steven hogarth on tue 13 oct 98
Hi! This is my first posting to this list so I hope all turns out well.
This list sounds like it could be very useful and provide many ideas to
try!
I would like to know if anyone has some suggestions on how I could best
produce some miniature sized ceramic tiles. I am trying to create a
tesselated floor pattern for a display I am making and need little tiles
square and hexagon shaped to create the floor.The largest tile would be
approimately one inch square.
I have already tried rolling out slabs of clay and cutting a template of
the shapes but find that they don't end up very square or uniform in size.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! I have tried many pottery
suppliers and schools here in Australia and no one seems to have any ideas.
Thanks in advance.
Andrea Hogarth
Australia
Laurel Carey on wed 14 oct 98
steven hogarth wrote:
>
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
(snip)
> I have already tried rolling out slabs of clay and cutting a template
> the shapes but find that they don't end up very square or uniform in size.
> Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! I have tried many pottery
> suppliers and schools here in Australia and no one seems to have any ideas.
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Andrea Hogarth
> Australia
how about cookie cutters? i have a set of several geometric cookie
cutters, made of blue plastic, of just about this size, i found them at
a specialty cooking store for a couple of bucks (u.s.). i guess you
could have some made out of metal strips if you can't find any
ready-made. hope this helps.
laurel
lacarey@ioa.com
asheville, nc, usa
Marion Barnes-Schwartz. on wed 14 oct 98
Andrea,
I have mostly made larger tiles but I recently made 1 inch square tiles using
the same method I use for the larger tiles.
I don't make templates. I've found more problems with them. I roll out a
slab, cut a straight line at the upper most section of the slab. Then with a
ruler I mark off the width of the tiles all along this line, in this case I
make a mark every inch. I take an 'L-square' and cut a line perpendicular to
the top line at the furthest right side I can. (This squares up the lines).
Then with a ruler I mark this line, in several places, at the 1 inch mark.
Using the L-square I mark off the inch marks in several places so that I end
up with at least three marks to use for cutting. I do this both ways. Then
using the L-sqaure I place it along one or the other first lines at each mark
and cut straight down. I repeat this in the other direction.
I hope this makes sense. If you are interested in this technique, which is
actually quite simple e-mail me directly and I can perhaps better explain or
send you a drawing.
Marion
Denver, NY
BARNSCHWA@AOL.COM
Joy Hought on wed 14 oct 98
Andrea, you can make your own "cookie cutters" for clay out of aluminum
sheet metal (not sure what they call it at the hardware store) by cutting
strips of about 1" wide and bending it to the shape you want, then putting
a little handle on it (picture a real cookie cutter). Frank Giorgini's
book "Handmade Tiles" made some reference to this technique, maybe it'd
give you some ideas. I've cut very odd shapes this way and had it turn out
pretty accurate.
good luck...
joy in irvine, CA
Joy Holdread on wed 14 oct 98
In a message dated 10/13/98 7:58:54 AM US Mountain Standard Time,
hogarth@dynamite.com.au writes:
>
> I would like to know if anyone has some suggestions on how I could
> best
> produce some miniature sized ceramic tiles. I am trying to create a
> tesselated floor pattern for a display I am making and need little tiles
> square and hexagon shaped to create the floor.The largest tile would be
> approximately one inch square.
>
> I have already tried rolling out slabs of clay and cutting a
> template of
> the shapes but find that they don't end up very square or uniform in size.
> Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! I have tried many pottery
> suppliers and schools here in Australia and no one seems to have any ideas.
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Andrea Hogarth
> Australia
If I needed to make a display of tiny tiles I'd make a large tile & press the
grout lines into the larger slab and not fuss with the tiny pieces. Use
drafting or commercial art drawing tools, the triangle shapes made of hot
orange plastic will keep you square. I've found light weight metal squares in
hardware stores but I never used those bulky tools for 1" tiles. If you have
to make individual tiles cut them when they are leather hard to minimize
distortion. As a last resort tile companies make 1" tiles. I use those 1"
tiles to label ware boards by height of wares or glaze to glaze to grind,
2nds etc...
