Gerard Carriere on tue 4 jan 00
------------------
Cracks in handbuilding-A potter friend is starting in pottery and doing a
lot of handbuilding which is not my bag. He works in my shop but I cannot
help him as much as I and He would like with his problems. He is presently
using a Cone 6 Tucker's clay: Mid Smooth Stone Speck for fairly large
handbuilding. He oftens has to rehumidify the pieces after days of absence
or hours of steady work. Rehumidified pieces seem to be less solid and less
resistant to pressures and cracking. Seeking advice on choice of clay at
cone 6, techniques for improving joints, rehumidifying, working on a piece
over several days. G=E9rard in No=EBlville, Ontario
Mike Gordon on tue 4 jan 00
HI,
I'm not familiar with the clay you mentioned but it should contain some
medium sized grog, in between working sessions cover tightly woth
plastic, large, garden cuttings bags, cleaner bags if surface treatment
is delicate ( keep away from small kids). Spray with an atomizer every
few days. If coil building you must move a lot of clay when joining the
coils or the joints will crack for sure. Mike, in Walnut Creek
george koller on tue 4 jan 00
This seems all too easy an answer, probably because I have
very little direct experience, but I have been reading about
paper clay. Tucker has four types and samples available
as well as the (Rosalt?) book which goes into great detail about
sculpturing techniques and advantages.
George
Sturgeon Bay, WI - Door County, just a couple of lakes over,
same weather.
Gerard Carriere wrote:
=3E ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
=3E ------------------
=3E Cracks in handbuilding-A potter friend is starting in pottery and doing =
a
=3E lot of handbuilding which is not my bag. He works in my shop but I =
cannot
=3E help him as much as I and He would like with his problems. He is =
presently
=3E using a Cone 6 Tucker's clay: Mid Smooth Stone Speck for fairly large
=3E handbuilding. He oftens has to rehumidify the pieces after days of =
absence
=3E or hours of steady work. Rehumidified pieces seem to be less solid and =
less
=3E resistant to pressures and cracking. Seeking advice on choice of clay at
=3E cone 6, techniques for improving joints, rehumidifying, working on a =
piece
=3E over several days. G=E9rard in No=EBlville, Ontario
Mark & Pauline Donaldson-Drzazga on tue 4 jan 00
----- Original Message -----
From: Gerard Carriere
To:
Sent: 04 January 2000 13:46
Subject: cracks in handbuilding
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
------------------
Cracks in handbuilding-A potter friend is starting in pottery and doing a
lot of handbuilding which is not my bag. He works in my shop but I cannot
help him as much as I and He would like with his problems. He is presently
using a Cone 6 Tucker's clay: Mid Smooth Stone Speck for fairly large
handbuilding. He oftens has to rehumidify the pieces after days of absence
or hours of steady work. Rehumidified pieces seem to be less solid and less
resistant to pressures and cracking. Seeking advice on choice of clay at
cone 6, techniques for improving joints, rehumidifying, working on a piece
over several days. Girard in Noklville, Ontario
Dear Gerard,
If your friend wraps his pieces in Newspaper (can be left for several days),
or Newspaper then in thin plastic up to Months at a time, then he should be
able to use any clay he wants. The Newspaper has the capability of evening
out the various dampnesses within a clay structure. Use it on any size and
shape, I've been using this way of working with clay (joining thrown,
slabbbed and sculpted together) for many years, and it really works like a
miracle.
Happy Potting and a great 2000 Marek http://www.moley.uk.com
Anita Rickenberg on wed 5 jan 00
------------------
It is much better to keep moist than to try to re-hydrate. I've had good
luck with damp paper wrapped around the work (newspaper, papertowels, etc.)
and then wrap very well with plastic. By keeping airtight, checking
occasionally, misting when necessary, it will keep moist indefinitely.
Anita
----- Original Message -----
From: Gerard Carriere =3Cgerardc=40cyberbeach.com=3E
To: =3CCLAYART=40LSV.UKY.EDU=3E
Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2000 8:46 AM
Subject: cracks in handbuilding
=3E ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
=3E ------------------
=3E Cracks in handbuilding-A potter friend is starting in pottery and doing =
a
=3E lot of handbuilding which is not my bag. He works in my shop but I =
cannot
=3E help him as much as I and He would like with his problems. He is =
presently
=3E using a Cone 6 Tucker's clay: Mid Smooth Stone Speck for fairly large
=3E handbuilding. He oftens has to rehumidify the pieces after days of =
absence
=3E or hours of steady work. Rehumidified pieces seem to be less solid and
less
=3E resistant to pressures and cracking. Seeking advice on choice of clay at
=3E cone 6, techniques for improving joints, rehumidifying, working on a =
piece
=3E over several days. G=E9rard in No=EBlville, Ontario
miriam on wed 5 jan 00
George-
Yours is not a simplistic answer to Gerard's question about cracks in
handbuilding. I've been using paper clay for sculptural work. I will
say that I am building SMALL (under 10") slab & figure combinations, not
larger work. But I am mending any cracks with paper clay. One of the
figures had a face I really did not like. I sawed it off and replaced
the bone dry face with a freshly pinched and modeled face. It dried
with no cracking between the two parts. With rewetting via a wet brush,
then immediate application of a couple of coats of p slip, I can add on
to a coil piece that dried before I was done with it. I make my own p
clay, one roll of toilet paper per 25 lbs of clay, and the work can take
abuse (rethinking a partly or totally dry form) and be altered or mended
as I please. This proportion of paper to clay retains excellent
plasticity, too. (The cone 8 clay I make it from has good plasticity to
begin with.) Gerard's friend can certainly try this alteration of his
clay to prevent or mend cracking. Rosette Gault's book has details.
