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Slip casting in a waste moulld? Is this possible?


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Hi everyone, 

Is it possible to slip cast in a waste mold? 

The thing is that i have a larger sculpture that has an odd shape and it would require a lot of plaster which is expensive, i thought of using a several part waste mould as a slip casting mould, is this even possible? 

Thank you all! 

Simon

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On 1/22/2024 at 4:14 PM, Simon77 said:

Is it possible to slip cast in a waste mold? 

If by waste mold you mean a sculptor's mold that cannot be removed from the casting without being destroyed ...
I think the answer has to be no, as the fragile casting would not survive any process that required the the mold to be destroyed to free it.

It may be possible to make a reusable multi-part slip-casting mold from the original clay master. If this can be done without undercuts which would prevent freeing the casting from the mold.

>The thing is that i have a larger sculpture ...

... although large slip-filled molds are heavy and must retain their form during man-handling: e.g. use of natches for registration, holding things firmly together with straps, ...

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Yes and no.  It all depends upon how the model was treated.

As Peter suggests "waste molds" are really only intended to be one time objects. However, sometimes they are so labor intensive that you just want to use it to make a test piece. (To see if it works.) 

Did you have to use lots of mold sealer to make the waste mold? (in other words, is the waste mold really "dirty" from the making process?) 

There have been many times that I have used a waste mold to make a test casting. However, I accepted the fact that it might not turn out, as expected, and it was "just a test".

ps. if the mold parts are "dirty" washing them will help and waiting for them to dry is a good lesson in self-discipline.

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Thanks all for the quick replies and hints. 

I went ahead to see whats possible.

Made a 7 parts casting mold with the waste mold process , waiting for each part to set and separate with mould release then proceeded to build the next part of it up by hand, it is not for perfection anyways, not expecting the form to be perfectly like the master, going to do rework on it adding additional elements as well as smoothing it out when the slip cast dries out completely  with a smooth sandpaper and smudging it by hand. 

So all this was about is not using excess amounts of plaster because of the shape of the master.  could have just built a large box around the whole sculpture, but i would end up having a mold that i could not even lift up let alone slip cast.   Have to wait 2 weeks for it before it dries, so i will let you all know how the casting went. 

Thanks

Simon

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