slip casting
forming
Quick Summary
Stages in the slip casting of a thin-walled whiteware container. Clay powder is mixed in water together with a dispersing agent, which keeps the clay particles suspended evenly throughout the clay-water slurry, or slip. The slip is poured into a plaster mold, where water is drawn out by capillary action and a cast is formed by the deposition of clay particles on the inner surfaces of the mold. The remaining slip is drained, and the cast is allowed to dry partially before the drain hole is plugged and the mold separated. The unfinished ware is given a final drying in an oven before it is fired into a finished product.
Slip casting is a ceramic forming technique where liquid clay, known as slip, is poured into plaster molds. The plaster absorbs water from the slip, causing a layer of clay to stiffen and form on the mold's surface. Once this layer is thick enough to create a cast, any excess slip is poured out. The resulting hollow clay form is then removed from the mold, dried, and fired. This method is particularly useful for the repetition casting of small pottery sculptures.12
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