Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with clay

What malleable substance can be shaped like clay for craft projects but turns out lighter like styrofoam once hardened and dried?

kookoobirdz — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:39:10 -0800

Does this substance exist? Arts & crafts people or hardware store people: for a craft project, I want a material that is malleable like clay but winds up lighter-weight like styrofoam/polystyrene once it has set and hardened. Maybe it it's dispensed from a tube or can? I want to make some creative and whimsical frames for some irregularly sized/shaped art, which is too fun for regular frames. I'm looking for a material that is malleable like clay that I can form into fun shapes, which then dries and hardens and is lightweight like something approaching styrofoam, or at least a lot lighter than clay.

Have you ever seen somebody make a frame out of clay spirals? They roll the clay into long thin tubes or strips and then roll those up in to sweetroll spirals. Then they glue those spirals to a backing and/or to each other so that a border of those spirals squished tightly side by side goes all the way around whatever they're framing. Often they paint them and glue on other stuff.

I want to do that, but I don't want something as heavy as clay. I want something that is maybe sprayed out of a can or probably something thicker that is squeezed out of a tube like toothpaste or like caulk from a caulk gun. I want to aim and twist and prod and shape that stuff into various shapes and designs, the spirals are one example, maybe with some wavy tentacles to go along with them, and then leave it to set or dry. At the end of it I want something that is rigid and lightweight and holds its shape. Ideally the finished product would be lightweight like styrofoam and have a smooth surface that accepts paint nicely. A bit heavier than styrofoam is fine, particularly if it's stronger than styrofoam.

I understand that thanks to silly old physics, I may have to give up one or more of those qualities to get the others, but just shoot for the closest thing you can think of. It doesn't have to squirt out of a can or tube, that's just how I was thinking I might get a material that's lightweight.

I've found Versi-Foam, but it's more like spray insulation and requires a framework and special equipment and then sculpting and sanding. I'm looking more for something that can be dispensed in a more limited and controlled way that will stay in its toothpaste-like tube shape if I do nothing else to it. It's hard to imagine, but if it could be not so sticky like caulk, that would allow me to do other things with it than leave it in the tube shape. Basically I want something with the malleable properties of clay that winds up very lightweight.

Arts and crafts people in the house, or even hardware store materials people, what substance am I looking for?

Can a cherry tree survive in North Carolina clay?

reverend cuttle — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:31:41 -0800

New tree planted in clay with poor drainage. Can it / should it be saved? The tree is a young Yoshino Cherry Tree, trunk diameter of about 1.5 inches. I planted it a full sun area in the yard, and broke up the dirt to about twice the diameter of the root ball as directed. It's been in the ground for about 3 weeks.

Now every time it rains, more leaves turn yellow and drop off. At this point it's probably lost 15-20% of its foliage, but there's not much new growth either. I assume this is because of the soil's high clay content and poor drainage. Can I do anything to save the tree? Dig it up, aerate, and replant? Should I just wait and see if it makes it, possibly watching it die a slow death? What's the prognosis? I live in SE North Carolina, which is fairly damp.

American Indian Pottery and Glazing

snsranch — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:23:12 -0800

What did American Indians use to glaze and paint their pottery and clay sculptures? Recipes or good links to such would be awesome. I'm very familiar with modern techniques...kiln firing, cones, glazes etc.

What I want to accomplish here is the ability to recreate some really old stuff using natural and local materials.

From the little bit that I've learned is that most things were low-temp and wood fired. There was more painting than glazing and that wood ash ground into slip was one painting medium. I'd like to learn MUCH more.

Thanks in advance!

Looking for clay tile roof caps

octothorpe — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 06:51:38 -0800

Flat Roof Filter - We're trying to get our garage roof replaced and are having problems locating a supplier for the clay tile end caps that run around the edge of the roof. Here is a shot of the roof and here is a closeup of one of the edge caps that run around the parapet wall that surrounds the roof. We live in a designated historic neighborhood and by law need to keep the look of the house and garage the same (or go through a long hearing process with the historical review board). The two different roofers that we talked to both wanted to pull off those caps so that they could run the roofing membrane underneath it but can't guarantee that they won't break them pulling them off. Neither contractor knew where you could find these tiles and the one just wanted to put up metal flashing but I'm pretty sure that I'd never get away with that.

