Shrope/Ratcliffe on sat 1 jun 96
I reclaim stirred, thick slip consistency clay by pouring it in a
plaster bat I cast, that sits atop my front loading electric kiln on a
welded steel armature. The bat is about 10" from the top of the kiln.
The rising heat from each firing dries the bat out, preventing moisture
saturation.I've been using it for 5 years.
My bat is approx. 28" x 28", 2 " thick with 1.5" high side walls to
contain the slurry.I added some nylon fibers to the plaster to help
reinforce it. A full load is about 60lbs.I use a commercial
electric drill type paint mixer, suitable to stir the contents of a 5
gal. bucket, although I keep my processed scrap/slip in a 30 gal.
container. The larger container size insures batch consistency.
Regards,
Peter
Richard J.Mahaffey on sun 2 jun 96
Konichi wa (hello in th e afternoon)
Around these parts (Japan) many of the traditional potters dry their clay from
the liquid state in bisque pots that look alot like rather short planters or
bowls. If you can find a copy of Bob Sperry's movie "the village potters of
Onda" ( I think that is the title) you can see the clay making process
underway using this technique.
Another technique that I have read about but have not tried, or seen tried is
to make a trough out of red brick, the more porous the better, and to line it
with canvas and pour your slip into the canvas linned trough. If it is outside
any breeze will help carry away any moisture that the bricks absorb.
Good Luck
Rick Mahaffey
28 days and counting till I am back in the land of real pizza, Mexican
restuaraunts, and tv dialog I can understand. Hooray........ I think!?!
Marcia Kindlmann on sun 9 feb 97
Subject: recycle clay
Greetings Clayarters,
Recycling stoneware clay, I find that the clay in my throwing
bowl has a different texture than that in the trimmings bucket.
Not surprisingly, there's more slip and a lesser proportion
of the regular clay, a commercial mix with its grog and
occasional other larger clinkers & stony particulates.
This throwing-bowl clay is great for throwing pitchers. They
come up tall & thin, very thin, without fussing, and this
clay supports itself well without collapsing.
Because it has less grog than the regular mix I would not expect
it to work well in low wide forms, with thicker bottoms, that must
move across a bat as they dry, and shrink without cracking. I
use this throwing-bowl clay for tall narrow shapes.
It probably consists of 1/3 slip and 2/3 regular clay, or maybe
half & half, since I make sure to throw in some trimmings if I
haven't already put in enough blobs of regular clay.
Marcia in
Guilford CT
Dawn M Douglas on sun 14 apr 02
Hello All,
I recently (2 months ago) started potting at home, and have been putting =
all of my "junk" clay into a big bucket with water in it, hopeing to be =
able to re-use it later. I now realize there might be a problem as I =
have thrown different cone fire clay into the same bucket. Will this =
clay still be useable if I only fire at the lowest cone, or is the =
makeup of clay such that it will not bind together. =20
Thanks,
Dawn.
Snail Scott on mon 15 apr 02
At 02:33 PM 4/14/02 -0700, you wrote:
>Hello All,
>
>I recently (2 months ago) started potting at home, and have been putting
all of my "junk" clay into a big bucket with water in it, hopeing to be
able to re-use it later. I now realize there might be a problem as I have
thrown different cone fire clay into the same bucket. Will this clay still
be useable if I only fire at the lowest cone, or is the makeup of clay such
that it will not bind together.
You will have to wedge this clay VERY WELL to make
sure it's mixed thoroughly, or you will end up with
streaks of lowfire clay running through, which could
melt at higher temperatures. It can also crack along
the lines between the two clays, if they're not well
mixed.
If they are adequately blended together,
it will stick together fine. The resulting clay
will fire to some temperature between the two
original clays bodies. So, you can fire it to
the low temperature, which will be a bit underfired,
or you can test it to see what temperature the
new mix fires at. If there's no much of it, though,
it might not be worth the effort, but I probably
wouldn't use the combination clay for functional
ware, since underfired clay can be weak and prone
to leakage. If there's lots of it, you can make up
test bars and fire them on a slab of your higher-
firing clay to protect your kiln shelves. Just fire
them to temperatures between the ones your two
clays normally fire to, and see what temperature
works best - basically, the highest temperature it
can handle without bloating or slumping.
