Porcelain Buttons - How Can We Make It ?
Intro: Porcelain Buttons - How Can We Make It ?
We wear buttons everyday without thinking how it's made. Porcelain is traditional and a little bit special. See how you can make it by your own ! :)
STEP 1: Follow the Steps One by One
All is resume here !
STEP 2: Porcelain Is Simple !
You just need porcelain slip / plaster mold / and of course a ceramic kiln !
- Porcelain can be stamped or casted. For more facilities, we use the stamped technique. The porcelain is pressed in the plaster mold by hand.
STEP 3: Porcelain Is Easy to Cast !
The porcelain clay have to be push in the mold.
- You can use a credit card to smooth the surface of the back of the button.
STEP 4: Fresh Porcelain Is Easy to Perforate
A button have to be perforate. You can make all the holes you want.
- If you work on a wet clay, you can usually make holes with a pin
- if you work on a dry clay, you can use a drill.
STEP 5: Porcelain Is Esay to Clean
The buttons after being out of the mold have to be cleaned.
- We use a wet sponge to clean the piece
STEP 6: Enamel for Porcelain : EASY … !!!!
Finally, you can enamel the buttons !
- Enamel for porcelain can be in different color but you have to choose an enamel for high firing (1300°C). Just the face of the button have to be glaze. So we use a brush for that.
- Take care about the back of the button, it don't have to be glaze. If you forget it, the button will stick to the firing support.
STEP 7: Final Product : the Porcelain Button !
The buttons are firing at 1300°C in a ceramic kiln.
- In this case, we make a single-firing. But traditionally, porcelain have to be fired in 2 times. (You can see that below).
Comments
seamster 8 years ago
Very cool! Thank you for sharing this process.