Lester Haworth on wed 7 sep 05
Hi Carol,
The thing I always tell my customers is "A Pugmill is not a mixer, It's an
extruder and vacuum de-airer." A pugmills primary job is to reclaim moist
scraps and again de-air. Unless you own a Peter pugger, or the new Venco
Super twin your Pugmill will not mix scrap clay well. Investing in a Soldner
mixer would be my recommendation. I see them every once in a while on clay
art so keep a close eye out. They generally sell fast. As for the paint
inside the Pugmill chamber, I honestly don't understand why they (The
Pugmill companies.) do that. I recommend running the Pugmill with some high
sand or groged clay to abrade the paint from the walls. Just keep recycling
the clay thru the hopper until all the paint is removed. You have to throw
all that paint contaminated clay away or use it for cone packs. Your next
question deals with letting the Pugmill idle. I'll assume that you mean let
it run with no clay in it. If this is the case don't do it! Always keep clay
in the machine while you are pugging. unless you are done, then clean it
out. The last question deals with the oil smell. You'll need to distinguish
whether this smell is coming from the gear box or the vacuum pump. Usually
this is not something to worry about. If your using Spindle 30 from Shell
you'll need to switch to a pure vacuum pump oil that has NO DETERGENTS. Yes
this is emphasized. If you are running a detergent based oil in your vacuum
pump then change it. If your not sure then change it to be on the safe side.
You can order non-detergent vacuum pump oil from Laguna Clay Co. If you need
further help with your Venco give me a call.
Enjoy,
Lester R. Haworth III
Sales and Technical Support
Laguna Clay Co.
14400 Lomitas ave
City of Industry, CA 91746
(626)330-0631 ext. 229
les@lagunaclay.com
www.lagunaclay.com
"Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is
something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy." ~~ Albert Einstein
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG]On Behalf Of Carole Fox
Sent: Wednesday, September 07, 2005 10:09 AM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: a bunch of pugmill questions
I have a Venco de-airing pugmill. I am surprised by how difficult it is to
pull down on the bar to feed clay into the hopper. I am putting in a mix of
leatherhard trimmings and soft clay and really soft clay. I am not
overloading the hopper. I can really feel it in my upper back after a
morning of pugging. If I have any clay in there that is not soft, it
becomes hard to push through. Isn't the pugmill supposed to soften the
harder stuff by mixing it with the soft?
Ready for more questions?...
Should I be worrying that the paint inside the hopper is starting to peel
off into the clay?
How do you keep from getting the pugmill area a total mess? Your hands
become full of clay when you scoop up the clay to load the hopper and then
you have to pull down on the lever with clayey ( that IS a word, right?)
hands.
Is it okay to let the machines idle while you are cutting off the old pug or
grabbing more clay or whatever?
How long can you pug for without turning off the machine for a rest?
Is it unusual for the studio to smell like hot oil after pugging?
What can you do with the mixed clay that you get when you switch over to a
new clay? (Besides cone packs out the wazoo!)
That's all...for now! (...she says with a sheepish smile).
Carole Fox
Silver Fox Pottery
Elkton, MD
silverfoxpottery@comcast.net
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