Joy in Tucson
Louis Katz on wed 14 oct 98
Try extruding the shapes and slicing when they are leather hard
>
>
> I would like to know if anyone has some suggestions on how I could bes
> produce some miniature sized ceramic tiles. I am trying to create a
> tesselated floor pattern for a display I am making and need little tiles
> square and hexagon shaped to create the floor.The largest tile would be
> approimately one inch square.
>
--
Louis Katz
lkatz@falcon.tamucc.edu
http://www2.tamucc.edu/lkatz/lkatz/
(512) 994-5987
Helen Crowe on wed 14 oct 98
I suppose you could make little sprig molds - perhaps many in one plaster =
mold.
Helen
Andrew Lubow on wed 14 oct 98
Make a plaster or wooden press mold.
Andy Lubow
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-----Original Message-----
From: steven hogarth
To: CLAYART@LSV.UKY.EDU
Date: Tuesday, October 13, 1998 8:33 AM
Subject: Mini Tiles
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Hi! This is my first posting to this list so I hope all turns out well.
>This list sounds like it could be very useful and provide many ideas to
>try!
>
> I would like to know if anyone has some suggestions on how I could
best
>produce some miniature sized ceramic tiles. I am trying to create a
>tesselated floor pattern for a display I am making and need little tiles
>square and hexagon shaped to create the floor.The largest tile would be
>approimately one inch square.
>
> I have already tried rolling out slabs of clay and cutting a
template of
>the shapes but find that they don't end up very square or uniform in size.
>Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! I have tried many pottery
>suppliers and schools here in Australia and no one seems to have any ideas.
>Thanks in advance.
>
>Andrea Hogarth
>Australia
>
David Hendley on wed 14 oct 98
Here's an idea:
Make large tiles, but make them look tiny.
Do this by making a frame, say 6" X 6", and attaching a
small stick or dowel every one inch (popsicle stick?).
Roll out a slab of clay, and make lines half-way through the
thickness of the slab with the frame, turn it 90 degrees and
do it again. Cut the outside edges square.
You will have (what looks like) 36 1 inch square tiles.
Grout will fill in the indented grid lines after installation.
This method also makes it much easier and faster to install
the tiles, with the spacing much more accurate.
Make some singles and some rows of 6 for corners and
odd places.
David Hendley
Maydelle, Texas
At 09:31 AM 10/13/98 EDT, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Hi! This is my first posting to this list so I hope all turns out well.
>This list sounds like it could be very useful and provide many ideas to
>try!
>
> I would like to know if anyone has some suggestions on how I could
best
>produce some miniature sized ceramic tiles. I am trying to create a
>tesselated floor pattern for a display I am making and need little tiles
>square and hexagon shaped to create the floor.The largest tile would be
>approimately one inch square.
>
> I have already tried rolling out slabs of clay and cutting a
template of
>the shapes but find that they don't end up very square or uniform in size.
>Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! I have tried many pottery
>suppliers and schools here in Australia and no one seems to have any ideas.
>Thanks in advance.
>
>Andrea Hogarth
>Australia
>
Kathleen Kirchoff on wed 14 oct 98
The mosaic classes at our local rec center use metal drafting tools like T-
squares and yard sticks to layout a grid of tiny squares cut out with a needle
tool. Stiff clay slabs are easier for this.
If you have access to an extruder with a die the right side and shape for your
tiles, you could use a wire cheese cutter (one with a roller that keep the
slices the same thickness) to cut tiles. Just a thought from a newcomer to
Clayart. I'm sure the real pros here will have a better idea.
Thanks to all of the experts here willing to share technical info in non-
techie terms. You help me make sense of the the old dusty parts of my college
texts and give me tons of new ideas which are more practical than most
textbooks.
Kathleen
tmartens on wed 14 oct 98
Don't try cutting the clay while it is too wet, it helps to cover you
slab in cloth and then bung the whole lot in a plastic bag for a
couple of days (on a board) Cutting it then does not produce as much
'drag' and you are likely to get more accurate shapes.
