Talking about Copyrights

Especially those copyright laws concerning the crafted product, which includes ceramic designs.

This, according to the federal copyright laws.

Things like vases and dishes, cannot be copyrighted unless the object is also art, which can be viewed as art in its own right, aside from its utilitarian purposes. In other words, a vase cannot be copyrighted but if the design itself would be displayed, simply for its artwork (which is actually in pot itself, not painted on), the its the artwork that is being copyrighted.

Painted designs on things like a plate or vase, cannot be copyrighted, simply because the copyright law covers only those items which are 'fixed and tangible'.

Fixed and tangible means, in its final form and capable of being used or viewed by others, in its finished form. This means a sketch of the pot is not copyrightable. Only the final finished piece, is copyrighted. So if you're designing something, it cannot be copyrighted until you can actually hold the piece up and show it.

Many times, people are confused about what laws protect their painted designs. Actually, there is no such law. You have to find ways to protect yourself, ie secret paint mixtures or techniques. If someone catches on to what you're doing and copies your technique, there is actually no law to protect you.

Ideas are not copyrightable. So if you have a great idea, don't share it until its in a fixed and tangible form.

To protect yourself, when the piece is finalized: pack into a small box, your original sketches, photos and the first attempts along with the first finalized piece. Mail it to yourself and don't open it. If you ever have to go to court, the only person you want to open the box, will be the judge. Once there has been a judgement for the copyright ownership, that judgement replaces your box. Until then, it's the U.S. postal service, serving as your witness.

Any time you feel someone has infringed on your copyrights, make sure you've filed your copyright at least 30 days before any court date.

What is a Mold? What is a Master Block?

Have you ever used cookie cutters with special little designs imprinted? You press the cutter down onto the dough and it leaves an exact opposite of the design you see in the cutter itself.
That's actually a mold.

A mold is something you can use over and over to replicate a design, shape, form. Think of the mold as the negative that forms your positive.

A master block is actually the permanent positive for your mold. From the master block, you can make numerous molds and from the mold, you can replicate numerous positives in the finished form.

Place your hand down onto rolled out dough and make a print. Your hand is the positive-the print in the dough is your negative.

If you happen to want numerous copies of an original, you will need a mold. From the mold, you can make 'repeats'.

If you also happen to need to know that you can make numerous molds, all exactly the same as the original mold, you will then need to freeze that design for all time, by making a master block of the original mold. In this way, you can continue to make the same exact mold, over and over for years. Thereby, freezing your design for all time.

Replace-Restore? What Is It?

One of the first questions, one has to answer, when faced with the project of replacement or restoration, is 'What is it?'

Is it ceramic? Is it some sort of plaster or cement? Is it wood? Stone?

Identifying what a piece is made of, can sometimes be perplexing. If the piece is broken and you can see its interior, it helps in identifying.

Some soft clays can fool you into thinking it's plaster. Here are some tests, you can try out.

If the interior appears pure white, it might be plaster, it might be clay. If it's clay, it might be earthenware or it might be china or porcelain.

Test with the point of a Xacto blade, to see if it easily powders off. If it does, it's either plaster or very soft clay. If it's pure white, it's most likely plaster. If it has a slight pinkish hue, it could easily be mexican clay.

If it does not easily powder off, and is very hard, then it's either earthenware or porcelain. If it's shiney, even inside, then it's china. Porcelain will still have a dull appearance to broken edges.

So now, if its very hard but not shiney, then we're down to earthenware or porcelain. Tap the piece with the handle of your Xacto blade. Does it ring? Earthenware, depending on the size of the piece, might have a ring to it but it will not have the 'thin', high pitch as that of porcelain. Porcelain will have a high pitch and will last more than a quarter second, where as earthenware's ring is very short (time) and not as high pitch (tone). When testing for a ring, don't hold the piece. Set it on another hard surface, like a dinner plate or a metal turn table.

If still in doubt as to whether the piece is earthenware or porcelain, run the sharp point of your blade, along the broken edge. If absolutely no pieces, flake off, then it's porcelain.

Mexican clay will have a pinkish or slightly brown hue to it and will chip off easily. It has no ring.

Earthenware can sometimes fool you, as it can be colored. Usually white or red (terra cota). It has a slight ring to it when tapped, but short lived. Not very high pitched and has a 'thick' sound.

Porcelain also can be colored. Just about any color. It will not flake off, when you drag your blade across the broken edge. It has a high pitch sound and clear (not thick sounding) It appears very hard but not shiney.

