How Do You Make Plaster Molds For Slip Casting?
Molds provided an easy way to manufacture many copies of an object. Molding ceramic in particular is a quick shortcut for thrifty artists. Historically, potters used molds with ceramics to create whole objects or decals that they could add on to a hand-cast piece. Creating a molded ceramic piece requires the use of slip, a liquid sludge of clay and water that hardens over time and shrinks away from the walls of the mold. You always want to make your mold larger than the end piece you want, as all pottery shrinks, though the actual shrinkage amount varies depending on the individual clay. Lay newspaper over a workspace and place your prototype in the center. Put on a dust mask and gloves. Although pottery plaster is non-toxic, you are better off safe than sorry. Dust your prototype with talc powder. Pour pottery plaster into a bucket, stop when it is half full. Pottery plaster is a white powder that you can find in large quantities at any craft store. It reacts chemically with water to