Toni Martens, Durban South Africa
I have already tried rolling out slabs of clay and cutting a template of
the shapes but find that they don't end up very square or uniform in size.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! I have tried many pottery
suppliers and schools here in Australia and no one seems to have any ideas.
Thanks in advance.
Andrea Hogarth
Australia
Cheryl L Litman on wed 14 oct 98
Andrea,
How about finding cookie cutters of the right size and shape or make your
own with the heavy duty banding wire that pallets come tied with (check
local stores who might receive shipments on pallets).
Cheryl Litman
Somerset, NJ
email: cheryllitman@juno.com
On Tue, 13 Oct 1998 09:31:55 EDT steven hogarth
writes:
>----------------------------Original
>message----------------------------
>Hi! This is my first posting to this list so I hope all turns out
>well.
>This list sounds like it could be very useful and provide many ideas
>to
>try!
>
> I would like to know if anyone has some suggestions on how I
>could best
>produce some miniature sized ceramic tiles. I am trying to create a
>tesselated floor pattern for a display I am making and need little
>tiles
>square and hexagon shaped to create the floor.The largest tile would
>be
>approimately one inch square.
>
> I have already tried rolling out slabs of clay and cutting a
>template of
>the shapes but find that they don't end up very square or uniform in
>size.
>Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! I have tried many
>pottery
>suppliers and schools here in Australia and no one seems to have any
>ideas.
>Thanks in advance.
>
>Andrea Hogarth
>Australia
>
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Linda Blossom on thu 15 oct 98
I have been thinking about this little tile shape thing and the hexagons =
were
the hardest. The small squares I would just make in larger tiles and then =
cut
with a tile cutter. Harbor Freight (which I recommend for nothing else) has=
a
tile saw for =24200. It is a 4 or 5=22 blade and you have to assemble the =
sliding
bed. I have also seen a technique where you press a ruler or thin piece of
wood into the clay not quite all the way and then break it apart after =
firing.
Maybe someone else could figure out the lines and angles for hex's - I would=
use
it for squares, rectangles, and triangles.The suggestion to use =
drafting/design
templates was a good one although it can be hard to get the right size =
unless
you find a template with many sizes of just that shape. You could get a =
tile
from a tile store and then zerox it and enlarge it by 10=25 on the copy =
machine.
Then make a template out of something that can be traced around. Linoleum =
or
other stiff water resistant material would work and be easy to cut into the
shape. However, cutting around is a lot more time consuming than pressing =
in.
I have drawn shapes on clear plastic and placed this under a glue gun pad, =
which
is translucent, and then traced on the pad with the glue gun, repeatedly, =
making
a raised network of the shape or shapes that could be oiled and pressed into=
the
clay. Another one I made with the fish scale shape was to make the shapes =
as
repeated indentations in the clay slab, making the indentation about 1/8th =
of an
inch wide and deep and then casting this slab making a mold with raised =
lines
for the shape that could be pressed into the clay. I agree with waiting a
little while to do the cutting although with most of these techniques you =
could
wait longer and then just snap them apart, then clean up the edges. For =
hex's I
think I would go from a commercial tile, to the copy machine, to either the =
slab
and plaster technique or the glue gun and see which worked best.
Linda Blossom
2366 Slaterville Rd.
Ithaca, NY 14850
6075397912
www.artscape.com
blossom=40lightlink.com
Dave/Janice Schiman on thu 15 oct 98
Hi:
I was shown in a workshop how to get alot of tiles from one slab of
clay. Make your slab, mark out your tiles, 1" X 1" or whatever, then
with a wooden tool, make an indent along the lines about 3/4 the way
through the clay, then take a sharp knife and carefully score the
indent, don't go all the way through. You should have a slab of clay to
put into your kiln instead of many tiny pieces. Glaze carefully because
you don't want to fill in where you have scored. When the slab is done
being glazed, you can snap the tiny tiles apart.
