Michael Wendt on fri 11 may 07
Bunny,
The stack and slam method of wire
wedging is easy, but requires some
care to avoid adding bubbles.
The key is to avoid touching the
joining faces since that makes
finger dimples which become
air bubbles.
To avoid drying out, consider
covering the wedging table with
heavy canvas and spraying it
with water regularly during wedging.
Wedge a comfortable amount of
clay. remember: to make larger pots
you can join several smaller pieces
together if you can't wedge 15 lbs
at a time.
I throw of the hump and those humps
weigh 18 lbs. My assistant wedges
them 9 lbs at a time and joins them
in the final step.
Try the slab roller approach.
Pastry machines exist that do it
this way but so far I have not been
able to find a good way to do this with clay.
Good Luck,
Michael Wendt
Wendt Pottery
2729 Clearwater Ave
Lewiston, ID 83501
USA
208-746-3724
http://www.wendtpottery.com
wendtpot@lewiston.com
Bunny wrote:
I seem to be having problems wedging my clay.
1) Now that it is 100+ degrees out (ugh!) my clay seems
to be drying out
faster than I can wedge it. I spray with water and
wait, but not much
changes once I go back to wedging.
I am short (under 5') and only weigh about 100 lbs -
my arms feel like
they are breaking off! Although I'm sure if I keep this
up my upper arms
will look awesome - providing I can last through the
pain!
I do have a wedging table, and I try to slam my clay
down as hard as I
can, but I am still getting air bubbles.
2) I have a slab roller, can I put my clay through the
roller, take out
fold in half, roll again, and repeat this method? Or
will I keep trapping
air?
Can anyone please help me with my wedging problems??!!
Thanks-
Bunny
Bunny Lemak on sat 12 may 07
I seem to be having problems wedging my clay.
1) Now that it is 100+ degrees out (ugh!) my clay seems to be drying out
faster than I can wedge it. I spray with water and wait, but not much
changes once I go back to wedging.
I am short (under 5') and only weigh about 100 lbs - my arms feel like
they are breaking off! Although I'm sure if I keep this up my upper arms
will look awesome - providing I can last through the pain!
I do have a wedging table, and I try to slam my clay down as hard as I
can, but I am still getting air bubbles.
2) I have a slab roller, can I put my clay through the roller, take out
fold in half, roll again, and repeat this method? Or will I keep trapping
air?
Can anyone please help me with my wedging problems??!!
Thanks-
Bunny
Taylor Hendrix on sun 13 may 07
Bunny!
Let's start a club, for I have spells of wedging ills too.
Tell us how you do your wedging. Describe it in steps so we can "see"
what you are doing the best we can.
With that said, let me tell you how clayarters have helped me overcome
my wedging problem. Don't try to wedge over-stiff clay. It will kill
you and you will introduce more air because you are trying to overcome
the clay's stiffness. Soften up that clay using a variety of methods
found in the archives or you can ask for a quick rundown.
I slam wedge when the clay is just about sticky or when I am trying to
soften up a block. I'll cut one inch slabs, spritz both sides then
slam down on the previous one. Slab again at 90 deg to first layers
and spritz again if necessary. This does help soften up some stiff
clay. I can then go for the regular slam wedge or kneading if I want.
If you are slam wedging your clay, make sure you smooth and round the
top of the first chuck of clay so that when you slam down the second
piece you don't trap air. Be particularly careful of digging your
finger tips into the clay when you are pulling the clay up from your
wedging surface. The holes they make are great for air pockets.
Spritz your absorbent wedging surface with water every now and again
to help slow the drying of your wedging clay. I know, I live on the
coast of Texas and 100 days are coming!
For portions of clay 4 lbs or so and smaller, I stick to rams head
kneading. I don't try to spiral wedge them. I am not yet able to
really do that. Anything bigger becomes hard to knead all the clay
well using rams head, so those I use a version of spiral wedging that
just seemed to occur to my hands one day in Waco. BTW, it was with a
nice soft chunk of about 20 lbs of clay that taught my hands to spiral
wedge.
Don't you worry, Bunny, we are going to lick this and be better
potters for it. Hope this helps.
Peace out,
Taylor in Rockport TX
On 5/12/07, Bunny Lemak wrote:
> I seem to be having problems wedging my clay.
