38. Ceramic extrusion

07/03/2024

After paper testing, I did the small samples for my idea and tested the making techniques. As for the string table, if I want to make the real scale one I need to consider how to support the upper frame because it tends to droop. As for net, when I extruding the clay, I need to care if it gets the cracks because the cracks will lead to the breaking of net. When I making the ceramic net, I learnt that I should make a support or mould if i want it to be a specific form.

For this project, finally I want to make a ceramic furniture. Firstly, I want to try with the hollow cylinders. Before I make a furniture, I also need to make another object to test the making techniques. That is why I made a vase. I failed once because when I tried to cut the bottom to be more like a plane, it cracked from the bottom and gradually all deformed. So, when doing this step, it really needs to be slowly and the knife should be wet so that it will be smooth enough to cut. To further polish the bottom, I can rub it on the table with water. To polish the inner wall, I created a “stick sponge”, which is really convenient. If I cannot do it in a day, I can wrap it with cling film to lock the moisture and do it after days. Finally, the vase is firm enough so that I can do the next step to make a ceramic stool. For the vase, I generated an idea to glaze it like bamboo and mimic the atmosphere of bamboo forest.

22/04/2024

During my glazing process, I failed once. Because there was too little glaze in the bucket when applying the transparent glaze, I soaked it for too long and the transparent glaze was too thick. So I had to wash it off and re-glaze it. But on the day of the second glazing, I washed it again, and James told me that it was best to dry it for 24 hours, so that it would be easier to glaze. I waited a few hours until the afternoon and applied the glaze, and the effect was still good. Later, I learned that when applying glaze, the ceramic must be completely dry, and when applying transparent glaze, it must be soaked quickly at once to ensure uniformity. I really like the vertical texture at the end that looks like bamboo. Although there are many imperfections, I really like the creativity and finish of this piece. After the bottom plate is finished, I will take a photo of the finished product after inserting the flowers.

22/04/2024

When making the plate for the base of the vase, I found it very difficult to work with and keep the top and bottom of the plate flat. There were wrinkles on the bottom when I made it this time, I think it's because I cut it with wire, I should be patient next time. Also, today I tried casting. It is very difficult to keep the object cetered when casting. The opponent's strength and direction control requirements are very high. If I want to master this skill, I have to give up my time for woodcutting. I think maybe I can go back to China to study during the summer or work as an apprentice in some ceramics studio.

22/04/2024

When making larger objects, I clearly feel that the traditional method of connecting small objects, which is to use liquid clay to bond cylinders, is not very suitable for connecting long cylinders. When making this tool, I used two long wooden sticks to apply force to the inside of the cylinder to bond it. It is also very difficult to keep the cylinder upright while extruding. James' hand making stand is not as good as handheld directly. The freshly extruded cylinder is very soft and must be laid flat, but laying it flat will cause the cylinder to flatten. I needed to wait until the next day to glue it. After gluing, it is best to wait for another day to let it dry before sanding. This will also make it easier to move the whole thing on the table. It took me a lot of time to get the surface smooth. The stool has been in the cabinet for a holiday. I wrapped it well with plastic wrap, so the clay wrapped in plastic wrap can really last for a long time in the cabinet. The final result is that this tool is pretty solid. Since the traditional connection method is too troublesome and requires high skills, I plan to use the method of drilling holes and then connecting with rattan. And as Oscar proposed, ceramics have high tolerance to pressure but low tolerance to tension, while rattan has a high tolerance to tension, so using rattan for connection may be a good choice. And I recently read in the book Cradle to Cradle that the classification of biological materials and industrial materials, rattan and ceramics both belong to biological materials. Materials with the same properties are easier to recycle.

And I made rattan textile samples in two ways. I think the second one is more in line with the square structure of the stool.

23/04/2024

Because the vase I made last time reminded me of bamboo, I was curious about how the bamboo is connected. I consulted the knowledge in the book and skeched some ideas to make furniture using the way bamboo joins ceramics and avoiding lateral extrusion forces.

26/04/2024

Since joining the ceramic posts in traditional ways was too difficult and not very strong, I looked for other options. I drilled holes into these ceramic posts and connected them with rattan. During the production process I came up with the idea of making a chandelier, combining rattan and ceramics. But the downside is that ceramics are very heavy and can be dangerous.

