mel jacobson on sun 30 aug 98
in reading vince's idea for flat plaster batts it reminded me that for years
at school i made plaster bushel baskets.
getting water out of vast amounts of re/cycled clay is a bugger. it drove me
semi crazy. (of course i was usually in that state)
i have tried the pants hanging from the ceiling trick and dozens of others,
but the
best i ever used was the basket.
take a large plastic bushel basket, feed tub, or other large plastic or
rubber container,
oil it lightly or use any technique for release. fill that container 1/2
full of plaster
and add the appropriate amount of water. when the plaster is starting to
set, displace
it with a smaller pail or round bottomed container filled with sand (or any
weight). hold it in
place until it stays. the next day pop the two containers off the plaster
form and
you have a great big drying batt that will hold about 80 lbs of clay.
i would dry these containers around the kilns for about a week.
we would line up against a wall, or under tables 5 gallon pails full of
scrap clay, add water, vinegar and ammonia, and let sit for weeks. when
that clay got stinky,
we would just dump the whole 5 gallon pail full of clay into the plaster
container.
bingo, three days later it would just drop into the pug mill and you do not
even
have to add dry clay to it.....just ready to throw. after years, the
plaster containers
would have students names, recipes, ideas and stuff graffitied into them,
we also
added old tempera paint to the mix to color code the containers.
older, more experienced students would learn that the stinky clay, from the
batts,
was very plastic, could be altered with sand and grog and was the favored clay
in the studio......and then the re/cycling would begin in earnest. (tom
sawyer)
of course for all of my demos, or when i made pots for me in the school
studio,
i only used old, re/cycled clay, (i never used the boxed clay that was
purchased
for student use.)
the other day tom wirt and betsy were over and i was telling them that i
used the walker
pug mill for all of my clay, and that i was so used to open clay bodies that
i throw fresh de/aired clay from continental or minnesota
right into the pug mill, added
scrap clay, some dry mix and just run it through a few times and throw
with it fresh......can't seem to tell the difference........but then i have
been
throwing for 45 years.
if you have a home studio and no pug mill, this system is just perfect.
test the clay in the batt with your finger now and then. when it is perfect,
just turn it out on your wedging table and have a go at it.....then into
plastic
bags...ready to roll. all you need is one of these in the corner of your
studio
and you will not even think about piles of scrap.
mel/mn
remember, this is a theory, not a recipe...it has about 50 variations
depending on your needs.
http://www.pclink.com/melpots
Doug Hively on mon 31 aug 98
In reading the idea of making a plaster bucket for scrap reclaim I noticed
what I believe to be an error in the mixing procedure of the plaster. I
have made slipcast & Ram press molds for several years and if the
instructions for mixing plaster are followed it won't be a very
satisfactory cast.
The way that USG recommends is the following. A consistancey of 70, ie 7lbs
of water to 10lbs of plaster. A water temp of 85-95 degrees (F) place the
water into the container first, then sift in the plaster, not as one would
flour into a cake mix, but rapidly spreading the plaster over the surface of
the water perhaps 15 seconds max. Allow to soak/slake for 2 min. Power mix
with a drill and jiffy mixer of the appropriate size for the batch, for
2minutes (min) 3 minutes (max) 1700 rpm is the suggested speed but just go
as fast as your drill will go. At this point pour into the cavitiy, or if
making the plaster bucket in the original message, get the smaller bucket
or container into the the larger one and there you go.
-----Original Message-----
From: mel jacobson
To: CLAYART@LSV.UKY.EDU
Date: Sunday, August 30, 1998 12:57 PM
Subject: plaster a bushel
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
in reading vince's idea for flat plaster batts it reminded me that for years
at school i made plaster bushel baskets.
getting water out of vast amounts of re/cycled clay is a bugger. it drove
me
semi crazy. (of course i was usually in that state)
i have tried the pants hanging from the ceiling trick and dozens of others,
but the
best i ever used was the basket.
take a large plastic bushel basket, feed tub, or other large plastic or
rubber container,
oil it lightly or use any technique for release. fill that container 1/2
full of plaster
and add the appropriate amount of water. when the plaster is starting to
set, displace
it with a smaller pail or round bottomed container filled with sand (or any
weight). hold it in
place until it stays. the next day pop the two containers off the plaster
form and
you have a great big drying batt that will hold about 80 lbs of clay.
i would dry these containers around the kilns for about a week.
we would line up against a wall, or under tables 5 gallon pails full of
scrap clay, add water, vinegar and ammonia, and let sit for weeks. when
that clay got stinky,
we would just dump the whole 5 gallon pail full of clay into the plaster
container.
bingo, three days later it would just drop into the pug mill and you do not
even
have to add dry clay to it.....just ready to throw. after years, the
plaster containers
would have students names, recipes, ideas and stuff graffitied into them,
we also
added old tempera paint to the mix to color code the containers.
older, more experienced students would learn that the stinky clay, from the
batts,
was very plastic, could be altered with sand and grog and was the favored
clay
in the studio......and then the re/cycling would begin in earnest. (tom
sawyer)
of course for all of my demos, or when i made pots for me in the school
studio,
i only used old, re/cycled clay, (i never used the boxed clay that was
purchased
for student use.)
the other day tom wirt and betsy were over and i was telling them that i
used the walker
pug mill for all of my clay, and that i was so used to open clay bodies that
i throw fresh de/aired clay from continental or minnesota
right into the pug mill, added
scrap clay, some dry mix and just run it through a few times and throw
with it fresh......can't seem to tell the difference........but then i have
been
throwing for 45 years.
if you have a home studio and no pug mill, this system is just perfect.
test the clay in the batt with your finger now and then. when it is
perfect,
just turn it out on your wedging table and have a go at it.....then into
plastic
bags...ready to roll. all you need is one of these in the corner of your
studio
and you will not even think about piles of scrap.
mel/mn
remember, this is a theory, not a recipe...it has about 50 variations
depending on your needs.
http://www.pclink.com/melpots
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