>
> 1) Now that it is 100+ degrees out (ugh!) my clay seems to be drying out
> faster than I can wedge it. I spray with water and wait, but not much
> changes once I go back to wedging.
...
>
> I do have a wedging table, and I try to slam my clay down as hard as I
> can, but I am still getting air bubbles.
Lynne and Bruce Girrell on sun 13 may 07
Bunny Lemak wrote:
>I seem to be having problems wedging my clay.
>I do have a wedging table, and I try to slam my clay down as hard as I
>can, but I am still getting air bubbles.
Now you see why some of us have bit the bullet and bought a pugmill. Next
pugmill I get is going to be the Bailey double auger mixer/pugger. Good
design.
Back to your questions.
There are two parts two wedging: Homogenization and deairing. Cut/slam takes
care of the homogenization but, as you have observed, does poorly at
deairing. Deairing is accomplished during the spiral or ram's head (or
whatever) working.
I have come to prefer the ram's head method as I can apply tension on the
far side of the clay mass while applying compression on the near side which
I believe helps get rid of air bubbles as the clay is thinned under tension.
And pulling on one side while pushing the other makes me feel as though I',
circulating the clay mass well. I don't feel as though I get the same degree
of movement of the clay when I'm doing spiral wedging. I may simply not be
doing it right.
Wait. I said I have a pugmill, right? Why am I still wedging? Sometimes I do
it because I just have a small amount of clay that I have screwed up and
want to start over. But the major advantage is that there's nothing like
wedging to let you feel how ready the clay is to be worked, how stiff or
supple it is, when it is just perfect for whatever use you plan for it.
Bruce "squeeze me baby" Girrell
_________________________________________________________________
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William & Susan Schran User on sun 13 may 07
On 5/12/07 11:00 PM, "Bunny Lemak" wrote:
> I am short (under 5') and only weigh about 100 lbs - my arms feel like
> they are breaking off! Although I'm sure if I keep this up my upper arms
> will look awesome - providing I can last through the pain!
>
> I do have a wedging table, and I try to slam my clay down as hard as I
> can, but I am still getting air bubbles.
>
> 2) I have a slab roller, can I put my clay through the roller, take out
> fold in half, roll again, and repeat this method? Or will I keep trapping
> air?
A few things come to mind:
1.Your wedging surface is too high for you.
You shouldn't just use are strength to wedge.
The wedging surface needs to be low enough to allow you to lean into the
clay.
2.The clay may be too stiff to begin with.
Try cutting slices, stack in the plastic bag, poke depressions with your
fingers, dribble water over, stack the next slice and so on. Allow to sit
for couple of days, then wedge.
3. If you're wedging larger amounts of clay, you need to cut and slam, not
just slam. I wedge my reclaimed clay, 10 lbs at a time using this method.
You need a wire attached to the wedging board. The clay is cut in half by
pulling it up through the wire. The half in the right hand turns the clay
over, cut surface facing away from me, slamming on the board. The cut facet
of the half in the left hand, is turned towards me and slammed onto the
other half. Repeat for about a minute and I get blended, wedged clay with no
air pockets.
4. The slab roller idea will make the clay drier and add more air pockets.
--
William "Bill" Schran
wschran@cox.net
wschran@nvcc.edu
http://www.creativecreekartisans.com
Mike on sun 13 may 07
Some things I do to make sure I don't have problems wedging.
-Make sure the clay is soft. I wedge on a large slab of wood rather than
plaster because it removes water much more slowly. If the clay is too
soft, I'll wedge on plaster then move to the wood table when it gets
close to the right consistency.
-Don't wedge too much at one time. I usually don't go over 12-14 pounds
at once, and this really saves on my wrists. Also, I'm about double your
weight, so you may want to reduce that amount until you find a
comfortable lump size.
-Make sure your wedging table is low enough for you to use your body
weight to wedge the clay, rather than your muscle strength.
I don't know anything about your clay or how you wedge, so I can't say
much more, but all of the above work for me quite well.
Good luck!
Mike
Mike
in Taku, Japan
karatsupots.blogspot.com
potteryofjapan.com
Bunny Lemak wrote:
> I seem to be having problems wedging my clay.
>
> 1) Now that it is 100+ degrees out (ugh!) my clay seems to be drying out
> faster than I can wedge it. I spray with water and wait, but not much
> changes once I go back to wedging.
