clay lover Posted March 17, 2014 Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 I have spend a rainy afternoon stuttering around in the studio, trying to get a varied assortment of slip trailers to work without major intervention. Do any of you have a preferred tool for storing thin slip for joining that keeps the consistency? What I want is something that I can premix and store in that lets me trail a line of slip on to a join or seam. I thought I had this and went to use some that has been stored in the trailer for a couple of months and ended up spending most of the afternoon cleaning the snouts of an assortment of tools , none of which had kept the slip loose enough to squeeze out, even though they were well closed. Every thing I have is a bear to fill and won't keep the slip wet enough to squeeze out. They are also a bear to clean and/or reconstitute the too stiff slip in them. GRRRRRRR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Up in Smoke Pottery Posted March 17, 2014 Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 I use a large syringe, went to a agricultural / vet supply store and bought the largest one they had. Easy to fill, easy to clean, little practice to dispense and your set to go. Only thing is I cannot store the slip in it, empty/clean it every day. Chad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deHues Posted March 17, 2014 Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 I use a small syringe from the drug store for babies I think. I believe that storing the slip in anything with a narrow tip is going to be impossible to keep from drying out. Although maybe putting the slip trailer into a freezer zip lock bag to store would give extra protection. The freezer bags are thicker than regular zip bags and I use them for many things in the studio. I get the quantity of them at Costco to keep the cost down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted March 17, 2014 Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 Your best bet is to not leave the small tip on when not in use. Aftosa sells little squeeze bottle that uses a mechanical pencil tip that can be removed when not in use so you can cap the bottle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diane Puckett Posted March 17, 2014 Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 Someone told me they use squeeze bottles made for hair dye, probably sold in beauty supply places. I think I recently saw caps made to go on opened containers of caulk, but I don't know where that was. If you create a good solution for this problem, you might make a fortune marketing to multiple industries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted March 17, 2014 Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 If you look on my website opening page ... Bottom left is an image for "clay lessons" with various slip trailers. The orange bulb one might be worth a try for you. As I recall, they sell these orange bulbs in auto supply places ... Where you might also be able to get the needle attachment for inflating balls. Handily enough, the needle part fits very tightly in the opening of the orange rubber thingy. You have to cut the end of the needle off at an angle to get rid of a little air hole that is there. Because the rubber is so thick, and the cap fit is so tight ... slip does not aerate as quickly. You do have to clean the needle part before storing ... I also pop a small pin in the end of it to keep air out ... it works. There is a larger image in the slip area ... http://ccpottery.com/slips.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebekah Krieger Posted March 18, 2014 Report Share Posted March 18, 2014 I haven't tried this for slip, but I have done some cake decorating classes and use rubber caps for the frosting piping bags to prevent them from drying out inside the frosting tips. I think it would probably work very well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clay lover Posted March 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2014 I'm thinking the frosting bags might be the best in the long run. They look easier to fill and empty . Chris, I have the line up your picture shows, that is the group I fought with yesterday. The red bulb was the best , but the consistency did not stay what I wanted, and it's impossible to thin it once it's in the bulb. Dianne is right, if I solve this, I might have the way to make my million. It won't be selling pots, that's for sure. There is something in the back of my mind like a refillable toothpaste tube thingy, it opens from the back and folds over to close, what is it I'm thinking of? cake decorating supplies??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tristan TDH Posted March 18, 2014 Report Share Posted March 18, 2014 I use Paperclay slip for construction, in a mustard bottle, with the opening enlarged, and add some darvan to the slip. It seems to keep it loose and un-clumped longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tristan TDH Posted March 18, 2014 Report Share Posted March 18, 2014 I use Paperclay slip for construction, in a mustard bottle, with the opening enlarged, and add some darvan to the slip. It seems to keep it loose and un-clumped longer. And yes, squeeze bottle make me crazy... Much more crazy than my usual level of crazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted March 18, 2014 Report Share Posted March 18, 2014 I have about 6-9 types and I mainly use them for glazes but for slip you want a cap.The plastic ones that xiem and aftose sell are fine for slips. I wash my glaze ones out every day I use them and store them dry. The they get used every week. I have some old school one's that come from New Zealand. I pick them up whenever I see them. The best ones have a removable plastic tip-they now seem hard to find. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clay lover Posted March 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2014 I am probably causing myself grief by using more than 1 clay. I want.... I WANT... a slip squeeze bottle filled and ready for white, buff and dark respectively. Efficiency in the studio is my hang up. I wish I could use the blender stick, make a quart of beautiful slip, store it in Tupperware and keep a squeezy thing loaded from the bucket. Anybody using plastic bags with the corner cut off? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.