However, unless you have a tiny test kiln, the cost
of firing to odd temperatures just to test this
stuff will rapidly exceed the cost of buying the
equivalent weight in brand new clay. Also remember
that the temperature of the mixed clay will be
different next time, if the proportion of low-temp
clay to high-temp clay is different, so you'd have
to test it all over again. Go ahead and use this
batch if you like, but in the future, I'd get two
different slop buckets, and keep your scrap separated.
-Snail
Jennifer Assinck on mon 15 apr 02
If you are interested in raku firing with the clay, you will be bisquing and
raku glaze firing to cone 06, which will not exceed the cone 04 of the low
fire clay in the mix. However, I recommend you mix in some sand or grog so
that the clay can take the sudden temperature change when being placed in a
hot raku kiln and being removed quickly. I can't really tell you how much
sand or grog, but you do not need much.
Another option is to experiment with smoke firing. For more information see
the archives and try a web search, as I remember seeing sites with pictures
of the process. Before you bisque your pots, you have the option to burnish
(polish) the pot. Then, you bisque your ware to a very low temperature, say
cone 022, cone 010 or cone 08. The lower the temperature, the shinier the
burnishing and the more absorbent it will be to the smoke and any colouring
elements. If you are leaving the pots to cool in the smoke firing
container, then you can get away with not tempering the clay with sand or
grog.
Be sure to wedge your two kinds of clay together well so that the moisture
and the composition are even.
Jennifer Assinck
Newmarket, Ontario, Canada
At 02:33 PM 4/14/02 -0700, you wrote:
>Hello All,
>
>I recently (2 months ago) started potting at home, and have been putting
all of my "junk" clay into a big bucket with water in it, hopeing to be
able to re-use it later. I now realize there might be a problem as I have
thrown different cone fire clay into the same bucket. Will this clay still
be useable if I only fire at the lowest cone, or is the makeup of clay such
that it will not bind together.
leta troppmann on tue 14 mar 06
Hello All,
You were all so helpful in the last post I have another one for you!
I fianlly got hold of my own wheel for home use instead of school.. I'm lovin it! Still in the process of kiln looking as some of you know. I'm sure this is a question you have all heard before, but how can I (being at home) recycle my used wheel thrown clay? I've been throwing it into a bowl and waiting a few days if not more then kneading and kneading until ready to throw again. Is there an easier way?
Thanks once again,
Leta Medina
Reno,Nv
Chris Leake on tue 14 mar 06
Hi Leta,
There seems to be as many ways to recycle as there are potters. Here is one way that I have done it.
1. Get yourself a large 5 gallon plastic pot. The kind you get plants in from the nursery. These have holes in the bottom that allows the air to circulate around the clay. Often you can find them for free.
2. Stretch an old towel across the tub and anchor it in place. I hold mine with a heavy bungy cord.
3. I keep my scrap clay in another 5 gallon lided bucket (no holes in this one!) with just enough water to cover the clay until I have a good batch to recycle.
4. Lay another old towel over your first towel. Scoop out wet clay into second towel. Fold towel edges over wet clay. Let the clay stand off to the side of your work area. Check it often especially until you see how long it takes in your area to start firming up. I turn mine occasionally to get even drying.
Good Luck!
Chris Leake
http://www.leakeart.com
Penni Stoddart on tue 14 mar 06
Original message:
I finally got hold of my own wheel for home use instead of school.. I'm
lovin it! how can I (being at home) recycle my used wheel thrown clay
I am a hobby potter and throw in my garage (though I have to admit, due to
teachers college, I have not had my hands in clay for over a year now!).
When I am throwing, I keep a 5 gallon plastic pail beside me and pitch
trimmed pieces in, or as my splash fills, clean it out into the pail. The
pail has a lid and is left beside my wheel until it is full - okay 3/4 full
or it's too heavy!
