tjbanjo Posted December 30, 2013 Report Share Posted December 30, 2013 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted December 30, 2013 Report Share Posted December 30, 2013 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjbanjo Posted December 30, 2013 Report Share Posted December 30, 2013 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted December 30, 2013 Report Share Posted December 30, 2013 Also, this image illustrates why you don't completely fill the balloon ... you should always leave some room in the neck of the balloon... then as the form dries the pressure has somewhere to go and your clay wont split like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted December 30, 2013 Report Share Posted December 30, 2013 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjbanjo Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 Got it. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefamilystone Posted January 3, 2014 Report Share Posted January 3, 2014 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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evelyne Schoenmann Posted January 3, 2014 Report Share Posted January 3, 2014 Hi and welcome to the forum thefamilystone. Thank you for sharing your ideas. Hope you will stay with us. See you around.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanotopia Posted February 2, 2015 Report Share Posted February 2, 2015 Hello! Is anyone pouring slip over balloons? If yes, are you covering the balloon with anything first to help aid in slip sticking to the vinyl? Thanks in advance for your help with this, I really appreciate it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rakukuku Posted February 2, 2015 Report Share Posted February 2, 2015 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavy Fire Studios Posted February 4, 2015 Report Share Posted February 4, 2015 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. This just won the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erna Posted June 20, 2015 Report Share Posted June 20, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macdoodle Posted June 20, 2015 Report Share Posted June 20, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted June 20, 2015 Report Share Posted June 20, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted June 20, 2015 Report Share Posted June 20, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rae Reich Posted June 21, 2015 Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rae Reich Posted June 21, 2015 Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 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.MarciaI 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted June 21, 2015 Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rae Reich Posted June 21, 2015 Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted June 21, 2015 Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 Yes, experience always arrives right after you need it. : - ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristel.vg Posted August 17, 2015 Report Share Posted August 17, 2015 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.