Slip Casting Slips

Looks like I will have to take a few weeks (months? the chiropractor
says three months, hopefully it won't be that long) off from working on
the wheel as my back heals (involved in a little fender-bender last
weekend, minor back injuries). So, since I'm not about to give up clay
while I get better, I've decided to continue working with a slip cast
mold I made a few weeks ago.
In the past I've used cone 04 casting slip that a friend gave me
because he bought too much by accident. I have been firing my other
work to cone 6, and I would like to avoid firing to multiple
temperatures for different pieces if at all possible. I bought some
cone 6 porcelain-like casting slip from the local pottery supply store.
(They only had one type of cone 6 slip available) It is some weird
stuff! It smells BAD, a little like latex resist (I use occasionally
instead of wax), a fairly fishy smell. It has some black mold in it
(around the top) (I know mold isn't unusual for clay, but my 04 slip
never molded before). Has anyone had any experience with a white cone
six casting slip that they really liked? Any brand / type
recommendations would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

(For a peak at the types of pots I am slip casting, check out the 'more
pots' page of my website:
www.freewebs.com/annaspots)

Dear Anna,

Thanks for pointing out your website. I very much enjoy your work, I
love the softness you have achieved. By the way Nos. 1 to 7 wouldn't
enlarge from the thumbnails. Everything else was fine.

Your description of the casting slip suggests that it is very old. Did
it cast all right?

Steve
Bath
UK


In article .com, anna
writes
Looks like I will have to take a few weeks (months? the chiropractor
says three months, hopefully it won't be that long) off from working on
the wheel as my back heals (involved in a little fender-bender last
weekend, minor back injuries). So, since I'm not about to give up clay
while I get better, I've decided to continue working with a slip cast
mold I made a few weeks ago.
In the past I've used cone 04 casting slip that a friend gave me
because he bought too much by accident. I have been firing my other
work to cone 6, and I would like to avoid firing to multiple
temperatures for different pieces if at all possible. I bought some
cone 6 porcelain-like casting slip from the local pottery supply store.
(They only had one type of cone 6 slip available) It is some weird
stuff! It smells BAD, a little like latex resist (I use occasionally
instead of wax), a fairly fishy smell. It has some black mold in it
(around the top) (I know mold isn't unusual for clay, but my 04 slip
never molded before). Has anyone had any experience with a white cone
six casting slip that they really liked? Any brand / type
recommendations would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

(For a peak at the types of pots I am slip casting, check out the 'more
pots' page of my website:
www.freewebs.com/annaspots)


--
Steve Mills
Bath
UK

Steve,
So glad you enjoyed the website! I have just recently got it up and
running, so it is really nice to hear positive feed back about it. I
will look into pics #1-7, thanks for letting me know. Just to clarify,
only the "environmentally friendly styrofoam cups" are slipcast,
everything else is either wheel thrown and altered or hand built.

As for the slip, I have only poured with it once, and it was the first
pouring for a new mold I made (I have heard the first pour of a new
mold is almost always less than stellar). The major problem that I did
notice was the slip seemed to dry more slowly on the seams, leaving
them wet and VERY easily torn. I am hardly a pro at slip casting, and
this is only the third mold I've made. Is the wetness around the seams
a common problem? Could it be old slip? Do you have a type of cone 6
casting slip you really love?

Hi Anna,
love your fluid pots.
How old is the mould that you are using?
The smell you describe is probably amonia.
We somtimes get a discolouration and pongy sulpherous smell from our
older 'paper clay' casting slip so I suspect your casting slip has
something organic in it.
Andy