I tried this method and it worked except that the tiles didn't snap
apart as easily as the workshop instructor's did. It sure beat placing
thousands of mini tiles in the kiln though.
Janice Schiman
Moose Jaw, Sask., Canada
d.schiman@sk.sympatico.ca
James Blossom on thu 15 oct 98
-----Original Message-----
From: steven hogarth
To: CLAYART@LSV.UKY.EDU
Date: Tuesday, October 13, 1998 6:33 AM
Subject: Mini Tiles
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Hi! This is my first posting to this list so I hope all turns out well.
>This list sounds like it could be very useful and provide many ideas to
>try!
>
> I would like to know if anyone has some suggestions on how I could
best
>produce some miniature sized ceramic tiles. I am trying to create a
>tesselated floor pattern for a display I am making and need little tiles
>square and hexagon shaped to create the floor.The largest tile would be
>approimately one inch square.
>
> I have already tried rolling out slabs of clay and cutting a
template of
>the shapes but find that they don't end up very square or uniform in size.
>Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! I have tried many pottery
>suppliers and schools here in Australia and no one seems to have any ideas.
>Thanks in advance.
>
>Andrea Hogarth
>Australia
>
Hi Andrea. Have you considered extruding 1" square or hex solid rods & then
slicing them into tiles? My Northstar (& other brands) extruder comes with
the neccesary dies. Alternatively you could roll out a sheet of clay and
use cookie cutters to slice the tiles. hope this helps, j.b.
Penny Hosler on thu 15 oct 98
Steven,
I had to make 2" tiles for the floor of a shower (couldn't find the right
color in commercial tiles), so I made bought a sheet of them, separated them
and used them to make a mold. I poured them, using stoneware slip. I get
25 at a time and they're perfectly uniform. The mold looks peculiar, with
25 holes, but it worked like a charm. Unlike a typical tile mold, where you
pour in vertically from the edge of the tile, with these I pour in (slowly,
so as not to trap air) directly to the back side of the tiles. When you
de-mold you just have to slice off the little pokey part where the slip
formed around the hole to make the back flat again. Dried between 2 pieces
of sheetrock.
Penny in WA
-----Original Message-----
From: steven hogarth
To: CLAYART@LSV.UKY.EDU
Date: Tuesday, October 13, 1998 6:33 AM
Subject: Mini Tiles
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Hi! This is my first posting to this list so I hope all turns out well.
>This list sounds like it could be very useful and provide many ideas to
>try!
>
> I would like to know if anyone has some suggestions on how I could
best
>produce some miniature sized ceramic tiles. I am trying to create a
>tesselated floor pattern for a display I am making and need little tiles
>square and hexagon shaped to create the floor.The largest tile would be
>approimately one inch square.
>
> I have already tried rolling out slabs of clay and cutting a
template of
>the shapes but find that they don't end up very square or uniform in size.
>Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! I have tried many pottery
>suppliers and schools here in Australia and no one seems to have any ideas.
>Thanks in advance.
>
>Andrea Hogarth
>Australia
>
Janet H Walker on thu 15 oct 98
...how to produce some miniature sized ceramic tiles...
Unless you're really really married to the notion of squares and
hexagons, why not take a page from Gaudi's book (the famous Spanish
mosaic / architect from the late 19th c.) and just break up a bunch
of bigger tiles glazed the way you want 'em. Instead of handling
bunches and bunches of fiddly edges and glazing, just do it with big
slab tiles and bang 'em up after they are fired. More interesting
results possibly than with very regularly shaped bits. Have a look
in the library for some books on his work. It is really extraordinary.
Saw a bunch of outdoor installations in the park in Barcelona several
years back. Wow.
But if you really want the regularity of the shapes you have in mind,
I suggest you consider press molding them, doing multiples at a time.
(Multiple little bits pressed into one piece of plaster.) Something
to reduce the enormous tedium of the process you're heading into.
Cheers,
Jan Walker
Cambridge MA USA
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