FreeShip- Paper Clay Slip, Low Fire White, Cone 06 to 2- (Prompt rebate on orders with 3 or more FreeShip items!)

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This is a paper clay slip in a low fire white, cone 06 to cone 2. If you have a kiln this is your chance to try slip casting without spending much money. We are selling relatively small amounts of 3 slips, this paper clay one and two others. All you need is the slip and a Pottery Plaster mold. For learning experience you might try making a hand built small flat plaque (a mask?) out of clay laid on a work table surface, a one sided flat on the back single piece mold. A flat object will use a lot less plaster than a bulbous pot shape. Build clay walls around it to hold the plaster in. Make it 2" or 3" thick. Just cast a flat slab of plaster the same size as your front mold half and use it for the back (no detail) and you've got a 2 piece mold. While the plaster is still soft, carve out a pouring spout and reservoir for pouring the slip into the mold on both halves. Dry out the mold halves by putting them in a 125 F oven for a couple of days, they need to be absolutely dry so they'll absorb the water from the liquid slip. You'll use big rubber bands or wire to hold the two mold halves together. If you don't want to make a mold, another route is buying a ready made small plaster mold from an online supplier, lower prices are about $25 to $30 shipped. Start with something small, around 3", it will save you money on materials for your first efforts. If you change your mind and decide to make a mold, here's a quick tutorial for making a mold of a small bowl (using more plaster): { https://www.instructables.com/Plaster-Mold-for-Slipcasting-a-Bowl/ }

In case you're a beginner and haven't yet run across what slip casting is all about, you've come to the right place. Slip is clay in a liquid form, made that way by the use of deflocculants, which make the lowest possible viscosities with the least added water. You pour the slip into a two piece absorbent dry plaster mold till it's full and wait a while. The porous plaster sucks up water from the slip. Let it absorb water for the correct amount of time (perhaps 15 to 30 minutes) and then dump out the excess slip. Put the mold upside down over a container to allow the clay left in the mold to dry out a little more (depending on thickness 30 minutes to several hours). If you've waited long enough the wall thickness of the clay will be enough to make a strong clay object that will hold its shape when the two piece plaster mold is taken apart. Clay (and especially clay slip) shrinks a little when it loses water, so your clay casting will be somewhat smaller in size and should release with relative ease from the mold if you've let the slip dry enough (until it's "leather hard"). Trim the pouring spout/reservoir off. Let the casting completely dry and bisque fire it.
That's a rough outline of how it goes. Read some online tutorials or watch some good videos, for the details.
Here's a simple tutorial without much detail (just to get warmed up):
https://www.thecrucible.org/slip-casting-in-five-steps/
Here's a more advanced tutorial in pdf form so you can download and have some hard copy instructions to refer to:
http://ceramics.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Slip-Casting-Lesson-111.pdf
Here's yet another more detailed article on slip casting: http://www.americanceramics.com/html/maycoceramicmoldshowtopour.html
Here's an overview of slip casting from Wikipedia (which doesn't tell you how to do it but gives you background information):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slip_casting

"Slip casting...is a ceramic forming technique for pottery and other ceramics, especially for shapes not easily made on a wheel. In this method, a liquid clay body slip (usually mixed in a blunger) is poured into plaster moulds and allowed to form a layer, the cast, on the inside walls of the mould. The process usually takes at least 24 hours per piece {24 hours! They must mean from liquid slip to fired ceramic}. It gives very precise and consistent shapes, and is now the most common technique used for commercial mass-produced pottery, although it began as a technique for fine pottery, especially porcelain.
In a solid cast mould, ceramic objects such as handles and plates are surrounded by plaster on all sides with a reservoir for slip, and are removed when the solid piece is held within. For a hollow cast mould, for objects such as vases and cups, once the plaster has absorbed most of the liquid from the outside layer of clay the remaining slip is poured off for later use. After a period for further absorption of water, the cast piece is removed from the mould once it is leather-hard, that is, firm enough to handle without losing its shape. It is then "fettled" (trimmed neatly) and allowed to dry out further, usually overnight or for several hours. This produces a greenware piece which is then ready to be decorated, glazed and fired in a kiln.
The technique is suited to the production of complex shapes, especially if with relief decoration and thin walls. Much modern fine factory porcelain is made by the technique, very often the entire production. It is also commonly used for sanitaryware, such as toilets and basins, and smaller pieces like figurines and teapots. The technique can also be used for small-scale production runs or to produce limited edition, one off objects, especially reproductions of antique dolls and modern porcelain doll-making.
An additive with deflocculant properties, such as sodium silicate, can be added to the slip to disperse the raw material particles. This allows a higher solid content to be used, or allows a fluid slip to be produced with a minimum of water so that drying shrinkage is minimised, which is important during slip casting.
Slip cast ware should not be confused with slipware, which is pottery formed by any technique that is decorated using slip. The French for slip is barbotine (coulée en barbotine means slip casting), and "barbotine pottery" is sometimes used for 19th century French and American pottery with added slip cast decoration, as well as (confusingly) being the English term for a variety of slipware that is decorated with thick blobs of slip."