China is unmatched by any clay. A broken edge is still shiney.

Stoneware (harder than earthenware clays), may have a slight shine to the broken edge but very visible coursely ground stone pieces. Very hard and does not flake off easily.

Plaster appears very white but when matched up with the white of china, it appears dull. It easily flakes off with a light drag of your blade. Much like chalk. Very chalky.

Another plaster, which is super hard, will still flake off but has a harder feel and appearance. Can be easily mistaken for mexican pottery.

Filled resins, can appear much the same as china but will have a hard plastic sound when tapped. These are clear resins mixed with things like plaster or other powdered chemicals. These are restored with yet more clear resin.

Any time you need a filler that is pure titanium white, you can actually purchase powdered titanium from a pottery supply.

Knowing what a piece is made of, helps you determined what materials you will need to repair or replace a piece.

All clays can be molded from a plaster mold. All resins and plasters, can be cast into a rubber mold.

If a piece is not broken but you can still see the interior, you can use the same way of testing. If the piece is not broken and you can't see the interior then you have to go by appearance and feel.

Again, the tapping to hear the ring, helps a lot. In addition, just the outward appearance can help. If it appears to be clay and has a bluish hue to the white background, it's china.

Porcelain can be just about any color. If it feels very hard, harder than clay, has a slight high pitch ring then it's probably porcelain.

If it has a ring but not very high pitch, it's probably poured clay (earthenware) Does it have a hole in the bottom? It's earthenware or stoneware.

Stoneware is rarely used for figurines (poured).

Resin, when tapped, has no ring and a definite plastic sound. Usually solid.

If I've overlooked anything, give me a holler here.

Free Gift

I've uploaded a free gift to my website. It's 2 gift cards, I think you will like. One is New Bride which consists of 6 pages when folded, the other is New Mother which consists of one card stock page folded.the New Mother contains all sorts of well wishes, the same with the Bride but with some recipes and hints and helps.
There are instructions for print out, on the same page as the links to the files. You just right click the file you want and 'save target as' to download.http://judysbookshop.com/giftcards.htm

Enjoy,
judy

Rubber molds

There are numerous places online, where you can get the rubber compounds for mold making. The first thing you need to take into account is whether or not the compound is self lubricating. Self lubricating, means no mold releasing agents are needed.

While that might seem like a good idea, I stay strictly away from the compounds that are self lubricating for one good reason. If you ever need to repair a mold, you can't with self lubricating, because the new batch won't bond with the old. Since I always want that avenue open to me, I make sure it is not self lubricating and does require mold release.

I'll be back to finish later.

Liquid Latex Molds

Since liquid latex is the easiest material to get your hands on, I thought I'd go into more detail on making a mold with it.

For this practise, we'll take on a simple, flat sided object. Something most likely to be hung on the wall or added into a shadow box.

The reason for choosing a flat backed object, is simply that it's so very simple to perform. Probably a good place to start, if you've never played with liquid latex or making molds of any kind.

If you have something like a wall plaque, it's a good practise piece. If not, try forming something with modeling clay, leaving the back of it flat.

You'll need a small working board. Something a little wider than your model and as smooth as possible. A piece of plastic window material, a tile, something like that. You will need a smooth paint brush as well as an acid brush (one of those small ones you find at the hardware store. The handle is metal) Get some acetone (hardware store or paint dept.) for cleaning your brushes. A pint or quart of liquid latex. You will need some plaster to form a mother mold. If your object is only about the size of a biscuit, a cup of plaster will do.

You can usually find liquid latex at the craft supply stores. Some, not all, ceramic supplies that carry a wide variety of supplies for both the poured ceramics and the pottery supplies, carry the liquid latex. If you can't find a supply nearby, try online.

A fresh supply of liquid latex should look off white and the consistancy of pudding. When not using it, close the lid tightly. It's best if kept in a tight glass jar.

There is little need to apply any sort of separator to the model. If the model happens to be rough wood or very dry plaster, you might want to give it a very thin coat of vaseline.

Lay your model in the center of your working board and apply the first coat of latex. Very thinly, at first. Then as the coats of latex build up, you might start applying a little thicker coat each time.

The trick is to let each coating dry enough to actually be set (not sticky to the touch) but not dry enough to be tough, before applying the next coat. Usually, a thin coating is ready for another layer, in about 30 minutes. Keep applying another coat, letting each layer dry, until it's built up to about 1/8" then let it dry overnight.