Mimi in Hillside, NJ
george koller wrote:
>
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>
> This seems all too easy an answer, probably because I have
> very little direct experience, but I have been reading about
> paper clay. Tucker has four types and samples available
> as well as the (Rosalt?) book which goes into great detail about
> sculpturing techniques and advantages.
>
> George
> Sturgeon Bay, WI - Door County, just a couple of lakes over,
> same weather.
>
> Gerard Carriere wrote:
>
> > ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> > ------------------
> > Cracks in handbuilding-A potter friend is starting in pottery and doing a
> > lot of handbuilding which is not my bag. He works in my shop but I cannot
> > help him as much as I and He would like with his problems. He is presently
> > using a Cone 6 Tucker's clay: Mid Smooth Stone Speck for fairly large
> > handbuilding. He oftens has to rehumidify the pieces after days of absence
> > or hours of steady work. Rehumidified pieces seem to be less solid and less
> > resistant to pressures and cracking. Seeking advice on choice of clay at
> > cone 6, techniques for improving joints, rehumidifying, working on a piece
> > over several days. Girard in Noklville, Ontario
ferenc jakab on wed 5 jan 00
Don't rehumidify, the clay shrinks (or expands) differentially between the
wetter and drier areas and cracking occurs. The trick is to not let the clay
dry out in the first place. I use damp cloths (not wet) on the parts I've
already built and cover the work with damp cloth and plastic, making sure
that the bag lets no air in when I leave the piece for any length of time.
For my bigger pieces I scrounge those plastic bags they put over Mattresses
in bedding shops. A hand held sprayer can be used for re wetting as you
work.
Bigger pieces of course, must be allowed to dry to leather hardness as you
build or else the clay at the bottom will have insufficient structural
strength. But don't let it go to more than leather hard before the piece is
finished. The bigger the piece the slower the drying should be. Some of my
life size figures take a couple of months to dry.
Any clay can be used for hand building, even porcelain if you are clever
enough or desperate enough. Generally though a hand building clay should be
well grogged.
There are probably firms producing special hand building clays in the US, as
there are here in Australia. Raku clays can be good for hand building if you
don't mind a surface with a lot of character.
Feri.
Phyllis E. Tilton on wed 5 jan 00
Gerard: There is another step that your friend can take to protect his
handbuilt project. First, be careful not to use too much water on a
piece--the rehiydrating can cause uneven moisture and that can result,
sometimes, in slumping or sagging. I use a damp cloth to cover --damp not
wet. It can be old sheets, shirts, whatever. Terry toweling can be too heavy
sometimes and might leave and impression in the clay or eliminate some very
fine detail. I also wrap it around another part to keep that part from drying
out while I am working on details, etc. After I cover it, between sessions of
working on it, I then wrap securely with the plastic. I hope this will help
him.
Phyllis Tilton
Daisypet@aol.com
tgschs10 on thu 6 jan 00
Gerald,
You might suggest to your friend to try "paper clay". Essentially, you can
add paper pulp to any clay and make "paper clay". The advantage is that you
can allow "paper clay" to completely dry - bone dry and rewet it without
having the cracking problem; in fact, even if it does crack rewet the crack
and "stuff" in some wet clay. I had a paraplegic 19 year old [all four
extremities paralyzed] that made some drawings on clay slabs that I took him
using his mouth to hold a needle tool that by the time I picked them up were
completely dry; I then rewet these slabs and incorporated it into pots that
I made and fired many weeks later.
Tom Sawyer
Orlando, Fl
tgschs10@msn.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gerard Carriere"
To:
Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2000 6:46 AM
Subject: cracks in handbuilding
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
------------------
Cracks in handbuilding-A potter friend is starting in pottery and doing a
lot of handbuilding which is not my bag. He works in my shop but I cannot
help him as much as I and He would like with his problems. He is presently
using a Cone 6 Tucker's clay: Mid Smooth Stone Speck for fairly large
handbuilding. He oftens has to rehumidify the pieces after days of absence
or hours of steady work. Rehumidified pieces seem to be less solid and less
resistant to pressures and cracking. Seeking advice on choice of clay at
cone 6, techniques for improving joints, rehumidifying, working on a piece
over several days. Girard in Noklville, Ontario
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