In the summer I take it out to my picnic table, covered in a big board, and
dump it out. During the day I go and flip it and stir it so it dries evenly.
In the cooler months I do the same but on my work surface in the garage. Yes
it takes time and yes it takes space but once it is dry enough I can scoop
up a few pounds worth, bang it together to start the wedging process and bag
it. As I need clay I just wedge the heck out of it - knowing it is reclaim.
Perhaps not as efficient as some here may suggest but it works for me!
Just my 2 cents worth.
Penni Stoddart
Dick & Mary Walker on tue 14 mar 06
For what it is worth, I take the clay/slurry from the wheel after throwing and put it back into the plastic bag it came from. Once the bag is full, I spread it all out on a plaster block, actually two that are about 3" x 12" x 12", let dry to the right consistency turning over a couple of times, then wedge. The only other way to simplify this that I know of is to buy a pug mill.
Dick Walker
Muddy Duck Pottery
Tigard, OR
>From: leta troppmann
>Date: Tue Mar 14 20:27:39 CST 2006
>To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
>Subject: recycle clay
>Hello All,
> You were all so helpful in the last post I have another one for you!
>
> I fianlly got hold of my own wheel for home use instead of school.. I'm lovin it! Still in the process of kiln looking as some of you know. I'm sure this is a question you have all heard before, but how can I (being at home) recycle my used wheel thrown clay? I've been throwing it into a bowl and waiting a few days if not more then kneading and kneading until ready to throw again. Is there an easier way?
>
> Thanks once again,
> Leta Medina
> Reno,Nv
>
>______________________________________________________________________________
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
Marcia Selsor on wed 15 mar 06
You could make a plaster mold to hold it or use a large terra cotta
flower pot to absorb the moisture.
I spread my wet clay out on flat plaster slabs that I also use for
paper clay. This absorbs the moisture
and I can throw with it in a matter of 1/2 and hour to an hour...but
then I'm in Montana and it is dry.
I think Reno is dry too.
On Mar 14, 2006, at 7:27 PM, leta troppmann wrote:
> Hello All,
> You were all so helpful in the last post I have another one for you!
>
> I fianlly got hold of my own wheel for home use instead of
> school.. I'm lovin it! Still in the process of kiln looking as
> some of you know. I'm sure this is a question you have all heard
> before, but how can I (being at home) recycle my used wheel thrown
> clay? I've been throwing it into a bowl and waiting a few days if
> not more then kneading and kneading until ready to throw again. Is
> there an easier way?
>
> Thanks once again,
> Leta Medina
> Reno,Nv
Joe and Lisa Troncale on wed 15 mar 06
I keep a five gallon bucket next to my wheel, and I add water on a regular
basis. My bucket takes awhile to get full, and it gets refilled with water
on multlple occasions because of evaporation. Eventually, I take the clay
when it is very wet in small portions and knead it in the bucket. I then
take small amounts of the kneaded clay and place it on a plaster bat and
cover it with plastic until it is kneadable. Depending on the feel of the
clay, I may add dry ball clay sort of like making bread until it is the
right moisture content. Ususally the clay is throwable. Depending on how
much I work with it, it does just fine.
I would be interested in other people's techniques for recycling.
Joe Troncale
New Holland, PA
----- Original Message -----
From: "leta troppmann"
To:
Sent: Tuesday, March 14, 2006 9:27 PM
Subject: recycle clay
> Hello All,
> You were all so helpful in the last post I have another one for you!
>
> I fianlly got hold of my own wheel for home use instead of school.. I'm
> lovin it! Still in the process of kiln looking as some of you know. I'm
> sure this is a question you have all heard before, but how can I (being at
> home) recycle my used wheel thrown clay? I've been throwing it into a
> bowl and waiting a few days if not more then kneading and kneading until
> ready to throw again. Is there an easier way?
