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Balloons As Sphere Molds


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I guess I missed something there - to what were you referring when you said to "Just fill with plaster to the desired size and tie a knot"?

 

The KY suggestion was obviously meant in jest.

 

Here's a picture from Pinterest showing the use of balloons as a form.

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/8e/11/34/8e1134d5dc1f45ba95f9b49c409a0da9.jpg

8e1134d5dc1f45ba95f9b49c409a0da9.jpg

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I guess I missed something here too? I usually make nag active molds. So the plaster form made from balloons or condoms would become the object cast into a negative because obviously, the tie from either form interferes with the final sphere to be complete.

I followed the presumption of a negative mold as the objective.Apparently so did others, when we start talking slip molds.

 

 

marcia

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The slip molds I get. I guess because you said to, "fill with plaster to the desired size and tie a knot," I thought you were saying to fill the balloon with plaster and tie it off.

That is exactly what I was saying...but unlike Chris who uses the balloon as a positive mold, I would then cast a two piece negative mold from the positive balloon or condum form. That is just how I work.

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Howdy folks...

 

 

Ive only recently joined the site, and came across this forum topic. Thought I might have some useful ideas to contribute.

 

 

I am very new to the art of pottery and always searching for new ways to overcome any deficiencies in my skill level. In this case...how to make a spherical pot even though I havent yet mastered how to do it on the wheel.

 

 

Me and some other...newbies... in my class came up with a method that seems to work quite well and quite consistently. Instead of balloons which have a very thin rubber wall we use, for lack of a better name...DODGE BALLS. Which have a considerably thicker wall, it allows the artist to be a bit more heavy-handed while forming clay over its shape. Dodge balls also have a convenient inflation/deflation process. You can use the same type of airpump (with a needle) that is used to inflate footballs, basketballs or soccer balls (cost about 5 dollars at Walmart).

 

 

Our little method is quite simple since it is possible to either use coils to cover the ball or you can build it up from small portions of clay or small slabs joined together. Just be sure that the inflation/deflation hole of the ball is facing upward when you begin. Then once youve built the sphere pot, smoothed it out a little bit, built a flat base/bottom/foot and the clay gets to a point where the pot can support its own weight. Use the pumps needle to deflate the ball. Carefully of course, because you will need to reach inside (with your fingers)and squeeze enough air out of the ball to allow it to be pulled free thru the narrow opening at the top.

 

 

One note of caution. It is not recommended to allow the clay to dry and contract with the ball fully inflated inside. More than likely your pot will crack. But if the walls of your clay pot are kinda thin and you think they might need a bit of extra support you might try releasing some but not all air from the ball. In this way your thin walled pot gets a bit of extra support while drying without so much outward pressure from the ball.

 

...and by the way. Unless you feel the need, you dont have to go to the sporting goods store and pay their prices for dodge balls. Me and my friends have been purchasing them from the DOLLAR STORE. At the dollar store or toy stores you most likely will find varying sizes too.

 

 

I hope this helps!

 

 

CHEERS...everyone!

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  • 1 year later...

ok i make a lot of spheres . i cut a ball of clay in half and then make two identical pinch pots and join them together and smooth over with a flexible rib. I make planet earth this way for sculptures. i also like to distort the enclosed shape into orbs and gourd shapes.   rakuku

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  • 4 months later...

I make slip with paper in it and dip water balloons into ( I fill half way with water and cower with string like people are making with glue)

this is how I make them

porcelain  clay, water and some paper mixed together until  the paper is smooth in the slip

fill the balloons with water half way and tie, take string and cover the balloon

dip the balloon in and hang up to dry 

let them dry and dip again, the paper helps it from cracking, 

hang them up with clothes pins and wire coat hanger that I lay over a bucket. and that way it drips in to the bucket

after they are dry I pop the balloon and remove and dip the part with the hole in to close it 

they are fragile and some brake, I found that if the clay is thicker they are stronger 

I like the look of the string in them and if they brake I glaze them also and they look like a nest

when I want a flat bottom I dont hang them up and dry on newspaper.

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This was done upside down on a party store  small punching bag balanced on  -a glass? (i think it was) . the trick  for me was to  support the item and watch all as it dries to the point i could turn it over.  The balloon loses air and changes the balancing act as it is drying. A higher quality ballon or punching bag may hold the air better. but the clay is shrinking on it so exterting some force on the air  nside the balloon. Hope this gives you ideas.

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post-5855-0-67448100-1434813625_thumb.jpg

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years ago, a friend made many, many hanging planters using a basketball as her sphere.  she sank the very bottom on a piece of uphoulstry foam and worked with thick slabs.  they were heavily textured by striking the slabs with distorted branches from a tree, sticks that had split, and other kinds of tools.  the basketball took all the punishment because it could sink into the foam.  when she lifted the slab pot off the ball, it was very sturdy and did not distort.

 

she was very successful making these and sold all of them.  i never had the money to buy one.

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I am going to try a combination idea ... The dodge ball as a mold but after building a somewhat thick clay surface, use sodium silicate on the surface and inflate the dodge ball to get the crackling effect .,, then deflate for safe drying. It should work with a forgiving clay body.

Nice! Like ribbing out a slip-coated wheel thrown pot.

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WD 40 although it stinks.

What do you mean it stinks? I use it as an deodorant and aftershave! WD 40 has saved me marriage 6 times and helped me sell 9 used cars.
it is a petrol chemical and is discouraged for use in the classroom.

Marcia

I read an article about making bisqued porcelain press molds where the potter preferred WD40 for release of the clay from the non-porous master. She went outside to spray. Then she discovered WD40 (and analogs) also comes in liquid form. She still brushed it on outside, but without the aerosol dispersal. With a ketchup-type squeeze bottle to dispense it, exposure could be kept to a minimum.

It should still be discouraged in classroom situations.

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i use the  wd-40 liquid all the time.  ketchup bottle, into a metal altoids box lined with a sponge.  dip metal stamps into sponge, press into clay. close box.  ketchup bottle squirt onto glass form, spread with sponge brush kept in a different closed box, rolled clay slab draped into glass form.

 

nothing sticks, no aerosol spray, ever.

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Genius! All the "yeahbuts" covered! Was that your article? Or did you read it too?

And (back to topic) could be sponged onto balloons, too.

 

I had a friend who dipped balloons into slip. Don't know of she used release, she sure could've used Chris' under inflation tip because she had a high attrition rate from cracking before they were firm enough to stand alone.

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  • 1 month later...

can anyone help me to explane how I can make this candleholder in concrete?

 do I have to fill the balloons with water and then submerge it in the concrete or do I have to put the concrete on with a brush?

1 or more layers?

How can I leave it to dry and how can I make a stable underground to put the candleholder on a flat surface?

 

 

Thanks for helping me

 

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