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mixing clay with water

updated thu 7 aug 03

 

mel jacobson on sat 2 aug 03


i have found that the more water used in the mixing
of clay the better...this goes back to reading i did in
1955. `mixing slurry and then let it dry makes the most
plastic, well mixed clay.`

very few potters use blungers any more....some of those
potters would mix for 24 hours in a slurry condition.

the new high speed powerful pug mills seem to mix well,
but, no water in the mix, and over dry mixing can cause
problems, big problems in my opinion...bill's experience
shows this.

i always soak my scrap in buckets of water mixed with
vinegar and ammonia. i let them sit for days. age.
i dump them in my pug mill (old walker) and add a bit
of continental clay stoneware clay dry and some sand
and grog and lake superior found iron sand.

for years at hopkins high school i found that soaking scrap
was the way to go, it hid all the mess and old pots, but
kept us with 50 gallon tubs of slurry. that was mixed
in the soldner, or walker to make new clay. we re/cycled
every drop of clay. kid power. always had a great deal of
continental clay dry on hand. we would fill in with boxed
clay.

commercial pug mills seems to mix so much better than
the average home or shop pug mill..deaire, etc.

so, i am sure bill is on track with using more water, let time
take its course. then run the clay through the pug mill
at least 3-4 times.

all i can say is that is how i do it, make a great deal
of my own clay, and have virtually no cracking as you
describe.
mel
from the farm/HAY CREEK

steve harrison on wed 6 aug 03


> I have always heard that the kind of "aging" that improves workability
> does
> not happen in the slip form


Hi Ron,
I have personal experience of clay ageing in the slip form. I once made
a bucket of slip and didn't use it for some years. When I prised off
the lid, and tried to put my hand in, the slip had become so
thixotropic that it was solid. I used an electric drill and stirrer to
licquidise the slip again, when I put my hand in it was very smooth and
creamy, I squeezed my hand to remove some of the excess slip and found
that I couldn't open my fingers. My hand was glued tight.The clay had
become so increadably plastic that I had to peel my fingers open with
my other hand.
I dried out a little of the clay slip and made a few coil and dilation
tests. It was fantastic. Just as good as it could have been if left
plastic for that same period of time.