mel jacobson on sun 5 sep 04
many of us worked clay for years without
pug mills or mixers.
i actually saw and used the very first prototype walker
mixer. made from a sausage making machine.
the best i have ever seen was
a sunken bathtub (in her back yard). half full of water.
the woman potter would sift her clay into
the water/tub. cover it and let the clay
settle to the bottom. add clay, scrap.
when the tub was full she opened it to
the sun. let it dry. if rain, she covered it.
took a shovel when perfect, and filled
plastic sheeting about 50 lb lumps.
aged.
ready to throw. and, damn nice clay i might add.
i used 5 gallon pails for years. about twenty of them.
lined them around my art room. i made large plaster
buckets out of a mold (farm store, rubber bushel basket)
(see my book, plans)
anyway, fill the mold half with water, sift in plaster to
proper amount...(see bag) sink a 5 gallon pail 65 percent
down into the plaster...it will displace to the rim of the mold.
i filled the 5 gallon pail with scrap clay or stones to weigh it down.
let it dry. pop them all apart. and the mold will allow 5 gallons
of clay to dry at a time. works like a charm.
i added old tempera paint to the plaster so i knew what mold
was what. use them, let them dry behind the kilns. amazing
how much clay one can make with 6 of these molds.
takes a day of messin and waiting to make one mold...but you
can throw pots while waiting.
i had a soldner and walker clay machines in my clay room at
school. they both worked, but remember the soldner is for
mixing only. it is not a pug mill.
if you have one claybody. there is no reason to use the
soldner. that machine is for mixing multi ingredients.
4 clays, silica, feldspar, iron. etc. and it does that very well.
the walker, in my opinion was the best of them all. a large
hopper to mix dry...and run it through several times for perfect
mixing...pugs it while it does that. i still have two walkers.
one at the farm too. keep them in tip top shape. fuss over them/
i love them. (osha killed the walker, and a few missing hands helped.)
mel
From:
Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S.A.
web site: my.pclink.com/~melpots
or try: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
new/ http://www.rid-a-tick.com
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