The tiles are 24" long and about 9" wide (three brick widths) and have a lip at the end so that they interlock. I've searched around the interwebs and so far have come up with nothing. If I can't find a supplier, how difficult and pricey would custom tiles be to get made?

Help with Clay Topsoil

maryh — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:26:32 -0800

The soil in my tiny yard is hard as concrete, but I want to grow a garden. Tips? I got me a pick axe, and a box o' gypsum. I'm set to start hammering my little chunk of soil. Can anyone recommend some soil improvers or techniques for making awful topsoil vegilicious? I'm working a plot about 8'x15' and I'm an utter novice.

Recommendations for buying a potter's wheel?

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 11:09:26 -0800

I would like to buy my girlfriend a potter's wheel for her birthday, but don't really know anything about where to look, what to look for, or the price I can expect to pay. Any suggestions or recommendations? (I'm asking anonymously because my girlfriend sometimes reads AskMe.)

Cursory internet searches have turned up $50 "kids'" models and $1200 professional models - is there anything in between, say for a couple hundred bucks? (ebay and my local craigslists haven't been of much help so far.)

What features in a potter's wheel should I look for? (Horsepower, size, shape, features, etc.) She is an amateur potter, but greatly enthusiastic, and I think she would use it a fair bit.

I would also love to know about any reputable pottery-supply purveyors.

If all efforts to buy one of these things fail, what would I need to know in order to assemble a potter's wheel myself? I can't imagine they're too mechanically complicated, but, then, my skillz with toolz and electrical devices are not exactly Norm Abrams-caliber. Maybe this is over my head, but if, by chance, there's a make-your-own-potter's-wheel kit, I'd love to know about that, too.

Many thanks!

Waterproofing craft porcelain?

nobody — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 11:51:03 -0800

I'm trying to waterproof tiny objects made out of air-drying craft porcelain, but I've had little success. Suggestions for a translucent waterproofing material, or, perhaps, an alternate sculpting material? Craft porcelain is perfect for what we're doing because it's translucent and doesn't need to be baked. The tiny objects (a touch wider than a pinky finger, but not quite as long) are being molded around a couple LEDs, so I don't think heating is an option.

They need to be waterproofed to such an extent that they can be submerged in liquid.

We've tried dipping them in polyurethane, spraying them with silicone, spraying them with clear acrylic, and dipping them in shellac.

It's possible that one of these methods would work but that our execution was imperfect. In each case the waterproofing would work for no more than a couple of hours, the porcelain eventually taking on water and growing bulbous and distended. It's possible that the craft porcelain is absorbing the waterproofing material over time. It's also possible that we're not waiting long enough between coats. (The polyurethane can says it's quick-dry, drying in a couple of hours, but maybe that's not to be trusted?).

Any ideas? Is one of those waterproofing materials worth trying again? Is there another translucent sculptable material that would waterproof better (and that doesn't require high heat to set)?

Our backup plan is to make molds and to pour the tiny objects out of silicone, but it would be much, much more convenient if we didn't have to go that route.

Dude, I broke my pot.

lysdexic — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 07:16:10 -0800

The top of my terra cotta baker is shattered. The bottom (glazed inside) ist still intact. Can I still use it? Do I need a different cover or any cover at all?

Will a Slab O'Clay Keep The Doctor Away?

maryh — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 00:47:39 -0800

Why would someone ingest powdered clay? Is this harmful, or are there some nutritional benefits? I was picking up some of this powdered bentonite clay (for it's use as a facial) at a local health food store. The sales clerk started giving me tips on mixing it with protein drinks, which sort of shocked me. I hadn't thought of drinking the stuff before, and the suggestion of ingesting the stuff reminded me of studies I'd read about pica, an eating disorder. She assured me that lots of customers used bentonite as a mineral supplement. There are apparently capsule forms of the stuff, but somehow the powdered form in a drink mix seems really questionable to me. Wouldn't this really mess with your digestion? Just using the powdered clay as a facial, it seems to be very, shall we say, absorbant. Does anyone have any experience with this sort of thing?

How should I learn to sculpt?

agropyron — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 14:23:04 -0800

I'd like to learn to sculpt. Where should I start? Books: I've gotten several books from the library and they've whetted my appetite, but none seemed like a good introduction to sculpture. Does anyone here have a recommendation for a sculpture book?