>
> I am short (under 5') and only weigh about 100 lbs - my arms feel like
> they are breaking off! Although I'm sure if I keep this up my upper arms
> will look awesome - providing I can last through the pain!
>
> I do have a wedging table, and I try to slam my clay down as hard as I
> can, but I am still getting air bubbles.
>
> 2) I have a slab roller, can I put my clay through the roller, take out
> fold in half, roll again, and repeat this method? Or will I keep trapping
> air?
>
> Can anyone please help me with my wedging problems??!!
>
> Thanks-
> Bunny
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> 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.
>
>
>
Marek & Pauline Drzazga-Donaldson on sun 13 may 07
Dear Bunny,
heat is something I cannot do anything about, but wedging I may well be =
able to.
Questions : -
What height is the table? Best height for you, no matter your height, is =
judged by standing relaxed at the table and letting your hands drop to =
the surface, when the fingers just touch the table surface then that is =
the correct height for you.
What amount, your angle of attack etc etc?
I have a video link on the keramix site (http://www.keramix.com/ ), =
click on the "Clay Preparation" link on the left hand side of the page =
and have a littlke look.
Happy potting Marek
Hand made Architectural Ceramics from No9 Studio UK www.no9uk.com
Fully Residential Pottery Courses and more at Mole Cottage =
www.moleys.com
"Tips and Time Travel from a Vernacular Potter" reviews on =
www.keramix.com
an irreverent point of view after 35 years in the game Marek =
Drzazga-Donaldson =20
Assemble a dragon finial at www.dragonfinials.co.uk
Free Works and Mole Cottage DVD's and Video content on all the sites
Drzazga Video Promotions at www.drzazga.co.uk Submit address for DVD
Ric Swenson on sun 13 may 07
if you have a concrete floor....try wedging/kneading on the floor....you ca=
n put your entire 100 lbs into the clay if you are over it...and not just r=
elying on your arms. Throwing the clay down to the floor will surely be be=
tter.
=20
or... Maybe shorten the legs on your table kneading surface?
=20
My 2 cents...
=20
Ric
> Date: Fri, 11 May 2007 16:34:27 -0700> From: tlemak@COX.NET> Subject: FW:=
Wedging problems> To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG> > Subject: Wedging problem=
s> > I seem to be having problems wedging my clay.> > 1) Now that it is 100=
+ degrees out (ugh!) my clay seems to be drying out> faster than I can wedg=
e it. I spray with water and wait, but not much> changes once I go back to =
wedging.> > I am short (under 5') and only weigh about 100 lbs - my arms fe=
el like> they are breaking off! Although I'm sure if I keep this up my uppe=
r arms> will look awesome - providing I can last through the pain!> > I do =
have a wedging table, and I try to slam my clay down as hard as I> can, but=
I am still getting air bubbles.> > 2) I have a slab roller, can I put my c=
lay through the roller, take out> fold in half, roll again, and repeat this=
method? Or will I keep trapping> air?> > Can anyone please help me with my=
wedging problems??!!> > Thanks-> Bunny> > ________________________________=
______________________________________________> Send postings to clayart@ls=
v.ceramics.org> > You may look at the archives for the list or change your =
subscription> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/> > Moderator o=
f the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
_________________________________________________________________
Change is good. See what=92s different about Windows Live Hotmail.
www.windowslive-hotmail.com/learnmore/default.html?locale=3Den-us&ocid=3DTX=
T_TAGLM_HMWL_reten_changegood_0507=
John Jensen on sun 13 may 07
Bunny;
No doubt you'll get a lot of good advice on this topic; but let me
make some comments. I hate to make any assumptions about your
experience level, but if you are something of a beginning potter it
might be worth your while to read up on a number of techniques.
That said,my main bit of advice is to make sure you are starting out
with pretty soft clay. If it is drying out really fast, then you need
to mix it with ooey goey slop until it is as soft as it can be and
still be kneaded. Don't wedge on plaster as that will dry it out
faster, rather wedge on a clean board such as unfinished plywood.
As soon as you have thoroughly wedged the clay, wrap it in plastic.
Don't let it sit on an absorbtive surface, or it will dry out faster
and unevenly at that.
The main thing is: soft clay. If you are breaking your arms your clay
is too hard. Just misting the clay with water isn't going to soften
the clay. You need to wedge it up with some very sloppy clay. The
more you work with the clay, the dryer it will get; so try to work
efficiently and quickly.
