missholly Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 i was told to use sheet rock, but it doesnt seem like its working. in class, we used a heavy wire mesh, but it left marks on the tiles, creating more work. i actually used plaster molds that i made that are flat on one side. i left them overnight, and the tiles dont look like they dried at all. am i just being impatient? or is there a better way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 Yes you are impatient. Sheet rock works but over several days or more. I dry large slabs on sheet rock and they stay very flat. Tiles should dry slowly or they can warp. At tile factories in Spain I have seen tiles dried on edge after they have reached a leather hard or harder stage. Standing in herring bone patterns these tiles finish drying in the sun. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted February 11, 2011 Report Share Posted February 11, 2011 One big rule that will help a lot ... Stop touching them. Don't lift them, turn them test them or move them in any other way but sliding them horizontally across flat surfaces. I make my tiles, slide them onto paper covered boards, drop them once from waist high to the floor, then I do not touch them again until they are hard. If you do it this way you can put them out in full sunshine and they will dry flat. No one ever believes this works, but it does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAY Posted February 11, 2011 Report Share Posted February 11, 2011 I sandwich my tiles between two pieces of drywall (sheetrock), and dry them on a heat table. (electric wires embeded in gypsum panels- used for radiant heat in ceilings.) The 1/2 thick tiles are ready to fire in 24 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missholly Posted February 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2011 marcia, thats a pretty cool image i just got in my head reading what you posted. cool! chris, i can just see you slapping my hands and saying that to me! i know i know!! the only reason i asked is because i just wasnt seeing any signs at all of drying. i have my flat backed plaster molds on top of them now and theyve been that way for days. i think what ill do is get a piece of sheetrock, cut it in 1/2, tape the edges, leave one for the bottom and one for the top. that way i can get all of this out of my kitchen. day, that wounds really interesting. i love hearing about all of these little tricks to make things more efficient. that one is going on my list! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasoned Warrior Posted February 11, 2011 Report Share Posted February 11, 2011 I like the heavy wire shelves that are used in domestic stoves and put my tiles on those to dry out. Since the tiles dry equally from both sides I don't seem to get any warpage. The wire shelves I find are always free because, find someone who repairs appliances and often they dismantle the stoves for the controls an electrical parts. I don't care if the backs fo the tiles have a pattern on them it actually makes it easier to attach them with thinset since it increases the surface area. Best regards, Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasoned Warrior Posted February 12, 2011 Report Share Posted February 12, 2011 One big rule that will help a lot ... Stop touching them. Don't lift them, turn them test them or move them in any other way but sliding them horizontally across flat surfaces. I make my tiles, slide them onto paper covered boards, drop them once from waist high to the floor, then I do not touch them again until they are hard. If you do it this way you can put them out in full sunshine and they will dry flat. No one ever believes this works, but it does. Chris, can you elaborate on your technique a little bit. I understand the process up until the point where you drop the tiles. I am assuming that you drop the tiles sandwiched between the boards as a unit. Are all your tile flat or do you make tiles with decoration in relief? I would imagine your technique might be a little had on the relief or am I getting the whole technique wrong? Best regards, Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted February 12, 2011 Report Share Posted February 12, 2011 Here is exactly what I do. Make slab by slapping down clay or on slab roller. Cut or shape tiles to size. You can carve or decorate them at this point. Slide onto paper covered board ... I use whatever board I have around that is not warped. Drop from waist height onto floor ... Warn nearby people since it startles them! : > ) Leave them alone til hard. You can put them out in full sunshine and they will dry without warping. I also did not believe it would work when Elizabeth Priddy told me about it. Too simple ... but, the only warping you will get is wherever you touch them after they drop. The force of the drop seems to align the clay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasoned Warrior Posted February 12, 2011 Report Share Posted February 12, 2011 Here is exactly what I do. Make slab by slapping down clay or on slab roller. Cut or shape tiles to size. You can carve or decorate them at this point. Slide onto paper covered board ... I use whatever board I have around that is not warped. Drop from waist height onto floor ... Warn nearby people since it startles them! : > ) Leave them alone til hard. You can put them out in full sunshine and they will dry without warping. I also did not believe it would work when Elizabeth Priddy told me about it. Too simple ... but, the only warping you will get is wherever you touch them after they drop. The force of the drop seems to align the clay. I think you are right about the force of the drop aligning the clay platelets and I see no reason that wouls not work. I was just curious to see if relief work would get mushed down. Did you like that gratuitous use an arcane technical term? Best regards, Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clay lover Posted February 12, 2011 Report Share Posted February 12, 2011 Whoa!! Cris! How big of a board are you dropping? Are there multiple tiles on the board? I can imagine my tiles jumping off the board right and left. This sounds like a skill I want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missholly Posted March 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2011 ok, so i have several pieces of sheet rock with tiles drying in between. so far so good, except im finding alot of mold. now what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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