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#11
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Christmas houses?
"Bill DeWitt" wrote in message news Steve Mills mentioned in passing : Make them out of clay slabs cut from a pre-rolled sheet, using cardboard templates. Don't you then have to reduplicate detail for each piece? I was hoping to save my miniature sculpture work by making a mold or template from plaster. I am planning to make them "n scale" to match my trains, which means each house would be about an inch or two high (1/160). Oh my goodness! TALK about fiddly! Honestly, I would consider making the houses out of balsa-wood or something like that instead. You can make patterns using bendable sheet plastic. Some hobby stores at least have thicker sheets for window-painting that are see-through and that you could cut with a sharp knife. I know that most people make larger ones, but that's why I want to make my own. I probably should have mentioned that to begin with... I do appreciate your response and any further suggestions you and fellow Norwegian "Bubbles" might have. "fellow Norwegian"? Is there another Norwegian on here I don't know about? Marianne |
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#12
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Christmas houses?
"Xtra News" wrote in message ... Well I did not want to be rude, but I was disagreeing ) Awww! How sweet! ;-) What I mean exactly - generally people are taught to score the two surfaces of a join, then wet that down and bring up slurry with water worked into it. So you keep rubbing at the scored surface with a little water until you have a good wet thick clay area, then you press the two parts together. I suggested you skip the scoring bit and just work up the thick slurry instead because I think the scoring makes it messy, can introduce air and IMO does not work better. Working up a good slurry, or even better using terra sig makes joins that are strong. If you have trouble with joins coming apart or cracking when drying painting around the join with brush wax helps, this is particularly useful for porcelain handles. Terra sigilatta is the very finest of clay particles. Lots of info on it if you do a google search. I always have a thick slurry in a box that I use to repair when I eg. bump into a surface and make a gouge, or just to even up surfaces after hollowing them with an iron. I really do see your argument that scoring can introduce air. I am always very careful to fill the areas to be joined with water and slurry before joining them. BUT!!! I think you may be right that a thick slurry would do the job better, as it will not change the properties of the clay (water content) as much in the join as slurrying "my way" does. And I do think that water content has a lot to say on how the piece wants to split later on. As I am just now starting to do some experiments with making boxes (to have my coffee and tea in in my kitchen), I will try your suggestion on a couple and see how that goes. Thanks! Marianne |
#13
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Christmas houses?
"Bill DeWitt" wrote in message news Steve Mills mentioned in passing : Make them out of clay slabs cut from a pre-rolled sheet, using cardboard templates. Don't you then have to reduplicate detail for each piece? I was hoping to save my miniature sculpture work by making a mold or template from plaster. I am planning to make them "n scale" to match my trains, which means each house would be about an inch or two high (1/160). I know that most people make larger ones, but that's why I want to make my own. I probably should have mentioned that to begin with... I do appreciate your response and any further suggestions you and fellow Norwegian "Bubbles" might have. Should we assume that you know about shrinkage? |
#14
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Christmas houses?
"Xtra News" wrote in message ... If you have trouble with joins coming apart or cracking when drying painting around the join with brush wax helps, this is particularly useful for porcelain handles. Terra sigilatta is the very finest of clay particles. Lots of info on it if you do a google search. Another means of keeping joints from cracking is to paint the joined area with wax (latex). That allows the moisture content of the wet to dry area equal out better. Donna |
#15
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Christmas houses?
dkat mentioned in passing :
Should we assume that you know about shrinkage? Yes, thanks. As these are just for my own use and are truly decorations, the disparity will not matter. |
#16
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Christmas houses?
