s6x Posted October 1, 2023 Report Share Posted October 1, 2023 is there a way to pour slip "thickly" onto normally moist clay and get them to stick together and not crack? In other words I am working on a sculpture and would like part of it to be a cluster of stalagmites and stalactites. This would be easy to create by putting slip into a cake decorating piping tool, but then how would I prevent this thick slip from separating and cracking when it dries and is fired? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babs Posted October 1, 2023 Report Share Posted October 1, 2023 If you make a very thick slip, then make it desired fluidity by using Darvan or sodium silicate, just drop by drop, then with less water involved there will be less shrinkage. Too much darvan will make it go clumpy. Also, spray your sculpture with a fine mist of water prior to adding slip to it will help also. s6x and Rae Reich 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterH Posted October 2, 2023 Report Share Posted October 2, 2023 (edited) May be of interest, as it indicate that clay:water ratio and slip fluidly can -- to some extent -- be controlled independently. Edited October 2, 2023 by PeterH Babs 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babs Posted October 2, 2023 Report Share Posted October 2, 2023 3 hours ago, PeterH said: May be of interest, as it indicate that clay:water ratio and slip fluidly can -- to some extent -- be controlled independently. @PeterHThis is a great video. The thickened slip John is making will stand up and maintain its own shape. If the slip the OP , @s6x, wants needs to flow over existing texture, it doesn't need re thickening but testing will need to happen to get the required fit to the clay body being used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Min Posted October 2, 2023 Report Share Posted October 2, 2023 You can get a similar look by squeezing a natural sponge in thick slip then firing that. I tried it with different sponges and the rougher sponges with the larger holes did turned out well. I found inexpensive sponges that were a bit rough looking at a dollar store. What worked for me was to get the sponge wet with water first then squeeze the water out really well then squeeze the sponge in a container of slip. I was using porcelain slip made from a pugged clay, nothing but water added to it. Link here which showing another members work with it. https://community.ceramicartsdaily.org/topic/17192-clay-sponge-slip-submerged-sponge/ PeterH and Rae Reich 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s6x Posted October 3, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2023 18 hours ago, Min said: You can get a similar look by squeezing a natural sponge in thick slip then firing that. I tried it with different sponges and the rougher sponges with the larger holes did turned out well. I found inexpensive sponges that were a bit rough looking at a dollar store. What worked for me was to get the sponge wet with water first then squeeze the water out really well then squeeze the sponge in a container of slip. I was using porcelain slip made from a pugged clay, nothing but water added to it. Link here which showing another members work with it. https://community.ceramicartsdaily.org/topic/17192-clay-sponge-slip-submerged-sponge/ thank you. that looks interesting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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