Bill Aycock on fri 13 feb 98
Pamela Jo wrote, asking about "wedging"
Pam- I am taking the liberty of answering, because I have done a lot, and
seen others do a lot, of this type of clay preparation. First, let me
describe the wedging table that is used for this.
You need a flat surface, two or three feet wide (left to right) and 18
inches to two ft deep (away from you. The material can be wood, plaster,
plywood, etc, but has two real requirements. 1. it should be easy to clean-
a canvas cover, stretched tight will help. 2. it must be strong enough to
take repeated slamming of a piece of clay half the size you intend to work
with. I like mine to be a little lower than waist high. The table has a
wire used for cutting the clay, running up from the front edge to a post or
backboard at the rear of the table(away from you) that is about shoulder
high, or a little lower. This wire usually is tied to a small turnbuckle
(at the top) to let you tighten the wire. I usually put the wire to one
side of the table, but many people put it near the middle.
The process is: take your clay lump in both hands and push it down on the
wire to cut the lump in half. (note this is written as I do it, and I am
right handed- adjust for yourself accordingly). Throw the left hand lump
down on the table so that a corner is facing upward. THIS IS THE WEDGE.
Then, slam the other lump down on the wedge so that a flat surface hits on
the wedge. This sequence, flat-on-wedge, is to prevent trapping air between
surfaces, and also insures that there is a change in clay orientation at
every stroke. I usually roll the resulting lump a little to smooth it out
before I repeat this sequence.
One refinement in the table I have used is to make one half of plaster, to
be used when I want to extract water, and the other half of plywood over
thicker wood, for the times when making the lump uniform and plastic is all
you want.. I cover both the wood and the plaster with canvas. ( this saves
getting bits of plaster in the clay)
Good luck- Bill- on Persimmon Hill.
Bill Aycock --- Persimmon Hill
Woodville, Alabama, US 35776
(in the N.E. corner of the State)
W4BSG -- Grid EM64vr
baycock@HiWAAY.net
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