Comment

Comment by Dave Lynas on July 24, 2014 at 12:11pm

Hi Rand, thanks for your interest. I have used the porcelain for headstock decor. I was rebuilding a very old five string that had stones and a big pocket in the head that had long since been lost. I did just a simple cabin scene using black on the white porcelain. It worked great. I've not tried it for bridge or nut. I like dog bone for that. Clay shrinks but you don't notice it so much in a little cylinder. It's the clay shrinking, not the bore within the slide. They stay close to the original. However, my Steven's style bars are shrinking a lot as they are a thick hunk of clay. The best way to figure out shrinkage is just to make a lot of slides and see how they fit. Just go for variety. You could keep track of the original to the finished product. I don't.

Comment by Blue Collar Devil on July 24, 2014 at 11:53am

The top two rows second from left. I like those :)

Comment by Rand Moore on July 24, 2014 at 3:18am

They all look beautiful!

You have given me a great idea of what to make in my pottery class... a set of various finger size slides. Maybe I'll even learn how to use one. I have also been thinking of pottery based nuts and bridges. Have you tried to use them. I think some inlaid pottery pieces in the headstock would be a great way to decorate instruments. Have you tried any of this?

Also, clay shrinks maybe 15% or so. I guess you have to make the slides bigger to accommodate this shrinkage; how do you 'calculate' this?

-Rand.