vince pitelka on fri 6 apr 01
> Mortar mixers can be adapted to mix clay easier than a cement mixer.
> Cement mixers use gravel to help mix the concrete. There is no real
> mixing action that would work on clay in such a mixer (IMHO). Mortar
> mixers, as Vince pointed out once, work because they scrape the contents
> about a 1.4 inch from the surface of the barrel. I have used one for
> making clay, although I have a soldner mixer now.
Just to add to Marcia's post, for those who don't know, when we refer to a
cement mixer, it means the stereotypical small mixer with the inclined round
barrel with the fixed internal blades which rotate with the drum. If you
try to mix plastic clay in such a mixer it just rotates with the barrel and
no mixing at all takes place. Those mixers only work on a medium which is
semi-fluid (such as recycle slurry - see below).
A mortar mixer is a hopper-type mixer similar to a dough mixer, with a
horizontal shaft and blades rotating within the rounded bottom of the
hopper. To adapt to claymixing it is usually advantageous to weld
additional blades to the shaft, so that the blades do truly come within
about 1/4" to 1/2" of the hopper surface. You do not want them closer,
because then they will just scrape the surface clean and turn the whole clay
mass as a big lump. There needs to be a layer of clay stuck to the inside
of the hopper, just as in the barrel of a pugmill. With either machine,
when working properly the rotating blades constantly shove that stuck clay
around, blending it and mixing it, so it is not as if there is an unmixed
layer adjacent to the hopper or barrel.
One thing a conventional cement mixer is good for is blending recycle
slurry. If you do not have a pugmill, and you want to get nice smooth
creamy recycle before stiffening it on plastic sheets or bats, a
conventional cement mixer works great with no alterations. Slake down your
recycle, dump in in the mixer, blend it for a while until it is homogenous,
and then mound it up in rows on bats or plastic sheets and stiffen to
working consistency.
Best wishes -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
Home - vpitelka@dtccom.net
615/597-5376
Work - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 ext. 111, fax 615/597-6803
http://www.craftcenter.tntech.edu/
Russel Fouts on fri 25 oct 02
>> About two years ago in one of the clay magazines that I recieve there was an article explaining how to do this. Maybe someone on the list remembers which mag it was. Anyway the general idea is to remove the blade from inside the drum, and replace them with I think three 1/4" threaded rods going from one side of the drum to the other. You will probably have to drill holes. The problem with the blades is that clay will stick to them unless extremely wet. I don't know if it will work. Like Vince said if it worked everybody would be doing it. If you had an old cement mixer sitting around, it would be worth a try, but to go out, and spend $300 for something that might work doesn't make sense. Just put the $300 in a jar labelled "new pug mill" <<
I guess it only works if no one has already told you it won't. I mixed
the studio clay at TJC for 3 years with one. Actually, I'm wrong. Vince
mentioned in a similar post a while ago that a mortar mixer would work.
That must have been what I was using.
Russel
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vince pitelka on fri 25 oct 02
> I guess it only works if no one has already told you it won't. I mixed
> the studio clay at TJC for 3 years with one. Actually, I'm wrong. Vince
> mentioned in a similar post a while ago that a mortar mixer would work.
> That must have been what I was using.
Russell -
A mortar mixer, being very similar to a dough mixer, works fine, and I never
said otherwise. A normal cement mixer does not work well, no matter what
you do to it.
Best wishes -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
Home - vpitelka@dtccom.net
615/597-5376
Work - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 ext. 111, fax 615/597-6803
http://www.craftcenter.tntech.edu/
Jon Pacini on fri 24 jan 03
Greetings all ---- I used a cement mixer for a while and found a couple of
items to watch for.
First, if you have a mixer with blades attached to the 'can', the
blades need to be positioned with a gap between the 'can' wall and the
blade. If the blade is flush up to the wall, the individual clay ingredients
will tend to pack into that corner and not mix.
Secondly, (this applies if the blades are attached to the 'can') clay
doesn't tumble as readily as concrete does, even dry it has plastic
properties. So you need to go at a slower speed. Some mixers are two speed,
I geared mine down even lower. Otherwise the clay ingredients just go round
and round and round, but never mix together.
The canvas and bungee cord over the opening Idea, -that was posted
earlier-, is a great solution for the dust issue. Kudos on that one-----
If you're lucky enough to find a mixer with blades that revolve
independently or are stationary and the can revolves, you resolve some of
these problems. I eventually used a Hobart dough mixer from a bakery.
Best regards
Jon Pacini
Clay Manager
Laguna Clay Co
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