Making Slip For Ceramics

And it should have a gravity ratio of 1 75 to achieve this you should have a hydrometer and a scale.

Making slip for ceramics.

I save all of my little scraps of clay put them in a gallon size plastic bag and when i have enough clay i make slip. The basics of making slip for clay involves breaking pieces of bone dry clay into small parts. Paint a strip of this slip mixture onto the tile and write on the tile that this is a 2 mixture. Lana wilson uses texture and clay slip to decorate much of her work.

Once you ve mixed the slip for about 5 minutes use a. The process of slaking clay to make it into slip is a simple one. The mold is opened and the clay object is removed. Every once in a while i spray water in the plastic bag so the clay doesn t get dry.

Plastic containers with screw on lids that come in packs of 2 from the dollar tree. The slip is poured into the mold and the water is absorbed leaving a layer of clay deposited from the slip. For storing slip i like the 16 oz. Step one is to have a 5 gallon bucket filled 60 75 with your bone dry clay then add water until it s a few inches below the rim figure 1.

You can use an underglaze pencil to write the 2 or scratch it into the leather hard clay. Then submerging the dry clay in water so that it breaks down and dissolves. I always use wet clay to make slip. Let it slake for 24 hours then mix it by hand a little with a stick figure 2.

Make sure your slip is made from the same clay you re working with. A gallon of good ceramic slip should weigh 14 5 pounds plus a smidge. It may be either solid cast where the form is filled with the new clay object or hollow cast where the new object is deposited around a hollow center from which the remaining slip. First some basic information about making your slip.

The dissolved clay is then blended into the water to make a smooth suspension. With a screw on lid you can get a tighter seal than you can with snap on lids which means your slip will still be usable the next time you need to use it. I never use bone dry clay. The gravity ratio is measured by the hydrometer and it tells you the amount of water in relationship to the amount of.