Chris Campbell Posted June 12, 2017 Report Share Posted June 12, 2017 I have been giving a lot of thought to slab rollers ... yes, sad but true. : - )I have been considering the differences of the actual processes in the final results. In one type of slab roller, you roll one roller over the top of your clay as bottom gets dragged across a board.In the other, rollers compress the clay from each side.In a previous experiment I placed a strip of different color clay at both the top and bottom leading edge of a slab then ran it through my Bailey double roller. The color piece on top got pulled almost twice as far as the bottom one did.Would anyone be willing to try this with a single roller model and report back what happens? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted June 12, 2017 Report Share Posted June 12, 2017 Chris the two roller compression is such a better deal all the way around.You own the best roller on the planet.I cannot recall why you want a lesser model? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glazenerd Posted June 12, 2017 Report Share Posted June 12, 2017 Chris: One of the early warning signs of nerd ness, is thinking about variables. The tell tale sign of nerd ness, is actually conducting experiments to prove/ disprove your theorems. Welcome to the American nerd society. Nerd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted June 12, 2017 Report Share Posted June 12, 2017 mark, you missed the word "BEST" before roller! chris, will you please talk to jim bailey. he is really interested in helping people use his equipment and wants to know what you need. it will not kill you to talk to him. just call the store and ask for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted June 12, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2017 Chris: One of the early warning signs of nerd ness, is thinking about variables. The tell tale sign of nerd ness, is actually conducting experiments to prove/ disprove your theorems. Welcome to the American nerd society. Nerd Yes, a nerd indeed. I really would like to know what happens to the bottom when it just gets dragged over a board. I already know that my colored clay Skinner blends do not work with the single roller ... I want to know why. My students often have the single roller units at home and I have wondered how to make it work ... the only way to figure it out begins with knowing what happens to the bottoms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Min Posted June 12, 2017 Report Share Posted June 12, 2017 Here you go Chris, red clay was exact same thickness to start with, one strip on the top, one strip underneath. 1 pass through my slabroller. (hubby built slabroller) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted June 12, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2017 Here you go Chris, red clay was exact same thickness to start with, one strip on the top, one strip underneath. 1 pass through my slabroller. (hubby built slabroller) THANK YOU!!! They look almost the same ... hmmmm, I have some re-thinking to do re: why the color blending does not work with the single roller. I thought flipping it might solve the problem but this kind of eliminates that idea. The Skinner Blend was invented using a pasta machine ... our double rollers are the same thing and it works perfectly. But ... I have not have a bit of luck using a single roller over a board ... the colors do not blend ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Sweet Posted June 12, 2017 Report Share Posted June 12, 2017 Chris- Just a theory here. With a pasta machine, the slug is presented to the rollers with approximately the same amount of clay above the upper roller as below the lower one. With a dual roller slab roller, the bottom of the slug is at the level of the top of the bottom roller, while all the excess thickness is above the bottom of the upper roller. Could be that's what is causing the discrepancy in the movement of the colored clays. What do you and other readers think? Regards, Fred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted June 12, 2017 Report Share Posted June 12, 2017 I added theI( work best) Oldlady as I meant to and as you noted missed it. Something about unloading 2 glaze fires and packing 3 shipments got me side tracked this am. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted June 12, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2017 Chris- Just a theory here. With a pasta machine, the slug is presented to the rollers with approximately the same amount of clay above the upper roller as below the lower one. With a dual roller slab roller, the bottom of the slug is at the level of the top of the bottom roller, while all the excess thickness is above the bottom of the upper roller. Could be that's what is causing the discrepancy in the movement of the colored clays. What do you and other readers think? Regards, Fred Good thinking ... could this dual wave type action could be why the color blending works? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick White Posted June 13, 2017 Report Share Posted June 13, 2017 I agree with this theory. I have access to 3 different types of slab roller - a big Bailey with 2 rollers, a Brent with a moving roller and shim sheets to adjust thickness, and a tabletop Bailey with a fixed roller and moving shim sheets. All have a similar presentation of the upper edge of the slug against the upper roller with no appreciable pressure against the lower edge of the slug. It is particularly noticeable when an extremely thick slug is rolled that the slug will slowly roll backwards as the lower portion enters the roller gap faster than the upper portion. I wonder if you could change/adjust the infeed table of a dual roller machine to lower it with respect to the gap? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted June 13, 2017 Report Share Posted June 13, 2017 So I am wondering about doing monoprints on clay slabs using Bailey dual roller and a heavy rubber blanket for my plexiglass plate. