning the computer-vinyl cutter option to reinforce your statement that "Most of these will be one-offs" and "....and I want the ability to use multiple fonts and sizes"

 

Johanna

[Lucille Oka]

Have you tried ‘red’ artist tape? It sticks rather well on greenware. You can possibly get two re-positionings out of it.

 

There are also many reproducible letters available; alphabet cookie cutters, sponges, clay stamps, leather stamps, and jewelry stamps, type sets from old printing presses that can help you reproduce letters on clay.

 

[CeramicShapes]

Hi All,

 

Thanks for all the suggestions.....I guess I just need to keep experimenting.

 

Lucille......can you be more specific about the brand/manufacturer of the "red artist tape"?

 

Thanks!

[Lucille Oka]

It reads on the inside spool "Pro Artists Tape" I bought it at the Dick Blick Store in Los Angeles, CA. It is also available at DickBlick.com. It says 'Pro Tape Artists Tape'- it comes in many colors I just use the word red cause that was the only color they had available when I went to the store to get it. I didn't mean to confuse you.

http://www.dickblick...pe-artist-tape/

[CeramicShapes]

Haha! OK.....thanks......I'll pick some up and give it a try.

[Lucille Oka]

To answer your original question, the answer is yes, tape will stick to bone dry clay. It helps if your clay is porcelain, poreclaineous stoneware, or another clay that is smooth, and free of grog. It will also work with a lightly grogged clay, but takes more fussing.

I have used masking tape in various sizes to use in water etching. I also tried the blue painter's tape, but it has a low tack, and is harder to work with.

Duct tape also sticks pretty well, but can have a raggedy edge, and is harder to cut.

Clear packing tape will sometimes work, but it depends on the brand, and age of the tape; fresh tape seems to work best, as with all of them.

Electrical tape will also work.

The secret is to try to put the tape down in one firm pass, and not lift and reposition the tape. Every time you lift it, you take away some dust, which stcks nicely to the tape, and prevents it from sticking to the clay surface. Once you get it on there, smooth it quite a bit, but don't overdo it, that seems to cause it to lift away. After a bit of practice you will get the feel for it.

Typicalgirl had a good suggestion when she said to apply your tape to a piece of glass, which you can use as a substate for cutting your design out with an exacto knife. Is it easy? depends on your design and your level of perfection I guess. I have an old mirror I slap tape on to cut, then carefully peel it up; that can take quite some time, but what's the rush? You could even make a layer of tape on the glass, then glue your drawn or computer generated design on the tape, using spray adhesive, then yu cut it out, and peel it up.

Just some ideas.

Here's a couple of pics showing a jar I etched a couple of years ago. One shows the taping in progress, which can take some doing, and isn't pretty, but fun. This is smooth cone 6 stoneware.

 

 

Herb,

Your finished vessel image has disappeared. But I wanted to tell you it was wonderful. The etchings were skillfully done nice and crisp. Well done.

[~janie]

I use trim tape from the auto paint store. It is what they use when doing the fancy trim work on cars.  I buy it in sizes of 1/4", 3/8", 1/2", and 3/4". I like to use it because

a.) it sticks very well,

b.) it stretches and conforms to a curve very easily, and

c.) a roll lasts a long time for me.

 

The most important thing when using any tape is to clean your surface very well, then clean it again, and maybe again! That dust will inhibit anything from sticking!