Oak Tree Tile Trim Complete

The oak tree tile trim pieces finally were ready last Monday and came out surpisingly okay, so this past week has been spent installing them. I just got done grouting them last night, so a little bit of clean up is needed. Other than that, I'd say another chunk of the dining room remodel is complete.

It wasn't a cut and dry install as the surface I was working on wasn't exactly level. In the picture below, it shows how the cap would have looked if I just used 1/4" spacers under each piece. This was fairly hideous, obviously, so I ended up using all different thickness of spacers to get it all level.

Crawling

Crawling. That is what happens when too much glaze is applied on my trim tile pieces and the glaze pulls itself off of the clay piece, I am told. And it's particularly bad with the exact glaze I am using - Downright White. It happened to about half of the pieces that I had glaze fired last week.

My next step is to retouch the pieces that this happened to, take them to get refired and hope for the best. Otherwise, I may be starting all over. This trim tile part of the dining room project has really been a hassle and progress for this is, should I say......"crawling". Here are the pieces that did make it out successfully and I'm pleased with.

In Between Fires

After receiving the call from Georgie's, the everything ceramic store, that my trim tiles were done being bisque fired, I picked them up as soon as I could. I spent most of the afternoon Saturday cutting the challenging miters, as well as recutting the simple straight pieces as the shrink rate was less than expected.
On Sunday, I sanded and cleaned the trim pieces, then I applied the glaze - LOTS of glaze (about 4 coats). Today (Monday), I'll bring them back to Georgies to get glaze fired.

So Far, So Good

This past week I have been redoing the trim for the oak tree tile mural after the initial attempt ended up in catastrophic warpage. The things I did different were: using fresh clay rather than recycled and letting the clay dry in the jig a bit before attempting to move it. I also pre-cut the trim to 8" while it was still a bit damp rather than fire it, then cut. So far, the side trim that was redone is looking like a winner.

The darker gray trim on the right was formed just last night and is darker because it still contains moisture. The lighter gray on the left was more several days ago and is pretty well thoroughly dry.

For the cap of the trim, I decided to reuse the already formed clay since that didn't warp as bad. I'll make a decision whether it will be useful after I do the bisque fire.

Warped

After coming back from a week and a half vacation in Ireland, I discovered that the oak tree tile trim was completely dry and ready to be bisqued fired. Unfortunately, it had warped pretty badly.

This picture just shows a small portion of the several feet of trim I tooled out but after checking it all out tonight, I realized that most, if not all of the clay work I've done is unusable.

There are few reasons for this warping. The biggest cause is that when I was done forming, to move the clay out of the jig, I had to lift on each end of the 20" section. Since it was still wet, it obviously bends. Though it's laid out flat to dry, apparently the clay has good "memory" and tries to go back to that shape it took when it was removed from the jig.

I also think a small part of it has to do with using recycled clay. From the many dry scraps of clay in making the oak tree mural, I added some to a tub along with water and a lot of mixing. The problem was that I don't think the moisture was evenly distributed, leaving drier clumps in the wet clay. This may be why the trim appears bumpy.

Regardless, I have to start all over. I have a new plan in place and tomorrow it's off to buy fresh clay.

It's Like Watching Clay Dry

I have just finished the final making of the trim and here it is, set to dry. Not the most exciting post, I realize, but that is why I choose the title I did. I have a feeling there's going to be some rework. I can even see some mistakes just in this picture, but I'm done with this stage of the dining room remodel for now.

Oak Tree Tile Trim, Part Four

This part deals with making the side trim of the oak tree tile mural. Here it is in final form, drying:

The first stage, in rough form, after pressing the clay into the jig or guide for the forming tool:
After the first pass:
After the second pass:
And the third. At this point, the bulk of the extra clay is off, and it's a matter of going over it several times, while spraying it with water to make sure the clay is uniforming distributed and no small cavities exist:
For the last pass, I clean the tool to make sure I get a good final clean cut into the clay. Surprisingly, there is still clay coming off despite making several passes. I try not too over work the clay too.

