Extruder, Mold and Tile: Forming Techniques (Ceramic Arts Handbook)
InExtruder, Mold and Tile: Forming Techniquesthere are many non-obvious ways to use techniques to create architectural, sculptural, or functional work. Any potter or ceramic artist should always be looking for ways to think outside the box, and this book is full of ideas for doing just that, with plenty of successful finished pieces showing just how creative you can be with clay. --Sumi von DassowThanks to Extruder, Mold & Tile, I've found a use for that roll of tarpaper that's been sitting in my shed for the past few years - I'm now using pieces of tarpaper to support the sides of clay boxes so that I can join all the pieces together without waiting for them to stiffen up, thus avoiding cracking at the joints. You can also use a piece of tarpaper, stapled or taped together, to try out an abstract shape and then use that same piece of tarpaper as the mould for that shape. These are just two of the techniques described in this useful book, along with using drywall to keep clay tiles from warping; how to make extruder dies out of a plastic cutting board, plywood, sheet metal or plexiglass; step-by-step instructions for making plaster; and examples of plaster and clay moulds. A few of the projects, such as cutting complicated extruder dies, making a metal mitre cutter using a sheet of brass, a jeweler's saw and a vise, or building an extruder table, will be intimidating unless you have access to a shop full of tools but everything else is doable within even a small pottery studio. If you're a beginning handbuilder, Extruder, Mold & Tile will be a great reference book, and if you're a more experienced potter you'll probably find something inside that you haven't thought of before. --Patty Osborne, Potters Guild of BC Newsletter