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugaboo Posted June 13, 2017 Report Share Posted June 13, 2017 So I am wondering about doing monoprints on clay slabs wising Bailey dual roller and a heavy rubber blanket for my plexiglass plate. Marcia I would love to see something like that. I have thought about trying something along this lines myself, you have me intrigued to see how you proceed. I have a slabmaster which is a double roller so can't help much with the experimentation you asked for. T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted June 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2017 So I am wondering about doing monoprints on clay slabs wising Bailey dual roller and a heavy rubber blanket for my plexiglass plate. Marcia How would you control the image when the clay wave' hits it? I have never been able to produce an attractive image using the slab roller ... I get beautiful colors and patterns, but images tend to ride the wave and go wonky. I have much more success using variable pressure with a large rolling pin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Sweet Posted June 13, 2017 Report Share Posted June 13, 2017 Marcia- Had a student who did something similar using a large Brent and "rubberized" or flexible plastic printing plates that he got from his grandfather, who was in the newspaper business. He would roll the slab to his approximate thickness, and then laid the plate onto the surface of the slab after releasing it from both the top and bottom canvases (note: bottom canvas was actually a offset litho blanket), reusing the top canvas laid back over the roller; thereby only decreasing the thickness of the slab in the next pass by the thickness of the plate. When finished, the type and photographs were completely legible with very little to no distortion. If I were to try it on my large double roller Bailey, I think I would pre-roll the slab, release the clay from the canvases, put the plate onto the exposed surface of the clay, and again lay the upper canvas over the top roller. Of course, it would require a much larger infers table than I have on my Bailey, but if I wanted to badly enough, experimentation and a certain amount of inventiveness would be in order. What can I say, Marcia? Maybe it'll work, and if not, continue the testing … Best of luck with your newest set of testing, Fred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Sweet Posted June 13, 2017 Report Share Posted June 13, 2017 Marcia and others who maybe interested- As I posted the above, I had a thought about transferring a "painted" design to the slab, as in a printed image using colored slips or underglazes. Instead of a textured "plate", use the rubber surface of an offset litho printer blanket (originally the intended printer surface) instead of how potters use it with the cloth side facing the clay. With the design(s) painted on the rubber surface. I would think the slip/underglaze would have to be at a soft leatherhard stage to avoid running and or excessive smearing. Realize I haven't tried using the slab roller to transfer my designs, but have used newspaper or thin plastic sheeting and a rolling pin to do it. Just another thought. If someone tries it, please let me know. Regards to all, Fred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted June 13, 2017 Report Share Posted June 13, 2017 way back in early 1990s i did that. needed something artsy to fit on a wall in the sunroom. it was so sunny that nothing would last more than a few days without being faded to flat grey. so i put groups of colors in what i was imagining as waves on a rocky shore. colors were blue, green, pink and red iron oxide which came out a brownish color. i rolled out a very large slab, 20 inches wide by maybe 27 long. the slab roller was brand new and i really did not know how to use it so i tried to back up after the first roll. that caused huge wrinkles and i stretched and tore the slab getting it free. looked nothing like what i wanted but i fired it. once it was fired and hung it was admired by everyone who saw it. nobody saw anything but colors swirling and mingling on the white background. that was the end of any experimenting with slabs and colors. there are probably 10 or more dried out slugs of colored clay still sitting in the corner that i was sure i could use for something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted June 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2017 Fred ... your idea made me wonder about using a hot glue gun to decorate the printing mat thus creating a raised decoration. Flip it onto a slab and roll it to create a very distinctive patterned slab. Maybe even apply colored slips somehow? I gotta try that! Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Sweet Posted June 13, 2017 Report Share Posted June 13, 2017 Chris- You are most welcome. Hadn't thought of using hot glue for texture in the printers blanket. I have used hot glue in dowels for roller stamps, just didn't think of the leap from those to the blanket. I'd be inclined to use the hot glue on the rubber side of the blanket, as it might be easier to remove it from that side rather than having it grab into the cloth. Let me know how things progress, Chris. Regards, Fred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 13, 2017 Report Share Posted June 13, 2017 Here you go Chris, I hope this is what you are looking for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted June 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2017 THANKS RonSa ... I am intrigued by the second image that appears to show the white getting up into the red clay ... is that just the way the photo looks or did the white get layered into the red? If so, was it on the top or the bottom? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 13, 2017 Report Share Posted June 13, 2017 Chris That is what exactly what happened in photo#2, the white clay was in center almost to the end of the red clay. My thinking was it would be easier to see how far the the two outer layers moved by looking at a cross section. It surprised me when I trimmed the edge. I figured you would want to see that The top surface of the clay is on the top of the photo. I forgot to mention, I have have a Bailey table top shim roller and the red clay is Standard's 225 and the white is the weird Standard 630 that I've been fighting with. The white was a tiny bit softer than the red. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted June 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2017 That is so cool and so unexpected to see ... anybody have any wise theories as to how this happened? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted June 14, 2017 Report Share Posted June 14, 2017 Kurt Weiser used something like hot glue or silicon that made a raised pattern that he then cover with a slab on a convex form. My idea about the monoprint is to take a prepared slab and place a prepared plexiglas plate with the image design face down on the slab. on top of the plexiglas a piece 1/2 rubber printing apron. I would like to try a type of etching with the method too. My retirement is too short!!! but my studio is getting more orderly as the unpacking continues. A corner now holds some household tools and garden stuff. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Johnson Posted June 14, 2017 Report Share Posted June 14, 2017 I am not sure just what you are trying to do with printing with a slab roller. This picture is a tile that was run through a Baily with a 3/4 bisqued slab with the image carved into it. The slab that recieved the image was about the right thickness. Sorry 'bout the image quality. Seems like lots of possibilities with thin layers of color and then scraping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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