Spatial thinking: It seems clear that sculpture is all about thinking spatially and understanding lines and forms. I haven't been very good at this kind of thing in the past. Any recommendations for activities that will help me improve? If I'm a spacial dunce, should I just give up?

Materials: I bought some modelling clay. Seems like it'd be good practice for working with forms and shapes. Since I'd like to eventually carve wood and stone, I'll want to graduate to something where I carve away from a block of material to form a shape. Is wax good for that? Any other suggestions?

Classes: I've checked around and all the local sculpture classes seem to be advanced, and seem to focus on the techniques of working with various materials. Is there a different type of class I should be looking for that might be more of what I need?

(Googling this topic came up with some semi-helpful links, but most of them dealt specifically with modelling the human form and focused on learning anatomy and stuff. I'm not interested in starting with the human form; to keep it simple I'd like to deal with abstract shapes and maybe some animals for now.)

What to do with yellow clay

destro — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 14:36:53 -0800

What can I do with a large quantity of yellow clay? I have a number of piles of yellow clay from digging up the earth around my house for a flower garden that's not easy to dispose of. I could separate it out into lots of garbage bags or pay somebody to haul it off. Is there another way I could reuse this stuff? Does it have a particular usefulness?

Sand and clay animations - AEIOU!

Jimbob — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 16:41:46 -0800

A-E-I-O-U! Does anyone know this old sand animation show and song? What about the red-and-blue clay? Back in the 80s, on the Australian ABC between children's shows, they used to have little animated shorts.

One of them was a series of animations done in sand, with an accompianing song, sung with vowels. I'll do my best impression:

Aaah Aaah A.... E E E.... I I I.... Oh Oh Oh
A A A... E E E... I I I... A E I O U!
La lala lala! La lala lala!

The other animation involved two clay characters - one red, and one blue, who (if I remember correctly) were sort of enemies, and had little adventures turning into balls and walls and messing around with each other, some times banging into each other and becoming...purple!

I think both animations were European.

Does anyone know what these animations were called? Who made them? Bonus love if you can point me to information about them on the net, or a video. Youtube fails me.

Clay in Dublin?

dirtmonster — Fri, 02 Jun 2006 09:36:34 -0800

Clay in Dublin: In a pretty massive change of directions, Slothrop and I will be moving to Dublin this fall for 9 months. He'll be busy doing his Fulbrighty stuff, and I'll be busy doing, well, whatever I want. What I want is to have access to some kind of ceramic studio. We're both artists, but frankly, clay has a lot more accessories than painting. It's also dirtier, and needs lots of space. He can probably work wherever we live, but I'm going to need access to a ceramics studio.

I've done an internet search, and nothing seems to be popping up, other than 'paint your own' shops. From my other international travel experiences, I know that most communities have ceramic studios that are open to the public for a fee. . .

Does anyone know of communal spaces in Dublin, or schools that might be willing to work out a deal? I have an advanced degree, and plenty of teaching cred if that makes a difference. I'm not looking for anyone to fund me, I just want a place where I could rent/trade space to work and a kiln to fire in. If there are any filterites working in clay in Dublin, your expertise is greatly appreciated!

Where do I buy a wavy cheese cutter?

cdcello — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 09:08:02 -0800

Does anyone know where one could buy a "wavy" cheese cutter? My Aunt is a skilled artist that makes amazing pottery and is looking for such a tool to cut clay. She has tried to make one herself but to no end. We know they exist since we have seen works that would require the use of such a tool. Any suggestions??

CD Launcher?

DickStock — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 22:50:02 -0800

Does there exist a CD Launcher? I have a HUGE stack of old CD's and CD-ROM's. Has anyone invented a "toy" which will fire these things in a lethal or otherwise manner?

I live near the sea, and an added attraction would be to snorkle for CD's. Under the C.

Beautifying a Fish Tank

agregoli — Tue, 27 Jan 2004 11:51:48 -0800

I haven't been able to find much info on aquascaping a fish tank. I want to create my own landscape, and was hoping to find some sort of aquarium safe clay or similar material to sculpt my new environment from. Are there any fish enthusiasts out there who can help me out?