Sticky cabochons: shelf paper vs kiln wash again

[Buttercup]

I do much the same thing with plaster of paris. I tend to use a broad spackling knife to flatten mine, but a rolling pin is a cool idea.

i use a wine bottle with the neck cut off. no handles on the ends to run into the kiln walls.

Charlie, doesn't the wine leak out? Jen

[Lauri Levanto]

For some works where I have considered the back side critical, I have"casted"
the kiln wash.

I take a sheet of float glass, clean it and apply car wax which I polish carefully.
Then I cast a layer of gypsum. It will get an almost glossy surface. There gypsum plates i use for carving a pattern I want ti "print" on glass.

For minor works like cabochons, I also use a float glass as amould. I paint it with thick kilnwash, with a rolling pin press a 2-3 mm fiber paper into the wet kilnwash. Then i let it dry and peel the fiber paper carefully off. It leaves a nice
surface although it odten sticks into piece. Soaking overnight in a dilute phosphoric acid like Cocacola softens the contamination and it is easy to wash off.

-lauri

[Morganica]

Fascinating, Lauri. Although I must admit that the first thing I thought was, "And we DRINK Cocacola?"

[Lauri Levanto]

"And we DRINK Cocacola?"

So do I, too.
And I even smoke tobacco.
There are plenty of dangerous stuff we consume, chili for example.
They kill slowly, but I am retired, no need to hurry.

Ps.
The decalcinating stuff used for kitchenware is much cheaper.

[jim simmons]

Also white vinegar works just fine
Jim

For some works where I have considered the back side critical, I have"casted"
the kiln wash.

I take a sheet of float glass, clean it and apply car wax which I polish carefully.
Then I cast a layer of gypsum. It will get an almost glossy surface. There gypsum plates i use for carving a pattern I want ti "print" on glass.

For minor works like cabochons, I also use a float glass as amould. I paint it with thick kilnwash, with a rolling pin press a 2-3 mm fiber paper into the wet kilnwash. Then i let it dry and peel the fiber paper carefully off. It leaves a nice
surface although it odten sticks into piece. Soaking overnight in a dilute phosphoric acid like Cocacola softens the contamination and it is easy to wash off.

-lauri