>
> Thanks once again,
> Leta Medina
> Reno,Nv
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>
>
> --
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.1.385 / Virus Database: 268.2.2/280 - Release Date: 3/13/2006
>
>
Charles Manuel on wed 15 mar 06
We pug our stoneware for recycling but all our porcelain at present is =
put in buckets and dried till it is bone dry, add water to slake it =
down, don't touch it as it will slake down to a slip state. If you touch =
the larger pieces as they get wet they will form a surface water will =
not go through as easily. Like the waterproofing using bentonite as a =
surface treatment for basements, ponds etc. If you break up your larger =
pieces with a hammer, it will slake down more quickly. After it is =
disintegrated into slip state, remove excess water, slop it out on large =
plaster slabs, we have even used old doors or large pieces of plywood =
for large amounts, turn it when the edges lift and keep letting it dry =
turning it you can wedge it up. Pugging is easier, but if you don't have =
it or don't want to clean it out to do different clay, this has worked =
well for our wheelthrowing and handbuilding classes.=20
=20
Chuck Manuel
Graceland University
Lamoni, IA
________________________________
From: Clayart on behalf of Joe and Lisa Troncale
Sent: Wed 3/15/2006 6:12 AM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: recycle clay
I keep a five gallon bucket next to my wheel, and I add water on a =
regular
basis. My bucket takes awhile to get full, and it gets refilled with =
water
on multlple occasions because of evaporation. Eventually, I take the =
clay
when it is very wet in small portions and knead it in the bucket. I then
take small amounts of the kneaded clay and place it on a plaster bat and
cover it with plastic until it is kneadable. Depending on the feel of =
the
clay, I may add dry ball clay sort of like making bread until it is the
right moisture content. Ususally the clay is throwable. Depending on how
much I work with it, it does just fine.
I would be interested in other people's techniques for recycling.
Joe Troncale
New Holland, PA
----- Original Message -----
From: "leta troppmann"
To:
Sent: Tuesday, March 14, 2006 9:27 PM
Subject: recycle clay
> Hello All,
> You were all so helpful in the last post I have another one for you!
>
> I fianlly got hold of my own wheel for home use instead of school.. =
I'm
> lovin it! Still in the process of kiln looking as some of you know. =
I'm
> sure this is a question you have all heard before, but how can I =
(being at
> home) recycle my used wheel thrown clay? I've been throwing it into a
> bowl and waiting a few days if not more then kneading and kneading =
until
> ready to throw again. Is there an easier way?
>
> Thanks once again,
> Leta Medina
> Reno,Nv
>
> =
_________________________________________________________________________=
_____
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>
>
> --
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.1.385 / Virus Database: 268.2.2/280 - Release Date: =
3/13/2006
>
>
_________________________________________________________________________=
_____
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at =
melpots@pclink.com.
Bonnie Staffel on thu 16 mar 06
Hi Clayarters,
Regarding this thread, I collect my clay trimmings and put them in a =
bucket
of water. This accumulates and when it is a nice thick slurry, I use it =
to
add to my Bluebird pugging operation as my clay is too stiff for me to =
use
out of the bag. I run a scoop of the slurry with an amount of the new =
clay,
run it through the pug mill several times until it is evenly mixed. If =
I
need to recycle dry clay scraps, I collect these in a bucket, add hot =
water
which reduces the dry clay to slurry rather quickly. This is then added =
to
the first bucket as an ongoing supply for making my clay softer daily. =20
In my pre-Bluebird days, I would lay a pile of newspapers rather thickly =
on
the floor and put a cloth on top, put the slurry on the cloth and let it =
air
dry until it was ready to knead.
Then in my really early days about the late 40's when we had to clean =
the
clay that was dug locally, we let it settle in the big barrel of water,
decanted the excess water and then put the slurry into burlap bags which =
we
hung outside until the clay was ready to knead. =20
Love these modern conveniences.
Bonnie Staffel
http://webpages.charter.net/bstaffel/
DVD Throwing with Coils and Slabs
DVD Beginning Processes
Charter Member Potters Council
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