Amelia Posted September 30 Report Share Posted September 30 Hi! I am a wheel thrower considering moving some designs over to slipcasting. I am wondering if this piece would be possible to slipcast? My head is spinning trying to figure out how many parts/where to pour from, etc. with the curves and openings. Currently I throw the piece in two parts- bottom is like a bud vase and then add the candle holder on top. Would love to find a way to do it in one piece if possible. Any tips would be appreciated on how to design the mold for this piece. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chilly Posted September 30 Report Share Posted September 30 The easy answer is Yes. Then you have to work out how many pieces your mould needs. Think of making a mould for a sphere. You need two pieces and can make the join anywhere so long as it is EXACTLY halfway. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to remove the casting. It would, however be much easier and less stressful to make a 3 part mould. Now think of making an apple mould. You need to make the join across the horizontal, so each half can lift away from the indents where the stalk and flower were. So, you have to look at this object from all angles and work out how a piece of the mould would pull away from the casting. If the "saucer" were flat, you might get away with a 2-part mould, but I think a six part would be easier. Three wedge shapes for the top and three wedge shapes for the bottom. Sorry, can't draw, but I bet someone else here can.... PeterH 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted October 1 Report Share Posted October 1 As noted any undercut (the drip tray is one) The inner candel holder area needs a tapered surface as well to release easy One thing to make it easier maybe is just make a mold of the top and bottom and join them with slip together. Thats two molds to get one item. Either way the top section is a 3 piece or more withg that undercut to catch tghe wax. The only reason to mold these is to make a thousand or more as they look to be a fast thrown form to me as a production potter Mold work for me is to make zillion (I had a mold business at one time making aroma therapy lamps by the 1.000s Chilly and PeterH 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterH Posted October 1 Report Share Posted October 1 5 hours ago, Mark C. said: One thing to make it easier maybe is just make a mold of the top and bottom and join them with slip together. Thats two molds to get one item. +1 Way out of my depth, but ... It looks like the original design has a solid "platform" for the base of the candle to rest on. Doesn't the presence of this interior structure make a conventional mould difficult/impossible. (Basically requiring two pour holes or some extreme double-casting.) Chilly 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Longtin Posted October 1 Report Share Posted October 1 To start off it will be best to fill in the candle holding portion of the piece. (Clay works well for that.) That way you'll see the object as a whole rather than "lots of holes". Also, think about casting it upside down. The portion that acts as a bowl to contain wax dripping needs to be bowl like, casting a bowl upside down is sometimes easier than right side up. (In this situation anyway.) To make a simple mold for a complex piece you often need to make simple changes to the design of the piece. Changes that a viewer won't notice but changes that will make it easier to cast. Sometimes those changes aren't evident until you start actually using the mold to cast a piece. Complication #1 - when casting a piece that has a small shape (the candle holding cup) and a larger shape (the base form) you often find that the small form fills in completely while you wait for the larger form to reach a suitable thickness. If that happens, due to the design of the mold, then you need to account for a way to create the hole for the candle. The alternative is to thin your casting slip so the small form does not fill in. However, that choice can lengthen the time it takes to cast the larger piece. Good Luck! Chilly 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amelia Posted October 1 Author Report Share Posted October 1 Thanks all for the thoughts! Hulk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amelia Posted October 1 Author Report Share Posted October 1 (edited) @Mark C. thanks for the thoughts! I have been a production potter for 7ish years now and justttt starting to wonder what areas I could “work smarter” now that I am toddler wrangling on top of working. This may not be the right piece to translate to slipcasting. Just thinking of top sellers that I could try to have in stock more than not! Maybe a two part mold would make sense (no trimming), but with taking into consideration the clean-up/learning curve it may not really be saving me much time if I still have to join the two together. Perhaps back to the drawing board! Always appreciative of your suggestions! Edited October 1 by Amelia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted October 1 Report Share Posted October 1 I think an upside down cast is best as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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