Clay Working ITP-I need help

[DrizztFan24]

In pottery I decided to make a rune set from Diablo II. I have made a plaster mold of the shape that I will be using and have been pressing the clay into the mold to create blanks that I can then inscribe the design into. The only problem is I only have till next week to complete 30 more. It takes forever to smooth out the clay after I pull it out of the mold because it cracks and stretches so much. The clay is from a fresh bag I opened yesterday and it is still taking me over 5 minutes per tile to smooth out the imperfections. Any way to avoid this? I need them to come out of the mold relatively unblemished.

[Dallas-Dakota]

This thread would be better fit in Arts and Crafts.

[Coidzor]

Have you tried priming it with some slip first, either the interior of the mold or the surface of the clay?

[DrizztFan24]

Wouldn't that just make the clay stick to the mold as the slip dries?

[Serpentine]

I don't really know anything about moulds, but it sounds to me that you mostly need wetter clay... Would wetting the inside of the mould too stop it from sticking?

[DrizztFan24]

I am afraid that wetting the inside of the mould would cause it to disintegrate. Its only a plaster-of-paris powder and water. Re-introducing water might make it fall apart. I can get the clay out of the mould now, but the clay still splits horribly and leaves nasty gaps that I have to repair.

[Prak]

what about pam?

[loves_to_laugh]

It sounds like need to slip cast it. Molds don't really work for clay normally. Most molds (as far as I know) are used with slip and so all the carving and detail work would have to be on the mold itself because the slip would dry straight to the bone dry stage. But don't quote me on that.