Attaching bisque to bisque

[timbo_heff]

HI.

I have a bisque tea pot with 3 little attached feet.

One fell off with the slightest tap.

I've tried one of the mender products that is apt to work, but it's not staying on.

I presume that the clay will fuse if I can get it stay on until firing ... but also a bit worried that the mender stuff could actually prevent the clay from fusing by inserting a non clay layer (mender is sodium silicate I presume).

 

Anyone have any secret trick for this ?

Did the mender worsen the situation?

Additional info : Cone 10 white stoneware.

 

Thanks in advance !

tim

[neilestrick]

I would not expect the clay itself to fuse enough to hold a foot in place. You can glaze it in place, though , as long as the foot will stay in place from the weight of the pot on it. First glue it on with a bit of Elmer's glue, then glaze the pot. This works for small knobs on lids, too. The glue burns out pretty early in the firing, and the glaze won't hold until it has cooled, so you must make sure that gravity will keep the piece in place on its own.

[Marcia Selsor]

I have rebuilt bisques pieces using paper clay and retiring in bisque. You need to wet both surfaces with water first so the paper clay isn't sucked dry immediately.

For paper clay patch I mix:

the clay body in a powdered state

a little water

a little vinegar

a dash of Karo syrup

and about 15-25 % paper pulp volume to the powdered clay. Toilet paper works here for small quantities.

 

I mix this in a blender to a consistency of thin peanut butter. Apply onto a dampened wet surface.

rebisque.

[Mark C.]

Tim

We use two products which will work for you at cone 10

One is from amaco-bisque fix

The other is high fire mender made by Marx- both will work-I favor the high fire mender which you mix up with your own clay body-

We have used these for years at cone 10 with outstanding results

If you can just glaze it on as Neilstrick says that is an easier fix

But if its not on a glaze area try these two products or you can glaze right over them each well the bisque fix covers better with glaze.

I also have some Lees patch but have yet to test it.

I like the idea of Marcias home made stuff-I will try a batch of it.

Mark

[Marcia Selsor]

I have used this mix known as "spooze" for 15 years. I have used it to save many students pieces and a few significant sculptures of my own including one I made at the Clay Studio in Philadelphia. I believe Peggy Herr (RIP) developed it 20 years ago and shared it with Clayart.

It works. For bisque to bisque you need to wet the surface very well and then retire in the bisque.

Marcia

[Diana Ferreira]

When you dry and fire a piece with feet, it is always advisable to keep it on a slab of similar clay. As the slab shrinks during drying or firing, your little feet will stay in place, while moving with the slab. This way, the little feet will not stuck on a kiln shelve. My shrinkage is 17 - 18%. and most during the glaze firing. Since I have used this technique, I have never had feet fell off.

[timbo_heff]

Thanks All !

Wish me luck ... it's the best tea pot I've ever made and would hate to have to shard-pile the thing before it has even made tea!

[Marcia Selsor]

It won't shrink in a re-fired bisque.

I think you would need to have a waster slab from the beginning before the bisque. 17-18% is really high shrinkage. I use 1/4" extruded coils arranged in wheel spoke pattern for anything like large sculpture, bird bath stems, or things with feet.

 

Marcia

[Ducky]

Thanks All !

Wish me luck ... it's the best tea pot I've ever made and would hate to have to shard-pile the thing before it has even made tea!

 

 

If it doesn't stay on using any of the suggested methods, you can attach the foot using PC-11 epoxy glue after firing. PC-11 can be tinted (I've used grated pastel crayons for tinting) so you can disguise the joined area. You can buy PC-11 (and -10, which is black) in hardware stores. And it's good for so much more....

[Rebecca Tester]

Spooze do you know the recipe?