Strelnikov Posted May 24, 2013 Report Share Posted May 24, 2013 How do you put lettering on a cup when your hand lettering skills are not that great? I'm trying to letter a cup for my aunt who will be 90 years old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nancylee Posted May 24, 2013 Report Share Posted May 24, 2013 Hi, Have you thought about pressing letters in? I do that, either right on the cup, or I roll out some clay about 1/4 inch thick, press the plastic letters I bought into slab, cut the name out in a rectangle, and attach it to the cup when everything is still fairly wet. I got my letters at AC Moore near the mosaic supplies. Good luck! Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strelnikov Posted May 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2013 That is a possibility I hadn't thought of but I was thinking more about using some kind of lettering device to make nicely formed glazed letters on the cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nancylee Posted May 24, 2013 Report Share Posted May 24, 2013 You could try stencils with an underglaze paint, but stencils always shift around on me. Maybe someone with more experience will come along soon! Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugaboo Posted May 24, 2013 Report Share Posted May 24, 2013 You could try doing an underglaze transfer. You would design your words on the computer, size and get everything correct then invert the colors so your black text becomes white and all the unwanted areas of the paper are black. Then since its words you need to mirror the design so the words are backwards so when you put them on the cup they come out facing the correct direction. Print that with any printer then and this is CRITICAL. Get a black and white copy made from your printed sheet, I live in a small town so go to my local library to get the copy made. The toner used for copiers has a plastic type feel to the black ink and it repels moisture. Now that you have your copied sheet use underglazes to fill in the white areas, it's REALLY easy as the black inked areas act almost like wax resist to the underglaze and the underglaze just beads up and pulls into the white areas. Let this dry completely. Cut out the area of words you want to use make sure to leave yourself enough area to hold onto so as not to smudge the underglaze. Get a dish/bucket/jar whatever of water and dunk your dried underglazed paper design in it. Let sit in the water until the underglaze is well saturated. This will take a bit of figuring out; for me with my paper I hold it in the water and count 1001, 1002, up to 1030, so about 30 seconds. Then pull it out of the water and lay it face up on the table to sit for just a few moments, again figure out what works for you, too long and it starts to dry or the paper disintegrates too short and the underglaze doesn't have time to fully "charge" to release from the paper. It's now ready to position on your bone dry piece. You only get one chance at this once you position it on your surface you cannot adjust or move it. Lay it face down on your bone dry piece let sit for a few moments for the underglaze to wick into the surface. Tap gently with your fingers then use a soft rubber rib to gently apply pressure to the back of the paper carefully smoothing it against the clay. Once you think it's transferred gently pull up one corner and check if it looks good you can start slowly pulling it up. Take your time it's less likely to rip the paper and you can also check as you go to make sure it's all transferred nicely. If its not stop get a sponge and gently moisten the back of the paper some more. Then continue removing the paper. Any bits of paper left behind will burn off in the kiln. It takes a bit of figuring out to get the timings right and such but its a really easy way to get elaborate designs including words on to clay. I hope this helps. Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pres Posted May 24, 2013 Report Share Posted May 24, 2013 How do you put lettering on a cup when your hand lettering skills are not that great? I'm trying to letter a cup for my aunt who will be 90 years old. Pick up an underglaze stamp pad from Minnesota Clay-mailing is quick. Get a rubber stamp lettering kit, stamp the name on the bisquefired clay and then glaze over top-spray glaze works well to protect the stamped area. Other techniques is to glaze the pot, fire, stamp over glaze, refire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathi Posted May 24, 2013 Report Share Posted May 24, 2013 Use your computer to print out what you want written on your pot. Cut the word(s) out, dampen the paper and gently stick it to your leather hard clay. Use a stylus to trace the lettering to make an impression in the clay. You can use oxide or underglaze to fill or accent the impressed wording. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strelnikov Posted May 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2013 Thanks very much for the help! Great ideas and several options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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