Images on Tile

[Kelly Thorson]

I thinking of incorporating some old scenes of a town into the pillars on an entry monument type sign. Because of the freeze/thaw cycle I'll have to work with either porcelain or natural tiles.
I'm looking for ideas on how to do this, I'm considering using photostencil resist and blasting the image into the tile and then blacking in the blasted areas, but I'd like to explore other options as well. I'd be game to farm out that portion of the project if there is a better method or even materials.
Ideas?

[Sarah King]

I'm probably missing something here, but I would have thought that you could use glass instead of tiles. It will expand and contract with the temperature but it won't break if you give it the space it needs to change size. The space is very small - less than a 32" of an inch. You could blast your design into the back of the glass and paint it in the colors you want and then recess mount the glass panels into the pillars. Couldn't you?

[Kelly Thorson]

That's an option Sarah, but due to the way glass reflects I think it might be a little hard to view from different angles. I'm looking for a flatter "oilcloth" look.
I coud probably screenprint them and clear them too, but I would like something more permanent. I may have to screenprint them with a creamic glaze and fire them or something. The money is there in this project to get it done out of house though. I was hoping someone would know of some place reputable or perhaps do this themselves. It always seems to take so much time to set up and learn a new technique, and usually by the time you search out and purchase the needed tools and materials it works out way cheaper to just sub it out. I think I'm getting smarter...used to be I had to learn and do it all, now I'm getting a little more particular about what I focus the remaining room in my head on.

[Patrick Mackle]

Kelly,
Some ideas come to my mind.
You could blast them with photoresist and then, instead of paint, fill them with a sturdy grout of colored portland cement with an acrylic additive for extra bonding strength. This cement fill would have a non-glare finish against the glaze of the tile. Also, this way you would have a flush image area instead of indented with paint.
You could also fill the etched areas with colored ceramic glaze and refire the tile.
Pat

[Roderick Treece]

Kelley,
I posted some info for you last night but i see it's gone.I'm glad Pat posted,He was one of my chioces for info.
I also mensioned that I have done alot of what is called CHINA FIRE.To do this you would buy prefired glazed tile of what ever finish you wanted.Then useing china paint which is powered pigment mixed with clove oil you paint your image on the tile and low fire it in a kiln.You can build up the color and fire as many times as you like .You've probably seen flowers painted on porciline plates.
If you like painting it's really cool.I'm sure you could find some type of screen medium that you could fiire as well.

Once it's fired it's there forever!
Let me know if you need any other info
Also with a low sheen tile and the china paint it would be very low sheen.

Roderick

[Mike Jackson]

It sounds to me like you are making this a bigger deal than it needs to be.

A: Pick up some sample tiles and do some tests. We have blasted tile quite a few times and it normally blasts fine.
B: Assuming you are blasting the tiles in your shop, just space them properly before applying stencil.
C: While the stencil is still on, paint it black and peel the stencil. Paint should easily stick to the rough surface in the blasted parts.
D: Then let a professional tile layer install them as they normally do. Tile is used outside on a regular basis, such as around almost every pool in the country. They will know how to space them and make them function outside.

Than again, always revert back to A. Do some tests!

We made tile coasters and hot pads for Christmas gifts a long time ago. They were ornamented with silhouettes of moose, deer, elk, and bears. Once blasted, we put felt pads on the bottom of the tiles.

Mike

[Kelly Thorson]

Thanks for the suggesions. Pat, I'm liking the idea of blasting and filling with a black grout. I'll give it a go. China painting sounds like fun too, but I think I'll try the easy route first. Maybe with some time in photoshop I can give it an etched or linocut printing look.

[Roderick Treece]

Kelly,
If you go with exterior acrilic paint to fill in the sandblasted areas it will last along time.I've great luck with that and it's very quick and easy.

Roderick

[Doug Bernhardt]

Thought you all might like a peek at a few "tiles" I saw in the UK

/var/virtuals/bernhardtsigns/bernhardtsigns/public_html/whatever
/var/virtuals/bernhardtsigns/bernhardtsigns/public_html/whatever

[Kelly Thorson]

I'd love a peek....But your links don't work for me.

Try this...
Open the picture on your website and right click on it
Choose properties from the drop down menu, a properties box will open up
Highlight the entire address (URL) there and right click on it while highlighted and select copy
Put the cursor in your post and right click and select paste

If you already know all this, then ignore it. There are so many different levels of internet users. Maybe it will help someone.