"Bubbles" wrote in message ... "Xtra News" wrote in message ... Well I did not want to be rude, but I was disagreeing ) Awww! How sweet! ;-) What I mean exactly - generally people are taught to score the two surfaces of a join, then wet that down and bring up slurry with water worked into it. So you keep rubbing at the scored surface with a little water until you have a good wet thick clay area, then you press the two parts together. I suggested you skip the scoring bit and just work up the thick slurry instead because I think the scoring makes it messy, can introduce air and IMO does not work better. Working up a good slurry, or even better using terra sig makes joins that are strong. If you have trouble with joins coming apart or cracking when drying painting around the join with brush wax helps, this is particularly useful for porcelain handles. Terra sigilatta is the very finest of clay particles. Lots of info on it if you do a google search. I always have a thick slurry in a box that I use to repair when I eg. bump into a surface and make a gouge, or just to even up surfaces after hollowing them with an iron. I really do see your argument that scoring can introduce air. I am always very careful to fill the areas to be joined with water and slurry before joining them. BUT!!! I think you may be right that a thick slurry would do the job better, as it will not change the properties of the clay (water content) as much in the join as slurrying "my way" does. And I do think that water content has a lot to say on how the piece wants to split later on. As I am just now starting to do some experiments with making boxes (to have my coffee and tea in in my kitchen), I will try your suggestion on a couple and see how that goes. Thanks! Marianne When making boxes it is best to cut edges at an angle, so that they meet like the corner of a picture frame. I think in carpentry they call it a mitred corner?? Work with leather hard clay so that it is not going to buckle and sag, and when putting the two edges together be very firm with pressing them together, some paddling towards the join is a good idea too. Good luck with your boxes ) |
#17
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Christmas houses?
"Xtra News" wrote in message ... When making boxes it is best to cut edges at an angle, so that they meet like the corner of a picture frame. I think in carpentry they call it a mitred corner?? Work with leather hard clay so that it is not going to buckle and sag, and when putting the two edges together be very firm with pressing them together, some paddling towards the join is a good idea too. Good luck with your boxes ) Tried that a few times, but find it very fidly. Do you have any special tool you use to get the angles right? Also, using that method, would eg. a 10x10 cm box made of 10x10 squares stay 10 cm? I did one last night, using just end-to-side joins, and the box is now about 11 cm, which meant that the bottom I had cut 10x10 was a tad too small. Marianne |
#18
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Christmas houses?
Tool for cutting a 45 degree angle on a slab end.
Materials: An *L* shaped piece of wood or MDF about 1 inch thick & 2 inches long on each leg. a short length of very fine wire (Fuse wire?) 2 thumb tacks (drawing pins) Stretch the wire between the upright and the horizontal legs, secure with the thumb tacks on the back of the L. Turn it upside down. You now have a 45 degree edge cutter! Tada! Steve In article , Bubbles writes "Xtra News" wrote in message ... When making boxes it is best to cut edges at an angle, so that they meet like the corner of a picture frame. I think in carpentry they call it a mitred corner?? Work with leather hard clay so that it is not going to buckle and sag, and when putting the two edges together be very firm with pressing them together, some paddling towards the join is a good idea too. Good luck with your boxes ) Tried that a few times, but find it very fidly. Do you have any special tool you use to get the angles right? Also, using that method, would eg. a 10x10 cm box made of 10x10 squares stay 10 cm? I did one last night, using just end-to-side joins, and the box is now about 11 cm, which meant that the bottom I had cut 10x10 was a tad too small. Marianne -- Steve Mills Bath UK |
#19
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Christmas houses?
"Bubbles" wrote : Oh my goodness! TALK about fiddly! I enjoy making small carvings. Not enough to make similar ones over and over again 8-) hence the desire for a process, but in general I find it relaxing. I have decided to press them into flat plaster molds like some people do decorative tiles. I want to test to see if I can accurately miter the edges (perhaps with a sponge) or if I will have to make end cap looking things. I don't want wood or plastic because I want them to be very nice. "fellow Norwegian"? Although my surname is Dutch and my home is the US, my genetics and culture are largely Norse. I'm a little consious of it these days because I'm trying to recreate some of that heritage for my family. I apologize for mentioning it. |
#20
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Christmas houses?
"Steve Mills" wrote in message ... Tool for cutting a 45 degree angle on a slab end. Materials: An *L* shaped piece of wood or MDF about 1 inch thick & 2 inches long on each leg. a short length of very fine wire (Fuse wire?) 2 thumb tacks (drawing pins) Stretch the wire between the upright and the horizontal legs, secure with the thumb tacks on the back of the L. Turn it upside down. You now have a 45 degree edge cutter! Tada! Hehe! TADA! Except that I can't quite imagine how I would use it to cut, as you say it has to be thick. If I could make the L out of thin, but stiff metal, I can see how I could lay the horizontal of the L on the table and run the tool along the edge of the piece, but how would I do it with a thick piece of wood? Thanks, though! Have printed your instructions and will hand them to hubby to ponder - the perks of being married to an engineer :-) Marianne |
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