Rolling Clay

Hi
Just a quick one off question I hope someone here won't mind answering.
We are making many small clay flowers and have to roll the clay
thinly and then cut with a pastry type cutter. What is the best surface to
roll out on?
We can't stop the clay sticking and damaging them. We have many thousands to
do.
Thank you in advance for your advice.

Mark

"usene" ) writes:
Hi
Just a quick one off question I hope someone here won't mind answering.
We are making many small clay flowers and have to roll the clay
thinly and then cut with a pastry type cutter. What is the best surface to
roll out on?
We can't stop the clay sticking and damaging them. We have many thousands to
do.
Thank you in advance for your advice.

Mark

Canvas stretched on board is common. Finish quality plywood also works
but is more expensive and you might scratch it up with the cutters.
Once the pieces are cut they should be dried on a porous surface or they
may stick and break as they shrink when drying. I prefer newspaper.
Depending on the humidity where you are, you may need to lightly cover
them with plastic as they dry. Clay pieces can dry unevenly and crack in
dry air.

You may have more questions in the future. Are you firing these pieces
if not how are you finishing them? Is this real ceramic clay or the plastic
self hardening kind? Just curious.

Elaine

"Elaine Stutt" wrote in message
...
"usene" ) writes:
Hi
Just a quick one off question I hope someone here won't mind answering.
We are making many small clay flowers and have to roll the clay
thinly and then cut with a pastry type cutter. What is the best surface
to
roll out on?
We can't stop the clay sticking and damaging them. We have many thousands
to
do.
Thank you in advance for your advice.

Mark

Canvas stretched on board is common. Finish quality plywood also works
but is more expensive and you might scratch it up with the cutters.
Once the pieces are cut they should be dried on a porous surface or they
may stick and break as they shrink when drying. I prefer newspaper.
Depending on the humidity where you are, you may need to lightly cover
them with plastic as they dry. Clay pieces can dry unevenly and crack in
dry air.

You may have more questions in the future. Are you firing these pieces
if not how are you finishing them? Is this real ceramic clay or the
plastic
self hardening kind? Just curious.

Elaine

Many thanks for your quick answer.

My partner has them fired locally as we don't own a kiln yet. She uses real
ceramic clay.
Scarva Earthstone as written on the bag.

Mark

On Thu, 11 Jan 2007 21:26:37 -0000, "usene" wrote:

Hi
Just a quick one off question I hope someone here won't mind answering.
We are making many small clay flowers and have to roll the clay
thinly and then cut with a pastry type cutter. What is the best surface to
roll out on?
We can't stop the clay sticking and damaging them. We have many thousands to
do.
If you don't want the texture of the canvas on them, I hear that dry wall makes
a good surface. I use canvas and then smoothe the surface with a red Sherrill
rib which also aligns it to make it stronger and less likely to warp. But make
sure they dry very slowly too so they don't warp. Best, Sue

On Thu, 11 Jan 2007 21:26:37 -0000, "usene"
wrote:

Hi
Just a quick one off question I hope someone here won't mind answering.
We are making many small clay flowers and have to roll the clay
thinly and then cut with a pastry type cutter. What is the best surface to
roll out on?
We can't stop the clay sticking and damaging them. We have many thousands to
do.
Thank you in advance for your advice.

Mark



The others have given you good answers. (I usually
use a canvas-covered board.) But I'd just like to add
that I'm partial to using "tar paper" (roofing felt) templates
on *top* of the slab. You moisten them and roll them right
into the slab, then trace around with a (blunt) pin tool to cut out.
The beauty of this is that it is much easier to lift and handle the
pieces. After they stiffen a bit, you can peel the tar paper
off and re-use it over and over. If the pieces are going to be
assembled into something, leave the tar paper while you do
the assembly... *much* easier than working with raw slabs.

It's important to peel the tarpaper off before too much drying
takes place, since the pieces would warp because the
tar paper is waterproof and drying would be uneven.

"Lifetime supply" roll of roofing felt is available at Home Depot
or any building supply store for $15-20. Around here (Ann Arbor,
Michigan, USA) there are 2 grades. (I think they are 15 and 30
pounds.) I use the lighter grade.


Best regards.


Bob Masta
dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom

D A Q A R T A
Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
www.daqarta.com
Scope, Spectrum, Spectrogram, Signal Generator
Science with your sound card!

Tar or felt paper is one option, but you still have to struggle sometimes
as Bob mentioned to remove the slab from it once it is rolled.
A better surface to use is a tightly woven fabric, such as an artificial
silk or satin. You can buy it by the meter/yard at your local fabric store
inexpensively. It will allow you not only to roll the slabs out thin
without a texture on the back, but also lift and carry large numbers you
have rolled out for easy removal. Simply grab both ends of the fabric and
"stretch" it slightly. The slab will break its bond with the fabric and the
pieces come free without effort or damage.
Some potters have been experimenting with spandex or lycra for the same
purpose. Those work well too but leave slightly more texture on the back.
I use real satin, but I was fortunate enough to be given a large amount for
free.
Hope that helps,
Wayne Seidl
"Bob Masta" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 11 Jan 2007 21:26:37 -0000, "usene"
wrote:

Hi
Just a quick one off question I hope someone here won't mind answering.
We are making many small clay flowers and have to roll the clay
thinly and then cut with a pastry type cutter. What is the best surface to
roll out on?
We can't stop the clay sticking and damaging them. We have many thousands
to
do.
Thank you in advance for your advice.

