I’m making buttons and I want to make shanks for the back. How long should I allow them to dry before turning them over and adding the shank? They are about 1/8" thick.
Well their dry but curved up. I’m going to have to build a mesh drying rack so they dry evenly and flat.
If you’re adding something to it, it needs to be done while it’s still somewhat wet. Let it dry enough to flip it over and not ruin the pattern you’ve made, but not much more than that. Should take an hour or so. You want the clay evenly wet as it dries or it will develop cracks
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If you’re using acrylic at least a day. Two or three would be better.
Variables are temp and humidity.
It’s clay I’m going to have it bisque fired then glaze them
There is a wire rack on the very top of the kiln equipment shelf that you can use for drying tiles / flat things like this. There’s a step stool around that you can use to get up there, just mind your fingers as it’s an old step stool that often requires blood sacrifice to use.
If you’re adding a shank out of clay, you’d want to wait an hour or two so they firm up enough that you can handle them to turn them over without bending them or distorting your design. You’ll need to score both surfaces and use a bit of slip/water to make the bond solid.
The biggest issue with doing flat work like this is reducing warping. It sounds like your pieces already warped. You have to be very careful when handling the clay after you roll it out and compress it to minimize bending which will take the clay particles out of alignment from compression causing it to warp as it dries and goes through the firing process. If you want some pointers, Tuesday is Ceramics Night and Scott and I will be in the studio.
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Alas I don’t know anything about clay. Sorry.
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