Ceramic Frag Discs

[jhale]

I was going to order some of these, then realized how easy they are to make. the one catch is you need a kiln, not something that everyone has access to.

I like the ceramic plugs vs the concrete plugs because you do not have to worry about the concrete continuing to cure in your tank. the ceramic plugs are inert and have nothing that will leach into the water.

I was wondering if anyone here makes pottery? If you do and want to help out fellow reefers let me know. The possibilities go beyond just plugs, you can make a more natural looking frag system to place in your tank.

 

[crox99]

J

what bout going to a pottery class and make plugs instead of vases? I know there is one in Bay Ridge.

 

[masterswimmer]

Jon, how about making the mold so that you can have them done uniformly. Then just commission someone to do them for you. I bet they'd be real cheap.

 

[prattreef]

Jon,

Not sure what the Summer status is here at Pratt, but certainly this can be done when the semester starts up.

 

[kenske]

I'm not sure if it would be cost effective if you have to pay to have it baked. The most important factor (to me) for DIY plug is if it is cheaper than buying. I read elsewhere that polymer clay can be used., ie. FIMO clay - can be baked in home oven. But polymer clay is expensive, thus no point in diy.

Since, I am running out of space in my Zoa/Paly themed 24 nanocube, I am thinking about making some magnetic plugs. This way I can start stocking the sides of the tank. I'm still researching the net to find a safe way to seal the magnet.

 

[jhale]

JP I looked into what classes cost in the city, the average was 300.

Russ I was thinking a rolling pin and some cookie cutters, want some nemo shaped frag plugs? :lol2:

Randy, that would be great, I'll speak to you about that later.

Kenske, normal clay is cheap, but your right I was looking for someone who had access to a kiln that's the tricky part.

 

[tosiek]

J i would love to go in with you on this. If your gonna be making stuff let me know, i'll help design and stuff.

 

[Wes]

my mom makes custom tiles and has her own kiln. Unfortunately she lives in NC. It might be something she would be interested in doing. She was shocked to see what people pay for "Reef Ceramics" and is thinking about making some stuff like that as well.

 

[aaron]

A lot of times when people fire up their kiln there is extra space available, and as it costs the same to fire it up half full or completely full I would imagine that no one would mind throwing a couple of dozen disks in there.
I would call a couple of pottery studios, and explain the situation and see if you could buy some kiln space with a couple of beers.

 

[kimoyo]

Wes,

Can your mom really make this?

http://www.captiveoceans.com/rc/KWD35/2.jpg

 

[Wes]

yeah she is a very good sculptor and i showed her that pic and she said no problem. She didnt seem to impressed with them. She did say it might be a little tricky to fire the big wall plates without cracking them, so it would probably take a few attempts to get that part right.

I'm still talking her into it, telling her it would probably be more profitable than tiles, she is thinking of trying it so there may be some "beta testing" opportunities available.

 

[kimoyo]

yeah she is a very good sculptor and i showed her that pic and she said no problem. She didnt seem to impressed with them. She did say it might be a little tricky to fire the big wall plates without cracking them, so it would probably take a few attempts to get that part right.

I'm still talking her into it, telling her it would probably be more profitable than tiles, she is thinking of trying it so there may be some "beta testing" opportunities available.

Keep us updated because I would be interested and I know some others would be also.

 

[lfsmarineguy]

I wouldn't convince her to stop doing tiles the numbers aren't there. Every house in America has tiles (bathrooms or otherwise) and only 1 in every 8 houses has a fish tank, and of those they are mostly freshwater. The tile market isn't going anywhere but you don't see these reef ceramics too often they are pretty expensive even at wholesale. It's worth trying out a little (maybe for personal use or on a small scale for this community) but with cheaper alternatives to liverock out there it doesn't make sense to just make these. The discs are worth doing as long as they are cheaper with the materials and firing costs. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Wes]

I wouldn't convince her to stop doing tiles the numbers aren't there. Every house in America has tiles (bathrooms or otherwise) and only 1 in every 8 houses has a fish tank, and of those they are mostly freshwater. The tile market isn't going anywhere but you don't see these reef ceramics too often they are pretty expensive even at wholesale. It's worth trying out a little (maybe for personal use or on a small scale for this community) but with cheaper alternatives to liverock out there it doesn't make sense to just make these. The discs are worth doing as long as they are cheaper with the materials and firing costs. Just my 2 cents.

well the tiles she make are not the ones you would tile a bathroom with, they are custom scuplted 3D tiles w/ stuff like animals, flowers, etc. You would just buy a few of them to place in a specific spot and the rest would be normal tile. It's not her "day job" and I don't think they exactly sell like hotcakes, it's a thing she does on the side.

the reefceramics would actually be really cheap to make, she was pretty shocked at what they sell for. I think if she sold the same quality product at half the price she would have more orders than she had time to make.

 

[kimoyo]

Just my 2 cents.

You get what you pay for.


Wes, if say she could sell them for 1/3 of the reef ceramic price and still quadruple her costs without putting a lot of effort into why shouldn't she. I don't think your telling her to stop her day job but extra work always helps. I'm not sure how this is done but if you can do it by molds and you needed a prototype, if you could do the design, pay for materials and come up with the gcode I could run it on my cnc when its ready next month depending on the materials.

 

[Wes]

she could probably whip up a batch of discs pretty quickly...i'll ask her to make some to try them out next time i talk to her

 

[Wes]

paul,

yeah i think she can do it but you lost me on "if you could do the design, pay for materials and come up with the gcode I could run it on my cnc when its ready next month depending on the materials."

what is a gcode and cnc?

 

[kimoyo]

CNC stands for [SIZE=-1]Computer Numerically Controlled. I'll have a cnc milling machine and gcode is what you use to run it. Its how people make molds for things. For some reason I thought you worked with computers, like autocad and stuff, my fault. You kinda came off as an IT guy to me.

[/SIZE]

paul,

yeah i think she can do it but you lost me on "if you could do the design, pay for materials and come up with the gcode I could run it on my cnc when its ready next month depending on the materials."

what is a gcode and cnc?

 

[Wes]

oh ok, lol. she makes the molds for her tiles w/ some type of polymer that hardens, im not exactly sure how she does it, but i doubt she would get into the computer design, etc. but thanks for the offer.

 

[neeko08]

just a question

In reef ceramics, is it all composed of modeled clay or are there other things lixed in with it to create those kind of designs???

Wes,

Can your mom really make this?

http://www.captiveoceans.com/rc/KWD35/2.jpg