Need Raised Letters On Tile ?

[Gwendeanne]

Does anyone know of a stamp that would make raised letters on a tile.

I have a plan and would like to make a lot of words. The words would be on the small side.

I'd like raised letters. The stamps out there push the letters in and are not raised.

I'd like to avoid making my own stamps and I'm not much good at detail with slip.

 

Any ideas?

 

 

[clay lover]

Those little thingys that kids decorate their 'Crocks' with come in letters. They are round with inset letters, I have my initials, they stamp well if the clay is soft enough. I got them a couple of years ago, don't know if they are still around, they were in a fancy shoe store.

[Rob Hendriks]

I use blue foam to carve letters,and use the foam as a mold.Plaster can also be used but I prefer the foam,it is easy to use.

 

 

Here is an earlier discussion about the letters;

 

http://ceramicartsda...ttering-relief/

[MMB]

Who was it that I read an article on but if youre one that can draw letters to you liking then I would use their technique. YES! it was Sophias Dads Pots I think. Hes a brew dude and thats why I remember him hahaha gotta get me one of his cups. I would just make the tiles a little bit thicker and do what hes done on his bowls etc.

 

heres his blog. the article is in the top right. "Etched In Clay"

 

http://jimgottuso.wordpress.com/

[azjoe]

It is hard to keep tiles flat when they dry so if that is important to your project then I probably would not use a stamp (as that could introduce more stresses and potential warping) unless you have a good pressmold setup. If I were doing it in small/custom volumes I'd considered making plaster sprig molds to create the clay letters/words you want and then apply them with an adhering slip. I've used Halldor Hjalmarson's process successfully for applying all sorts of raised textures so I'd expect it would work just fine for letters (although it could be somewhat tedious if the letters are fairly small). You can see his process on his website ( see example ). As with almost all clay activities, the secret is in knowing how dry the clay should be before you pull the sprig from the mold, but once you've done a few the whole process is pretty straightforward. The adhering slip is basically an engobe with some borax, CMC, and glycerin.

[Gwendeanne]

Wow, what a lot of great ideas. Sorry, I missed that first post on the question. I guess I was putting in the wrong key words

 

I had intended to try the shellac on something, but I need to wait on good weather to go outside. Great idea for the letters.

 

Can someone tell me more about the "blue foam". What is called, and where does one get it.

 

 

[terraforma]

You could also cut out, or use cookie/candy cutters to cut out, letters from thin clay slabs. Let them firm up just a bit, turn over and apply a thin film of attaching slip, and then carefully apply them to the tiles. Make sure you don't create any air pockets between the letters and tiles, and you can clean up excess slip around the letter edges with a fine moist paintbrush.