North Star Tile Press sale!
15%+ off and FREE SHIPPING*
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Click to enlarge
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An affordable potter's production tool. Here
is the first hand-operated press for the potter and school that uses air
to gently and quickly release the finished part.
Air release pressing has been used by industry for
decades for good reason. It's fast, produces nearly perfect ware
requiring little or no fettling and requires only one or two dies
("molds") unlike slip casting or jiggering. Such presses have
until now been hydraulically operated and too big, too heavy and too
expensive for the potter. Moreover, they were very costly to tool up and
could present substantial danger to the operator and bystanders.
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The North Star Tile Press offers nearly the speed and
all the quality and versatility of industrial presses but in a smaller,
much less expensive configuration that is inherently safe in any
setting. Thanks to the massive solid steel gear drive, no great physical
strength is required of the operator. Within its size constraints, this
press can turn out just about anything that has no undercuts: plain and
decorated floor and wall tiles, saucers, small cups, bowls, ashtrays,
spoon rests, electronic parts, switch plates, sprigs, handles, knobs and
much more at upwards of 100 pieces per hour - all perfectly formed.
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Tile Press, complete
Includes press, wagon wheel handle, air hose,
fittings, plain 4" x 4" x 1/4" tile die, alignment pins,
instructions, copy of book "Pressing Ceramics with Air Release by
Reid Harvey." The kit requires a compressed air supply.
 | Tile Press List Price $1750 |
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$1487
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Bare Bones Press
The same as above, but without tile
die.
| Bare Bones Press List Price $1600 |
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$1360
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Accessories:
Die Maker Kit: List price $130
2 Wire Mesh pieces, 15 lbs. Hydrostone or UltraCal, 5
ft. Mold Duct Tube, 32 Wire Ties, 2- 8.25" x 2" Die Rings, 6x
Alignment Pins |
$117
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Die Ring Set: List price $107
2x 8.25" x 2" Die Rings (Top &
Bottom Rings are same) |
$97
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Single Die Ring: List price $57
1x 8.25" x 2" Die Ring (Top & Bottom
Rings are same) |
$52
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Paddle Bats: List price $46
Carton of 12, 8x8 inches exclusive of handle. |
$42
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Mold Duct Tube:
List price $9
25
ft. x 1/8" diameter ( For User-made Dies ) |
$8
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Package of Die Alignment
Pins: List price $21
6 Die Alignment Pins |
$ 19
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4" Plain Tile Die
Set: List price $245
Complete 4" x 4" x .5" Tile Die
(Top & Bottom Die Rings) |
$ 220
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Get the Northstar Big Blue Extruder
and the tile press slug to
make the slugs for pressing. |
Features
| Industrial style air release |
| Powerful 5000 lb rack and pinion gear drive |
| Safe even for children, with supervision |
| Make tiles up to 5 1/2", any shape with any raised or
impressed decoration |
| Also do switch plates, jewelry, small plates, saucers, shallow
bowls and cups, handles, knobs, electronic porcelain parts and more
at up to 120 pcs/hr. |
| You can make your own dies, use stock dies or buy custom dies at Precision-Terrafirma.
You can use just about any throwing clay to faithfully reproduce any
raised or impressed decoration. And you'll do it easier and
faster than ever thought possible. |
What's the difference between a die and a mold?
Potters and artists often use the words
interchangeably, but there is a difference. Here are over-simplified but
workable definitions as they apply to the tile press:
A mold is made of soft plaster, such as Potter Plaster
#1. The inside of the mold is usually shaped like the outside of the
piece to be made. Molds are absorbent and designed to "pull"
water from the clay. It is usually used only once before it must be
allowed to dry, so a great many molds are required for production.
A die, on the other hand, is made from gypsum cement
(often called "hard plaster") such as CeramicalTM
or HydrostoneTM and it uses clay of throwing consistency which
is not further wetted. The die forms the clay in exactly the same
way as a sheet of steel is stamped into an automobile fender. Dies have
two halves, one to form the bottom of, say, a saucer and one to form the
top. These two halves are brought together with a ball of clay between
them. Within each half there is buried a porous tube. When air is sent
into it, the air escapes and pushes water, which is resident in the
"plaster" toward the clay, releasing it from the die. The
bottom usually released first, the upper half of the die is then raised
with the formed piece clinging to it. A bat or other material is held
under the upper half of the die and the tube in that part is
pressurized. The formed clay is released and caught very gently with the
bat.
Please note again that this is greatly simplified.
Today there are many other die materials and techniques, but they are
largely, if not completely, out of reach of the potter's studio or
classroom.
Method of Use
A two-part die (or "mold") made
of "hard plaster" (actually gypsum cement such as CeramicalTM
or HydrostoneTM) is mounted on the bottom and center plates
and aligned. A wad of clay is placed in the bottom half and the
WagonWheel Handle is rotated to bring the two halves of the die
together. As they come together, the clay is forced to take on the shape
of the die. A small puff of compressed air is fed into the bottom half
of the die to release the formed clay. The WagonWheel is rotated
backward to raise the center plate and the top half of the die with the
formed clay clinging to it. A bat is then held under the clay while a
puff of air is fed into that half of the die, releasing the formed piece
to be caught with the bat. That piece is set aside to dry and the
process can be immediately repeated.
Construction
The press comprises three aluminum floor
plates, each reinforced with 1/2 inch machined steel stiffeners. The top
and bottom plates reside at the ends of three 1 inch steel uprights.
The center plate is driven up and down by a WagonWheel
handle turning a massive solid steel 6-pitch rack-and-pinion gear train.
Air from nearly any compressor is fed through a 3-way
valve, alternately to the lower and upper die halves to release the
formed part.
Specifications
Shipping: Via United Parcel Service in three cartons of
147, 10 and 8 pounds.
Max "daylight" stroke: 12 inches
Max diameter of impression: 5-1/2 inches wet
Rings: 8-1/4 inch ID by 2 inches high
Clay required: Any throwing clay (though very groggy clays will shorten
the life of the die)
Overall dimensions: 12 x 12 x 28 inches high (including rack)
Minimum workspace required: 30 x 30 inches
(Press must be securely fastened to sturdy bench or built-in table).
Free shipping in the lower 48 US states and parts of Canada.
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