Jump to content

questions about slip casting


Recommended Posts

hello,

i'm new to the forum and new to slip casting.  i have a few questions i would love some help with.

first i'm looking for a clay for slip casting and i'm wondering what the most common clay slips are.  so far the only two that ive found are porcelain and stoneware (i have not seen any labeled earthenware).  are these two the most common?

i've read that the porcelain will be somewhat transparent which is great for what i'm casting but not necessarily needed.  the main questions i have about stoneware and porcelain (if these are the two basic slips) is dry time in the plaster mold and dry time out of the plaster mold.

the molds i have for my sculpt are 4x4x12 inch.  i will be using slip cast to get about 10mm thick.  i've read that stoneware can reach this thickness in about 30 to 60 min.  then it can be pulled out of the plaster mold and set to dry to greenware (about 3 to 4 days).  does this sound accurate?  also, is porcelain drying time the same as this timeline?  I've read that porcelain can possibly take longer to set up in the plaster and will take 3 weeks to dry?

i'm looking to purchase slip soon to experiment and would definitely appreciate pointers in the right direction.  thank you in advance!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What properties do you need in the final piece? If a high porosity is okay then a lowfire body might be fine but it won't be very strong, if not then I'ld look at the porcelain bodies. Using the term porcelain is a bit misleading since many "porcelain" slip recipes also contain coarse particle fast casting ball clays. 

If you are just starting out with slip casting I would recommend the book "The Essential Guide to Mold Making & Slip Casting" by Andrew Martin

Welcome to the forum.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.