Mark



The others have given you good answers. (I usually
use a canvas-covered board.) But I'd just like to add
that I'm partial to using "tar paper" (roofing felt) templates
on *top* of the slab. You moisten them and roll them right
into the slab, then trace around with a (blunt) pin tool to cut out.
The beauty of this is that it is much easier to lift and handle the
pieces. After they stiffen a bit, you can peel the tar paper
off and re-use it over and over. If the pieces are going to be
assembled into something, leave the tar paper while you do
the assembly... *much* easier than working with raw slabs.

It's important to peel the tarpaper off before too much drying
takes place, since the pieces would warp because the
tar paper is waterproof and drying would be uneven.

"Lifetime supply" roll of roofing felt is available at Home Depot
or any building supply store for $15-20. Around here (Ann Arbor,
Michigan, USA) there are 2 grades. (I think they are 15 and 30
pounds.) I use the lighter grade.


Best regards.


Bob Masta
dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom

D A Q A R T A
Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
www.daqarta.com
Scope, Spectrum, Spectrogram, Signal Generator
Science with your sound card!

In article , vt5569
@yahoo.com says...
Tar or felt paper is one option, but you still have to struggle sometimes
as Bob mentioned to remove the slab from it once it is rolled.
A better surface to use is a tightly woven fabric, such as an artificial
silk or satin. You can buy it by the meter/yard at your local fabric store
inexpensively. It will allow you not only to roll the slabs out thin
without a texture on the back, but also lift and carry large numbers you
have rolled out for easy removal. Simply grab both ends of the fabric and
"stretch" it slightly. The slab will break its bond with the fabric and the
pieces come free without effort or damage.
Some potters have been experimenting with spandex or lycra for the same
purpose. Those work well too but leave slightly more texture on the back.
I use real satin, but I was fortunate enough to be given a large amount for
free.
Hope that helps,
Wayne Seidl
"Bob Masta" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 11 Jan 2007 21:26:37 -0000, "usene"
wrote:

Hi
Just a quick one off question I hope someone here won't mind answering.
We are making many small clay flowers and have to roll the clay
thinly and then cut with a pastry type cutter. What is the best surface to
roll out on?
We can't stop the clay sticking and damaging them. We have many thousands
to
do.
Thank you in advance for your advice.

Mark



The others have given you good answers. (I usually
use a canvas-covered board.) But I'd just like to add
that I'm partial to using "tar paper" (roofing felt) templates
on *top* of the slab. You moisten them and roll them right
into the slab, then trace around with a (blunt) pin tool to cut out.
The beauty of this is that it is much easier to lift and handle the
pieces. After they stiffen a bit, you can peel the tar paper
off and re-use it over and over. If the pieces are going to be
assembled into something, leave the tar paper while you do
the assembly... *much* easier than working with raw slabs.

It's important to peel the tarpaper off before too much drying
takes place, since the pieces would warp because the
tar paper is waterproof and drying would be uneven.

"Lifetime supply" roll of roofing felt is available at Home Depot

I use thin Canvas ducking and muslin. I cut out the shapes, let set for
a hour or so, then to remove the peices off the canvas, I "roll" the
canvas (with the peices on it) over a table edge, pulling down on the
canvas over the edge so the peices peel off as you pull the canvas...

I dry them between peices of #20 Gypsum board cut into 18x18 inch
squares.. this keeps the peices from warping and allows them to dry
evenly.

remember , if your going to attach them to anything, you gotta do it
before the surface of your peices dries.. ive not really found a good
reliable method to stick dry to dry or wet to dry peices...


if your doing thousands of the same peice, you might want to think about
making a cutter die that has 50 or 100 of the shapes on it, so you can
stamp out that many at once...

Canvas stretched on board is common. Finish quality plywood also works
but is more expensive and you might scratch it up with the cutters.

Hello,
I have a stupid and naive question which is connected with this problem:
Should I put this canvas under and on clay that I want to roll ? I have a
problem with sticking clay to my roller. This is really annoying.
Thanks for any help .

Joanna

On Sat, 13 Jan 2007 13:22:54 +0100, "Joanna" wrote:


Canvas stretched on board is common. Finish quality plywood also works
but is more expensive and you might scratch it up with the cutters.

Hello,
I have a stupid and naive question which is connected with this problem:
Should I put this canvas under and on clay that I want to roll ? I have a
problem with sticking clay to my roller. This is really annoying.
Thanks for any help .

Canvas is just covering the board, at least the way I do it.
One tip that I have found helpful is to *ignore* the handles on
the rolling pin. and just use the palms of your hands on the
top of the actual roller portion to move the roller along.
This greatly reduces the clay winding itself up around the
roller for me.

On the other hand, if your clay is simply too wet, you can
wedge it a bit on the canvas board and that will remove
excess water before you start to roll it.

Hope this helps!


Bob Masta
dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom

D A Q A R T A
Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
www.daqarta.com
Scope, Spectrum, Spectrogram, Signal Generator
Science with your sound card!

On Sat, 13 Jan 2007 13:22:54 +0100, "Joanna" wrote:


Canvas stretched on board is common. Finish quality plywood also works
but is more expensive and you might scratch it up with the cutters.

Hello,
I have a stupid and naive question which is connected with this problem:
Should I put this canvas under and on clay that I want to roll ? I have a
problem with sticking clay to my roller. This is really annoying.
Thanks for any help .

Joanna

I throw the clay out on canvas to thin it, then use a long dowel on each side of
the slab to ensure it will be uniform. I roll them out on canvas and use clay
dust or corn starch on the top if it gets sticky. Usually, I just move to a dry
area of canvas and that does the trick. I roll from the middle to the far end,
then turn the slab over and roll from the middle to the other end. If the slab
isn't too big, I turn in 90 degrees and repeat. This gives a nice uniform slab.
Best, Sue