Can anyone help me? I've hand-built more tripod planters than I can count, and every single one of them cracks open where the legs are slipped/scored/pressed together. It doesn't matter how aggressively I slip and score, or how much of the "leg" I pinch together, or how slowly I dry the piece. What am I missing?
Tripod construction
General Questions
· 2 replies
· 331 views
· 3 followers
Do they crack on the inside? Have you tried to add a coil of clay to seal the inside?
I have tried it, but I’ll give it a shot again. The most recent attempt opened up completely after three weeks of covered drying. Thanks for the advice!
what kind of clay are you using?
I've tried a couple - Standard 182 and Laguna B-mix, both with grog. Right after constructing the planter, all seems well. The pinched legs are nice and tight and everything is closed up. They even stay that way for two weeks while the planter is covered, but after that, they open right up and you can see right through the bottom. I really thought that the clay would shrink more slowly if it was well-covered, but that doesn't seem to be the case. At some point, it just pulls right apart.