How to roll a slab - Top Tips
How to Roll A Slab - Top Tips
Roll the slab in one direction a few times. Then pick the clay up and turn it around and flip it over so that you change its orientation. When you change the position of the clay and start rolling again, you are stretching the clay in a different direction.
Lifting and turning the clay is very important for a number of reasons:
By lifting the clay, you avoid it sticking to your rolling surface.
When you roll a clay slab, the clay is stretched a lot, which puts the clay particles under stress. By changing the orientation of the clay, you make sure that it isn’t stretched too much in one direction and the particles are aligned as much as possible.
This is easy to do when the slab is quite small and the clay is thick. But as the slab gets bigger and thinner, it can be harder to lift the slab without stretching the clay too much.
If you are rolling a large slab, it’s best to roll it on a loose piece of canvas or fabric. Then when you want to flip it over, place another piece of fabric on top of the slab.
Slide one hand underneath the lower piece of fabric and place your other hand on the top piece of fabric. Then lift the slab up, sandwiched between the two pieces of canvas. Flip your hands over and place the slab back down on your work surface.
If you are rolling a large slab, it’s best to roll it on a loose piece of canvas or fabric. Then when you want to flip it over, place another piece of fabric on top of the slab.
Slide one hand underneath the lower piece of fabric and place your other hand on the top piece of fabric. Then lift the slab up, sandwiched between the two pieces of canvas. Flip your hands over and place the slab back down on your work surface.
Using rolling guides to get an even, uniform thickness -
These are dowels or sticks of a specific thickness (useful sizes are 4mm, 6mm and 9mm) which are place beside the rolling pin so that you can roll the clay to a uniform, even desired thickness.
After you have rolled your clay slab out to the required size and thickness, it’s important to compress the clay and realign the molecules. Take a rib tool (metal is best) and run this over the surface of the slab. I use the curved side and bend a little whilst holding firmly. Don't press too firmly, just enough to see the clay glisten when you rib it.
This will remove any texture that has been created on the clay by your worktop. And it will also help to align the clay particles and make the clay slab stronger.
Once you have compressed one side, turn the clay slab over and compress the other side too.
Air Bubbles
You may notice air bubbles on the surface of your clay. Even if you wedge your clay well, you can still sometimes get small pockets of air in the clay. These will show up as little air bubbles on your slab.
To get rid of air bubbles on your clay slab, pierce the clay bubble with a needle tool. Then gently squeeze the air out of the bubble with your fingers and smooth the clay over with your rib tool.