The video shows me testing the strength of this connection. It can be seen that the rattan is very elastic, but after repeated pressing, the rattan broke because the ceramic cut the rattan during the process. Therefore, it is not reasonable to use this method to make furniture.
When connecting, I found that it is important to keep the cane wet, otherwise the dry cane will break very easily when bent. Moreover, the holes between the ceramic pillars must be aligned, otherwise the rattan will bend at a large angle at the connection and easily break. I didn't know what to do with the end of the cane, so I roughed it with wire. I've learned from other examples of rattan furniture that some are treated with twine or other softer varieties to prevent the rattan from falling apart.

03/05/2024

I took advantage of another connection method and replaced the rattan in the middle with ceramic pillars. This method is relatively strong and flexible. The disadvantage is that the spacing is relatively large and the end processing is more difficult because the pillars are thicker.

Then I figured out the new plan of stool. But the main problem is I do not know if the connection would be stiff enough and maybe the gap would be too big to pinch people when sitting there.

07/05/2024

I wanted to continue the style of my previous experiments to making a vase, incorporating the theme of consumerism and attaching many product labels. So I extruded thin strips for stacking. During the process, the vase collapsed due to the heavy weight of the upper part, so I found that this structure is very important. The base cannot be too small and the curvature cannot be too large. Clay that is too wet is more likely to collapse, but clay that is too dry is prone to cracking after bending.

I would try if I can use the method of textile to connecting the ceramic parts to be the joint of ceramic furniture. Or I wanted to make the furniture like the picture shown below.

Meanwhile, I was exploring the finishing of the cylinders. This is the first method I figured. The small holes can combine to be specific picture. If I drill it like a matrix, maybe after firing it, I can stitch it to make it more diverse.

I also tried to carve some figures. Because I cannot draw very well, I learnt the industry design sketching so I applied it on the cylinder. It inspirated me that maybe I can glaze it to be a finishing way. But it seems to be easier if I print the water transfer printing sticker of the sketching instead of really sketching on it.

There is two different way to drill the hole in ceramic. The first one is using the needle and is like the bullet going through the cylinder. The second one is using the tool as picture shown and using it like a screw, which is very clean and if I want to make it more clean, I can dip the water on my finger and slightly rub it.

10/05/2024

I replaced the rattan with the strings from plastic bag.
I found that there is reinforced design around hand area with extra stronger plastic sheet.
The visual effect is like the seaweed or the wrinkled clothes. The connection part between cylinders is beautiful. The drawback of plastic bag string is too soft and make cylinders easier to move, but it may be the strength if I design it well. If I want it to be stiff, next time I can try the plastic bottle strings.

For the second time I do this vase, I enlarge the base and reduce the curve, but unfortunatly one side still collapse. The collapsed side did not affect the use of vase, so I planned to bisque fire it. For the inside of the lower part, I applied some slip on to reinforce and contain water for further use.

14/05/2024

I tried the connections as shown and added braided mats. There are many disadvantages to this method. The first is that the rattan is easy to bend and break during the threading process; the second is that the position of the hole greatly affects the inclination of the ceramic pillars, making it very difficult to place each pillar vertically. Difficulty; the third is that the mat does not completely fit the edge of the ceramic column group, making the visual effect disharmonious.

Next is the connection method mentioned last time, but the effect of this method of linking is not ideal. The connecting piece must have a certain length, and the gap with the main body must be relatively large. During the connection process, one flap of the main body was broken. But I think this can be improved. First of all, the shape of my triangular connecting piece is unreasonable, and it is easy to pull away from it after being pulled at a certain angle. Secondly, for the main body, the gap is triangular, causing the bottom gap to be too small.The following sketching is what I plan to improve.

17/05/2024

This is the previous chair. It has no problem bearing the weight and is very strong.

I used another type of rattan to use the previous connection method, and then reduced the gap, making the overall flexibility more flexible, but this is not a bad thing, because it opens up more possibilities with this piece. This reminds me of the jacob ladder toy.

I plan to add cushions to each unit of the upward part, so that together they become one big cushion. Then because of its flexible characteristics, it can also be stacked and transported, saving transportation costs.

21/05/2024

This is the vase after glazing. When I glaze it, I wiped it and only remain the glaze in gap. The final texture is amazing and the glaze naturally fills the breaches.

When I did my final work, I utilize the previous techniques to sand the cylinders, but I found it difficult to align all of them because the cylinders are not connected together and from the side view it is hard to observe if they are all parallel. So I asked James and changed another method.

It seems better. But when I trimed it today, I found that there are still some of them are not parallel. It is so difficult to make it perfect, so I have to use the cushion upside to hide it.

When I trimed it, there are some cylinders not sealed properly becoming a little too dry for triming so they took more time. But for the proper ones, it is easy and time-saving. I spent 2 hours to get them all done.

