Saturday, June 30, 2012

why do i like to torture myself...

with cake stands?

I have made so many of these throughout the years and can say that only a handful haven't warped. This spring I made a small one in this style and it fired quite nicely. We shall see how larger ones hold up. These should accommodate an 8" cake when finished. Of course I had to add all this carving to these so that if they warp it will be all the more painful. I am thinking about bisque firing these upside down. Maybe that will reduce warping... thoughts anyone?

Then there's the glazing, because of course I want them to be the shino and green combination.


at
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

12 comments:

  1. UnknownJune 30, 2012 at 2:42 PM

    I can offer you no advice as I have never attempted the infamous cake stand, but I DO want to tell you that they are beautiful! Remember Tracey's advice- Do NOT Fall in Love With Them ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Linda StarrJune 30, 2012 at 5:11 PM

    that's not torture, that's challenging yourself and I have my fingers and toes crossed for you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. cookingwithgasJune 30, 2012 at 10:00 PM

    what could possibly go wrong?

    ReplyDelete
  4. DirtKicker PotteryJune 30, 2012 at 10:09 PM

    I recently made a couple full size cake stands. Mine did warp slightly, but not until the glaze firing. In my etsy listing I referred to the slight warp as added personality :) BTW, Your cake stands are gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Gary's third pottery blogJuly 1, 2012 at 5:36 AM

    I totally understand..I have been tormenting myself with certain items lately that are really delicate, and its like !!!!????argh!

    ReplyDelete
  6. smartcatJuly 1, 2012 at 9:24 AM

    My instinct would be to bisque upside down and glaze right side up....but sometimes instincts are RONG! These are so beautiful I want to see the finished product! And as Meredith said, "what could possibly go wrong?"

    ReplyDelete
  7. UnknownJuly 1, 2012 at 4:57 PM

    I have had some success lately by doing a few things. Not sure which step is the winner. 1. Make sure to throw then bevel nicely under so no trimming is required, After throwing I cut under with wire. 2. After it dries to soft leather hard, I add the pedestal while still attached to the bat. 3. When it is dry enough to easily pick up, without bending the top, I remove it. 4. I then use my finger to smooth the top and edge near ruffle. 5 dry upside down. 6. bisque fire upside down 7 glaze fire right side up.

    Perhaps one of these steps will help.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Lori BuffJuly 2, 2012 at 1:55 PM

    These are gorgeous, I too hope they don't warp.
    My thoughts are similar to Judy's with a few exceptions. I'd think of them like a tile, tiles warp when they dry unevenly so try to help them dry evenly, using a wire rack can help. High heat can cause warping also, can you low fire them?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Mr. YoungJuly 9, 2012 at 1:30 AM

    I bisqued mine upside down and it stayed nice and flat. I've thought of glazing all but the face in high fire, then doing the cake surface in a low fire glaze. Thought that maybe the high fire glaze would strengthen it some...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mr. YoungJuly 9, 2012 at 1:37 AM

      But do I really want to fire it twice??? Decisions, decisions...

      Delete
  10. gzJuly 9, 2012 at 4:48 PM

    possibly the main answer is Dry.....Real....Slow!! upsidedown sounds good if the main warpage is in the top...

    minimal handling so that you're not putting stresses in..dry downside up with a batt or light shelf on the top?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Michèle HastingsJuly 9, 2012 at 6:25 PM

    Mine have typically warped in the glaze firing and occasional slight slumping in the bisque. I bisque fired one over the weekend (upside down) and so far so good!

    ReplyDelete

I welcome and appreciate comments. Lately I have had a lot of spam and therefore have had to turn on word verification as well as comment moderation for posts older than 14 days.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)