Can I use linoleum blocks to press patterns in clay tiles?
I heard of rubber molds and plaster molds, but I never heard of linoleum tile stamps. I want to leave smooth high points as well as smooth low points on the tile and I don’t want any carving indentations to show on the tile. I’ll be pressing a 1 1/4×1 1/4′ clay tile that’ll eventually shrink to 1×1′. The press will have a very shallow relief. The relief will be very shallow because these tiles will be used to walk on.
Plus, what medium should I use? Concrete seems like the best choice, but can concrete be glazed? Will concrete withstand a glaze firing process? I used a brick red firing before, but perhaps concrete is more durable?
Carving a mold in MDF on a CNC router is an excellent suggestion. How do I operate a CNC router though? Can I get a 12 1/4′ CNC router as my printer and feed it blocks of MDF?
There is no reason that linoleum wouldn’t work, but when you carve into linoleum to get your pattern I doubt that you can carve it entirely evenly. I think you can get a rather even pattern maybe with using something like a router, ideally a CNC router. Depends on the complexity of your pattern makes using a non-computer controlled router an option.
Never tried linoleum on a router, not sure it would work and you definitely would need to glue it onto a wood block or something as a backing. Probably easier to start with something like MDF (no grain) and seal the surface after working it, as MDF is definitely not waterproof.
Or you go for plaster. If you make your pattern out of cardboard of the desired thickness (much easier to make something complicated), and glue the cardboard carefully on a flat surface, seal it with a varnish to waterproof it you could make a stamp out of plaster or rubber using the cardboard as a mold.
I never heard of somebody glazing concrete, I would bet there is a reason. One possible reason would be that glazes are matched in their shrinkage to clay, concrete and clay probably shrink at entirely different rates. There are probably others, not sure how heat resistant concrete it at kiln temperatures.
Edit: art/design shops at universities usually have a CNC router. Some art coops also have. Otherwise you have to pay a company.
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