Oak Tree Tile Trim, Part Three

After feeling somewhat successful at the trial trim creations, I decided that production for the trim around the oak tree tile mural was to commence. Here's the first step - smooshing the clay into the jig section. I lined the bottom of it with part of a plastic garbage bag, as wet clay tends to adhere pretty solidly to the wood jig:





Then I smoothed the surface out, ready to be tooled:

Next picture is running the tool over the clay. I had to do this several times to take small layers off each pass. Tonight was a good learning experience in this little craft, in that you can't take too much off in one pass because the clay will "tear" off. I also found out that keeping it fairly wet decrease the chance of reapplication of clay. If it does tear or if I found a blemish, I would just reapply the clay and start over. But that's no fun. I really dislike rework.

The finished product:

Tonight I was able to make about 90" of the trim in a matter of about an hour and a half. Here are the 4 sections place on the floor to dry out. I placed them against the wood studs to keep the straightness. But wouldn't it be funny if one of the studs was bowed? Hysterical.

Oak Tree Tile Trim, Part Two

This is part two of my exploration of making trim for my oak tree mural. I apologize on part one for the huge spaces between the pictures. There are some wierd issues with blogger (or I don't know what I'm doing) but there's only so much time in the day. I can't be using it to mess around with blogger.

After making the tool that will form the trim's profile, I made a jig that will hold the clay in place, as well as form the back corner:

And a picture of the forming tool IN the jig (this should clear up any fog):

The first trial run:

After running the tool over the clay several times, adding water, adding more clay, etc, this is what it looks like:

After letting it dry out a few days, it is firm enough to handle but still slightly wet that modifications can still be easily made. This is same piece on my counter. This practice piece is fairly rough and the final pieces should turn out much smoother as I will put more time into it.

But it works!

Oak Tree Tile Trim, Part One

I hope I don't jinx myself but I'm going to capture a step by step process on how I'm going to make my trim around the oak tree tile mural. It's just that I've never done this before so going public with this prior to completion makes me a little nervous. You know, in case I screw it up or something.

So this is where the situation begins. I made an oak tree tile mural over a time period of 4 months, starting October 2005. It is the protective backing to the wood stove. I have the mural up but I need to place trim around it, and I want it to blend in with the cap for the wainscoting:

This is measuring out the cap (sample piece) to see how far it sticks out. This cap will go around the perimeter of the room, sort of like a tall chair rail. I need to make the trim to the mural match this so it will blend in:

Here are some sketches I made, copying a similar pattern to the cap of the wainscoting:

And transcribing the sketch to 1/2" plywood to make a cutting form:

And the final form sketched out to be cut:

The rough cut, done by a $20 jig saw with a metal cutting blade:

After seeing the rough cut, it looked like a disaster and I thought I'd have to start over but after sanding, I was happy with. This is the tool I'll use to make my clay trim to be installed:

Stay tuned for part two!:

Stove Area Lighting

I got the track light Friday afternoon (much earlier than I thought) and I just got done installing the track system tonight. It took about 3 hours or so and was a little tricky getting everything level. When I finally switched on the the light, I was much more impressed that I had thought I'd be.

Here are some other pictures showing the steps along the way....

A Lighting Idea

Yesterday, I had an idea of how to light up the oak tree mural. Place track lighting on the hearth floor, aiming up to the tiles. To try it out, I just placed candles to see how the effect would be with shadows etc. Of course, the candles aren't going to justice to what an electric bulb could do. I don't know. I'm slightly inspired.

What do YOU think?

My First Post

Hello!

After getting my first cell phone, I've decided that technology has finally won me over and I'm creating a website (with the generous help of blogger.com) for others to view my progress in the remodel of my 1900 farmhouse in Portland, Oregon.

To view any previous remodeling progress, please use the links on the side that will direct you to photos. As for today, here is where the dining room remodel stands (for previous pictures of the mural, click here):