24/05/2024

For the previous sketchings, I wanted to make a cushion for it but I did not know how. After tutorial with Oscar, I got the structure of the cusion. The technician told me it would be much fast to make the wood disks in lathing rather than CNC.

I draw the process of lathing to record how. The stiffer wood will be more difficult to operate because shaking to hand would be more fierce and it is easier to be broken or cracked if I push too much force.

For the testing sample, I leave 3 cm for the below part and 1 cm for the upper part. After testing, the 3 cm is not enough, it should be 5cm. And the staple should be the bottom of the upper part instead of side of the below part because the staple fits not so well on the curve surface and will incress the thickness of cylinder. Otherwise I add one more smaller diameter layer between and staple this like designed initially. The excess part of cloth is very ugly and rough. I used glue to stiffen it and trimed it, but it is still not good. Thus, adding one more layer between may be a better solution.

And I plan to add a rubber ban on the mid layer to increase the friction. Oscar asked me why the eco always brown, I think probably because this kind of thing is natural and contains no chemical things. Personally, I prefer add bright color to make the work more vivid. Maybe I can research some ways of eco dye. I also considered about replacing the filling from PU foam to something natural like hay or something. Oscar recommend the coconut fibre mixed latex which was usually applied in car seat cushion.After researching this material is actually better than only coconut fibre or latex as the aspect of tensile, compression, moisture absorption, heat. (Yuhazri, Y. & Abd Razak, Jeefferie & Mujahid, AZ & Gurunathan, Balamurugan & Mohamad Nor, Norazman & Shohaimi, Abdullah. (2011). Optimisation of coconut fibers toward heat insulator applications. Global Engineers & Technologists Review. 1. 35-40.)

28/05/2024

I changed a more flexible cloth called cotton stockinette. The former one is too solid and after fixing it on the wood, the cushion would be really small. After the new testing of it, I found a more proper pattern for cloth, but actually it still has some wrinkles that hard to hide. And jointing with glue is better than staple. It will be easier to manipulate and less extra space.Using the lathing is a efficient way to mass produce the wood base.

29/05/2024

Before I worked on real scaled ceramic cylinders, I tested how can I wave it on the small sample. It would be easier for waving to fix the both ends, which I learnt from bilibili.

Then, I compared two different ways of rattan ending. The left one often tends to be unbonded. The right one is easy to operate.

Then I do the real scaled one. During this process, I found a big problem that the rattan is too narrow to be adjusted and always tends to be bevel, which is not aesthetic and causes the unstable movement of cylinders. To slove this problem, I planned to use wider bands like wheat staw waving band, which would also save time to make.

31/05/2024

I created a pattern which would contain sewing step. This method prevent the wrinkle problem mentioned in last journal. And it becomes easier to glue it on the wood.

I used knif and scissors to cut the foam. Actually, the effect is not good. I should use the hot wire cut, but there is no such machine in school.

For fixing the cloth well on the wood, I wrapped with marking tape. It fits well with the cylinder and next step is to replace the marking tape with rubber band.

09/07/2024

I used another rattern waving as the handle to increase the diversity and user experience. This work is visually rough.

When I was replacing the rattan, I found that the bent shape of the removed rattan was very beautiful. I thought, maybe I can use it to make a lamp in the future. This is also in line with the theme of sustainable development. This reminds me of the concept of cradle to cradle, which regards products as services. We provide a service instead of the product itself. What the customer buys is the right to use the product. The material of the product itself can belong to the company, so the company can recycle the damaged parts. It is a good thing for both parties. The company saves recycling costs, and the customer has product protection.

I tried different ways of displaying and came up with different ideas for furniture based on different ways of displaying. But I didn't know much about the arrangement of circuits, so I needed to look up some information and experiment.

11/07/2024

I am more satisfied with the product after changing the material. This material made of straw is more waterproof and durable, and it greatly shortens the production time. It only took me nearly 2 hours to complete the weaving connection, and it is more stable.
In order to give the product more visual possibilities, I tried to use the dyeing method. I asked for excess fabric from a company, which may increase the environmental protection attribute.

The final unit seat cushion looks roughly like this. The rubber part needs to be improved, and because it is not a customized size, it is not beautiful enough.

Info Instagram

The Emotional Utilitarian

Design Museum

Christo early works Exhibition

Numeric Skate Demo

The British Museum

Pitt rivers Museum

BOX by Max Lamb

Sheila Hicks: infinite potential

38. Ceramic extrusion

07/03/2024

Index Next︎