Stainless Steel Mold

[SusanHyatt]

Hi All,

I found an 18/10 (well 18 something), oneida bowl in a thrift store. It is oval shaped and not very deep. Can I use it for slumping, or draping? Does it need a hole or two drilled? I do know I need to use a glass separator and I believe someone once told I you could use stainless steel bowls that were made for kitchen use? Any thing I should know?

Thank you,

Susan

[bob proulx]

I use them all the time. Stainless is mostly used for draping but if the edges are not to steep you can use it for slumping. If you use it for slumping you will need the holes for the air to escape. I sandblast them to scuff them up and use four coats of kiln wash. the kiln wash lasts for many firings. I try to stop by the Salvation Army as often as I can, I find a lot of great molds there, don't forget to look out for ceramic pieces that would make good molds.
Bob

[David Jenkins]

@Bob:

I have, so far, been unable to satisfactorily kiln wash a large diameter stainless ball mold I've got. I've tried heating, air-brushing, etc., but haven't found the proper combination of approaches yet. I'm wondering: a) What size grit do you sandblast with, and b) Once having sandblasted, can you apply KW in the normal manner? I.e., no pre-heating, etc? Any other tips/info that you can pass on?

Thanks!

[Warren Weiss]

Dave,
One technique that has always been sucessful is after initial heating to get rid of machine oils, has been to coat the cold mold with dishwashing detergent (Dawn, etc.) Apply as small amount to a cloth and wipe over mold where you are going to coat with kiln wash. Let dry. Apply a coat of thicker kiln wash (table cream viscosity) with a haike brush. The detergent prevents beading of the wash (surface tension reducer.) Let dry and check that you don't have any skips. Good to go.

Warren

[bob proulx]

@Bob:

I have, so far, been unable to satisfactorily kiln wash a large diameter stainless ball mold I've got. I've tried heating, air-brushing, etc., but haven't found the proper combination of approaches yet. I'm wondering: a) What size grit do you sandblast with, and b) Once having sandblasted, can you apply KW in the normal manner? I.e., no pre-heating, etc? Any other tips/info that you can pass on?

Thanks!

Hi David, I use 180 silicone carbide. The trick is heating up the stainless. I use a regular plumbing torch, I heat the stainless apply a coat reheat till dry and repeat this process 4 times. I use a foam brush you can get at any hardware store. You can get many firings without having to apply more kiln wash. Give it a try and let me know how this works out for you.
Bob

[Bert Weiss]

I heat the stainless in my kiln to 1200ºF, cool to 500 and spray with kiln wash. If the steel is too hot, the wash will bounce off. When the steel is too cool, the wash will not evaporate and will drip. I don't have a blaster, so I don't blast. If I had one, I would.

[JestersBaubles]

Dave,
One technique that has always been sucessful is after initial heating to get rid of machine oils, has been to coat the cold mold with dishwashing detergent (Dawn, etc.) Apply as small amount to a cloth and wipe over mold where you are going to coat with kiln wash. Let dry. Apply a coat of thicker kiln wash (table cream viscosity) with a haike brush. The detergent prevents beading of the wash (surface tension reducer.) Let dry and check that you don't have any skips. Good to go.

Warren

I'll have to give this a try. Heating the molds and then spraying/brushing with kiln wash is VERY messy. Plus, it can be a real juggling act to get the piece out of the oven, out the door (outside), and sprayed before it cools (and without injury!).

Dana W.

[Mary Lou]

Dana,

Not sure if this would work for you. First I prep the SS usually by sanding, then on my workbench, I place a very large cardboard box on it's side to contain the spray, place the SS in the box, heat it with a heat gun, then using a mini paint spray gun and compressor, spray on the kiln wash, dry it with heat gun. I usually paint on 4 to 6 layers or so because with the air brush each layer is quite thin. You don't want to paint each layer to heavy.
I find I can do several pieces of SS in a short period of time. Using insulated gloves it's a lot easier handling the bowls or whatever by the bottom and you don't disturb the kiln wash like I did trying to lift it out of the kiln. I use the mini paint spray gun rather the my air brush because it doesn't clog up like the air brush did and lot easier to clean up. I bought the heat gun at Canadian Tire http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/6 ... ?locale=en

and the mini paint sprayer at Princess Auto. http://www.princessauto.com/pal/product ... -Spray-Gun Princess Auto is like Harbour Freight, Cndn Tire would be like Ace Hardware I think.

I use my SS mostly for slumping, the only one I use for draping is a cylinder for vases. As mentioned, be sure to drill at least one hole, depending on design. I have slumped successfully into a steep sided bowl.

[S.TImmerman]

I did a mess of stainless steel bowls about 9 months ago all at one time- a few I have not used and they have developed brown specks IN the kiln wash. Are they still Ok or should I wash and redo them? Thanks much!
Shereen

[rosanna gusler]

could be rust. could be mildew. stick one in the kiln and take to 1000f. if mildew it will go away. if rust it might bother reactive glasses. dunno. i have less rust problems when i use DISTILLED water to mix kw. rosanna

[SusanHyatt]

Love getting advice from all of you. Thank you so much.