Before pulling the mold and model off the working board, you need a mother mold. The easiest way to mix plaster to its hardest form, in very small amounts, is to first pour your water (about 1/3 the volume you think you'll need. Begin slowly sifting in the plaster until it stands just above the surface of the water. You'll notice the plaster becomes saturated and then appears to crack on the surface. It's ready for mixing. You can simply mix (whip) with a spoon for about 3 minutes and then begin to spoon it onto the rubber mold. As it begins to set up, you can form it like icing on a cake, into a box like form, slightly wider both ways, than your mold. I'd say a width of about 1/2" wider all the way around, is sufficient. Before it's had time to become rigid, smooth the top of your mound to make it a flat surface, as this will be the bottom of your mold unit, when it comes time to pour materials into the mold for reproduction.

When the plaster is set up, twist the whole unit off the working board, turn it over and let it finish setting up until the plaster has completely cooled down.

With a sponge, wash back any plaster that has seeped around the edge of your rubber mold, preventing it from just dropping out. Grab the edges of your rubber mold with finger tips and gently pull the rubber mold out of the mother mold.

Once that is done, remove the rubber mold from your model. Now you can sponge down your mother mold and wash the rubber mold. Replace the rubber mold back into its mother mold for safe keeping.

When your ready to pour something like plaster into your mold, rinse your mold in soapy water and just shake off the excess. Then pour your plaster into the mold. The soap will rise quickly, bringing with it any bubbles formed in the plaster.

The soapy solution should be about the same as a pan of dish water. No more soap than that.

For simple objects, like wall plaques, you can use pottery plaster (plaster of paris), mixed very densely. For things like incense burners or trivets or highly detailed figurines, I suggest using hydrocal. Hydrocal is pure white, not as hard as hydrostone but certainly harder the pottery plaster and you can mix it very densely for a non-porous stone-like material.

Just a note of caution. Liquid latex is not suitable for pouring resins.

Defining Different Types of Molds

When people think 'mold making', it's very possible they wind up in all the wrong categories because they were thinking one thing and the search engines are coming up with yet a whole other item.

When it comes to making molds, there is a wide variety of types and uses. I thought I'd take some time to help clarify.

First, we look at the many types of materials one would use to make an object from a mold. Objects can be made from plasters (I say plural because of the many varieties of plaster and their uses), clay, resin and paper. Yup...paper. Well, there's also glass but we're pretty much sticking to things that can be formed without a furnace. There are also different metals, one can use.

For the most part, folks are trying this out at home so we will look at those forms that can be done on the kitchen table (if need be).

Molds to form items out of plasters, are made of rubber. Of course, you can make a plaster mold to turn out plasters but rubber is so much easier to live with.
Rubber molds are also made out of a variety of different rubbers and formulaes. Liquid latex is usually the easiest to find at a large craft supply store. Most of the other rubber compounds needs to come from the manufacturer,their reps or online.
When trying to decide which rubber to use, check for flexibility and release. Flexibility becomes important when you may or may not be using a mother mold. A mother mold is sort of a rigid backup, to hold your rubber mold in place. Like a cradle.
Release is important when you are making objects made of resins. Some rubber compounds come already formulated with a self release. It's sort of 'greasy' on the surface, all the time.
Especially with rubber compounds that aren't already self releasing, you will need something called 'mold release'. For rubber molds, this mold release is usually silicone but there are others and you need to make sure your rubber molds are compatible with the release.

Liquid latex molds are a 'build up' mold. It's created by layering coats of the rubber onto the object being copied. Enough layers, and you have a sturdy mold.

Molds made of plaster also depend on what type of object you care to reproduce, as to which type of plaster to use. Most times, it's just pottery or #1 pottery plaster (also known as plaster of paris).

For very large objects made from a plaster mold, I would suggest hydrostone instead. It's much denser and harder than #1 pottery plaster. You can make plaster objects using a plaster mold only if there are no undercuts to trap the object.

Another material I love using is called hydrogel. It's actually made from seaweed and harmless to the skin. Great for making forms of the human body. With hydrogel, one must immediately add on top of the soft new mold, a mother mold of plaster, in order to hold the hydrogel in form, as it is soft and pliable. Also, hydrogel molds can only be used once and pretty much immediately as the material dries up quickly. As it dries it shrinks and contorts.

This should give you a ballpark view of the different kinds of molds, materials and the uses.

I will go into more detail very soon now, it additional posts.

To view my other posts
http://creatingceramics.blogspot.com
http://pour-ceramics.blogspot.com
http://clayslip.blogspot.com