How to Make Molds for Ceramics at Home
For hundreds of years, potters have used slip molds to duplicate either whole ceramic pieces or style elements for their work. The aptly-named pottery serves as a reliable mold material to create such slip molds. Pottery plaster is very affordable and may be purchased in large tubs or bags of white powder. This powder chemically reacts with water to form a smooth, rigid plaster.
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Things You'll Need
- Plastic tarp
- Prototype
- Liquid wax
- Paintbrush
- Pottery plaster
- Bucket
- Sink
Instructions
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1
Spread a plastic tarp across your work surface to protect the floor. Pottery plaster has an incorrigible tendency to get into every crack and unprotected crevice of tiles and wood boards. Don a pair of waterproof gloves and a face mask. Crack a window to provide some ventilation.
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2
Place your prototype on top of the tarp, with the detailed side facing up, and use a paintbrush to coat it in liquid wax. Liquid wax serves as a mold release and will keep the plaster from adhering too much to your prototype.
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3
Pour enough plaster powder into a bucket to potentially coat your prototype. Hold the bucket under a sink and turn on the water. Stir the mixture with your gloved fingers as it pours. Turn off the tap once the plaster reaches the viscosity of thick mud.
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4
Run the bucket quickly back to your prototype. Pottery plaster remains workable for only a few minutes. Use your hands to scoop up globs of it and pat it down over your prototype. Pile on enough plaster so that there is at least an inch thick wall of it at any given point.
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5
Allow the plaster to harden overnight, then flip the mold over and remove your prototype. Let the plaster mold dry for at least a week before you use it with clay.
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References
- Photo Credit russian ceramic toy image by Eugene Tokarev from Fotolia.com