Mixing the pulp into a clay can be difficult (unless you happen to have a pug mill!). An easy way is to mix the pulp with a clay in slip form with a high shear power mixer, with perhaps a little additional water if mixing is too difficult. It's an easy way to get the pulp broken down and thoroughly distributed. Dumping it onto a plaster slab and flipping it over several times will give you a clay body ready to be wedged/kneaded.
Paper clay is popular and has been around long enough for there to be lots of info online with articles showing mixing methods, proportioning, etc. Read about working with it in more detail in one of those many tutorials and videos available on the web.

Here's a couple of sources that I respect, one is Wikipedia (usually accurate but not always) and Digital Fire (a ceramics database).
The Wiki article is general and a good starting place { https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_clay } :
"...The more fiber added to the clay body, the stronger the unfired dry paper clay, but the weaker the fired body. The less fiber added to the clay body, the weaker the unfired dry paper clay, but the stronger the fired body.... Re-wetting paper clay is faster with paper clay than pure clay, as the paper fibres pull water more quickly into the clay body. The damp sections can be then joined. Accelerated drying of paper clay work is possible, and results in less warping and cracking, compared with drying conventional clay. The more fiber in the paper clay, the more rapid the drying with less warping and cracking...The firing process for paper clay is similar to firing of conventional clay. The clay still needs to be completely dry before firing so the change of water into steam does not cause the clay to explode. Maximum firing temperatures, firing schedules and types of glaze to use for paper clay, are the same as that used for the specific clay used in the paper clay...Nonconventional clay techniques are now possible after adding processed cellulose fiber to any clay: First, joining dry-to-dry paper clay and dry-to-soft paper clay are the most radical new techniques. Secondly, metal supports and ceramic material may be used within paper clay, with less cracking than conventional clay"

From Digital Fire and its links there is a gold mine of valuable information. Their article and links are recommended { https://digitalfire.com/4sight/education/overview_of_paper_clay_108.html } :
"Find out more about the many varieties of paper clay earthenwares, terracottas, raku stonewares and porcelains for firing in kilns at { www.paperclayart.com }. See what the expanded sculptural possibilities of this clay for firing in kilns can be. These types of clays can be used for vessels, pots, tiles, sculptures, figures, casting and/or pressmolds, wall works, murals and are normally compatible with all kinds of glazes, terra sigillatas and in all types of firing.........
Paper Clay, The Good:
"Combining clay and cellulose fiber from paper produces a versatile clay body that can be molded, modelled, slabbed and coiled in ways that seem to break all the rules of working with clay, and by people possessing little skill. The unique properties of paper clay are thought to be due in part to the fact that the fibres are hollow and the tiny clay particles are able to fill them from the inside. Paper clay is claimed to be impossible to crack, difficult to warp during drying and capable of being rewetted from bone dry by immersion in water. It is also claimed that it can be joined at any stage, dry to wet, wet to leatherhard using the paper clay slip as a glue and is said to develop very high green strength that makes it possible to create much lighter ware. However, we found it difficult to use on the wheel and almost impossible to trim or carve (others claim they are able to do so)."
Paper Clay, The Detailed:
"One user adds a paper pulp slurry to a clay slurry in a proportion of 30 volumetric parts paper slurry to 70 parts clay slurry (a long ruler is held in the slip to get the right level). Another person uses 3-5 gallons of wet paper pulp to 100 lbs of dry body mix. A sample of good material we tested showed only 10% loss of weight on firing. Taking into account LOI it would appear that about 2-4% of the mix is paper by dry weight. When a dry slab is broken, there should be a fine even network of paper fibers. Thus the amount of cellulose possible is far higher than with other fiber or particulate fillers."
Paper Clay, The Ugly:
"Paper clay [before being fired] will quickly begin to smell when kept wet in storage. Anti-bacterial agents can be added (small amounts of chlorine are one example), or it should be stored in a refrigerator while wet. When dried, if you don't fire it, it should be painted with a sealer. Since the organic fiber must burn away during firing, slow firing and adequate draft are needed from the 300-500C range since significant smoke is generated. After firing the surface has the same appearance as normal clay."

Some other sources on the stinky odor which will happen after it's stored:
One source says a dab of vanilla extract around the rim of the container acts as a masking agent. Another says "try some electrolyzed silver water ("colloidal silver").
From an article in a site listed below, a solution to the smell issue:
"There are several advantages to drying and storing slabs of paper clay, including saving space; avoiding the rotten, moldy smell of wet paper clay as it ages; and the fact that when reconstituted, it’s easy to roll, drape, cut, or form in a multitude of ways. The biggest advantage to making dried paper clay slabs is the time savings. It’s easy to make, and when you need to reconstitute the paper clay, just break up the slabs into smaller pieces, add water to the desired consistency, and you’re quickly resupplied."
Here are a couple of other anti-stink articles found by googling (there's a lot available):
http://www.ccpottery.com/paper.html
https://ceramicartsnetwork.org/daily/ceramic-supplies/pottery-clay/making-paper-clay-storage-easier-and-less-stinky/

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Jan 1, 2023

Amy Voza Quist