Best wishes...
John Jensen, Homewood Pottery
homewoodpottery.com
johnjensen@homewoodpottery.com
Veena Raghavan on mon 14 may 07
Bunny,
You have had plenty of great advice.
From my own experience, as I get older, I find that soft clay is the key. so
I cut slabs of clay, wet each slab by spritzing water, bang them together, or
press them hard together, spritz the wooden board I wedge on, and then wedge.
If I feel the clay needs more water, I cut it into slabs again, add more water
by spritzing, and that solves the problem. No strain and wedgable clay. Hope
this helps.
Veena
In a message dated 5/13/2007 11:47:27 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
wirerabbit2@GMAIL.COM writes:
>
> On 5/12/07, Bunny Lemak wrote:
> >I seem to be having problems wedging my clay.
> >
VeenaRaghavan@cs.com
Lee Love on mon 14 may 07
If the clay is too hard, wrap it in a wet towel the night before.
--
Lee in Mashiko, Japan
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
http://mashikopots.blogspot.com/
"To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts." -
Henry David Thoreau
"Let the beauty we love be what we do." - Rumi
WJ Seidl on mon 14 may 07
Another reason to wedge is to remove the spiral memory the clay acquires as
a result of being sent through a (single) auger pugmill. I have no idea
if this is
an issue on twin auger machines.
In all fairness, I do have to mention that wedging is SO much easier
once the clay has
been "exercised" (no, not "exorcised" LOL) by the pugmill.
If I'm feeling particularly lazy on any given day, I don't re-wedge,
just make sure the clay is
placed on the wheel so that it rotates "opposite" of the way it spun in
the pugmill. That eliminates most
spiraling issues also.
Best,
Wayne Seidl
Bruce Girrell wrote:
> Wait. I said I have a pugmill, right? Why am I still wedging? Sometimes
> I do
> it because I just have a small amount of clay that I have screwed up and
> want to start over. But the major advantage is that there's nothing like
> wedging to let you feel how ready the clay is to be worked, how stiff or
> supple it is, when it is just perfect for whatever use you plan for it.
>
> Bruce "squeeze me baby" Girrell
Patty Kaliher on mon 14 may 07
How tall is the wedging table? Stand with your hands by your side. Pull
your hands up so they are parallel with the floor. The distance from the
floor to your palms is the ideal height for the wedging table. You can then
push the clay with your elbows locked and use your body weight. I am also
5' and had to shorten my wedging table. Some art centers provide wooden
boxes for the shorter students to stand on while wedging.
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of Bunny
Sent: Friday, May 11, 2007 7:34 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: FW: Wedging problems
Subject: Wedging problems
I seem to be having problems wedging my clay.
1) Now that it is 100+ degrees out (ugh!) my clay seems to be drying out
faster than I can wedge it. I spray with water and wait, but not much
changes once I go back to wedging.
I am short (under 5') and only weigh about 100 lbs - my arms feel like
they are breaking off! Although I'm sure if I keep this up my upper arms
will look awesome - providing I can last through the pain!
I do have a wedging table, and I try to slam my clay down as hard as I
can, but I am still getting air bubbles.
2) I have a slab roller, can I put my clay through the roller, take out
fold in half, roll again, and repeat this method? Or will I keep trapping
air?
Can anyone please help me with my wedging problems??!!
Thanks-
Bunny
____________________________________________________________________________
__
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.
Bunny Lemak on mon 14 may 07
Oh you guys are the greatest!! I had my husband read everyones answers
and then we went right into the studio and lowered the wedging table -
duh!!
We both watched Marek's video and both came to the conclusion that my clay
is waaaaay to dry - even the new stuff I just bought! Marek - you just
throw that clay around with such ease! Guess if my clay was the right
consistency I would be doing the same thing - I'm learning!!
And Ric after reading your suggestion my husband wants me to get 100 lbs
of clay, throw it on the cement floor and they toss my (ahem!)nay-kid body
on to it.....see what you started?!!! LOL ...and NO that will not be
happening any time soon!!
Thanks again you guys.....I always knew Clayarters are the best!!
Bunny
Today it will only reach 101 - Friday we set a record: 106 - Way to early
in the summer for that heat! No wonder my clay is drying out!!!
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