Recycling Clay by Hand in My Home Studio
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- Опубликовано: 17 фев 2015
- A tutorial for anyone wanting to see the process of recycling clay by hand for personal use. In an ideal world, we would all have pugmills to recycle our clay, but those of us on a limited budget will sacrifice some time to turn our unfired scraps into usable clay once again. With a bit of organization, some space, and some old fashioned elbow grease, I show how to turn scraps of bone dry clay into a slaked down clay slurry, and a plaster mold to dry it out to a wedgable consistency.
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I am a high school ceramics teacher and potter. I have been working in clay for over 30 years, and I have been teaching for over 28 years, the past 20 have been specifically teaching high school ceramics. I love what I do! I have my own studio in my home basement, where I work on my personal pottery for my Etsy site; www.etsy.com/shop/KaransPotsA...
I started my RUclips channel a few years ago, to make videos to help my students if they are absent and miss a demo, or if they would like to explore more advanced techniques independently. I have been amazed to reach such a wider audience than my own students!
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Excellent tutorial. This de-mystifies how to recycle clay. It was something I was worrying about as a painting and drawing teacher doing pottery for the first time. Nothing will ever go to waste again. I am so excited about the clay trap. My sink has been stopped up since school started. No more clay will escape down the drain. Thanks so much!
Nice! As a scientist, it's nice to take a step back and see a realistic and practical way to deal with the chemical and physical properties of clay. This will be most helpful when it comes time to live off the land.
Thanks for this video! I've been collecting all my scraps and soaking them, but since I have no access to a pug mill I wasn't sure how I was going to recycle the clay. Now I can't wait until I have a plaster of paris bowl made so that I can start.
A fellow potter also told me that she she collects all her trimmings in a cotton pillow case. She then submerges the whole thing in water for an hour or two and then drops it repeatedly on a concrete surface, and then wedges. She says it works almost as well as a pug mill, and it much less messy than doing it the standard way. Just something to try if anyone is interested.
+Esther Schletz
That's awesome about the pillow case, Esther! I've heard of that too! I just had the big molds on hand, and knew that it worked for sure for me! I think the pillowcase is brilliant though! I just may have to hose off my concrete patio to try that out sometime!!! :-) If I like that way better, I just may have to do another video! Ha! :-) Good luck- and I'd love to hear how your experience goes!
Evolution Stoneware has a similar method. Put the clay in a ziplock or other water tight bag with a bit of water. Then slowly submerge in a large bucket of water being careful not to allow more water in. Seal and submerge. Leave it alone for a few days or so (don't recall the exact amount of time). The pressure from the water in the bucket forces the water into the clay. I did this with a large block of clay and it worked perfectly.
Hi Tracy- I also have a video on submerging a block within a bucket of water! ruclips.net/video/FfVaz5lOWMI/видео.html
Thank you so much for all your videos I'm just getting into pottery and you're amazing at everything you do and how you teach your technics.
You answered so many of my questions. Thanks!
Good info, well presented. You got right to The topic and I appreciate that. Thanks for the video.
! you answered all of my questions! Thank you so much
I love mudtools too, especially their all in 1 trimming tool!
Great video, I like how you use the wire thing.
Came across your video looking for info on Trap Systems. You use the one I will be buying. The bonus of your video is the 3-gallon bucket to rinse in AND recycling clay scraps. I've been tossing most of my harder scraps - but no more. Thanks a bunch!!!
Oh, that’s awesome!!!! I’m so glad! :)
Loved the video, I have 16 boxes of Plainsman clay that are leather or harder. Been gone for 4+ years and need to pot again!!!!
Great video!
Good job, well explained, consise. Exelent material for learning. Thank you
Thank you!!! :-)
Great tips, very helpful
Great explanation! Thanks!
Hello Karan,
I thoroughly enjoyed watching your recycling tips as I am a complete beginner. I was also pleasantly surprised to learn you are from Mason. I live in Monroe, OH. So, I will be following your channel and hopefully learn more as I begin to explore more - very excited to learn and create my own pieces. Thank you very much for sharing!
+Beta Cummins Oh, what fun, Beta! I lived in Monroe for 8 years before we built our house in Lebanon!!! (I teach in Mason- but live in Lebanon!) :-) My first studio was in my backyard shed there in Monroe! :-) Just shoot me any questions you may have from time to time... and maybe I can help you out! :-) Karan
HUGE help!
Thanks for the video! I am recycling my first batch of clay at home today, hoping it goes alright!
This is exactly what I needed. My scraps bucket is almost full.... And I've never reclaimed clay before (very newbie). I might try a combo of this method and the pillowcase method as I have no plaster YET :) Thanks so much.
You can also use a small piece of drywall with a towel on it (you put your wet scraps on this). Cover with the ends of the towel to form the wet scraps into a loaf and let it sit for a week, always check each day to see if it is ready to cut into chunks. Then let the chunks sit until ready to wedge. Remove little areas of the towel as needed each day as it dries. Then you rinse off your towel with a hose outside. I only do this in spring or summer!
Thanks for this video!
Thank you mam ,I am so glad that you paid attention to me. OK mam I ll seek for that. I don't know why now a days I am dreaming of making ceramic pottery for my rooftop gardening.
Grazie, molto utile!!
I am fairly new to ceramics ( 3ish years) and in my ceramics class they just got rid of their trimmings in the trash I was horrified I normally add facets and trim a lot so I figured I was wasting so much. So I started collecting my trimmings and since I had to leave my recycle bucket their ( it's a hassle to bring it home everytime) I've become the recycling person. So now people are going to let me recycle their clay. I'm not mad about it just overwhelmed. Anyways this really helps me as I've hardly ever recycled clay by hand. I appreciate it. I also saw a method of rehydrating large masses of clay by wrapping it in an air tight bag adding a bit of water inside and dunking it in some water. Apparently the flow/ gravity of the water allows it to distribute evenly and very quickly. I tried it once and after a week my entire past leather hard bag was plastic. Definitely recommend.
Excellent!!! ANYTHING to make it easier! It is the thing I dislike the MOST about working in clay! If you are recycling other people's clay... let me give you one bit of advice. Watch for foreign objects... like needle tools. When I recycle the clay at school... (And I have 150 kids come through my room a day) the occasional little darlin' will leave a tool or object in the clay, which can become a danger. I've stabbed myself with the errant needle tool more than once. And sponges. They leave sponges in the slip bucket. Ugh. That can be a real annoyance too! I always feel much better about recycling my own clay by hand, because I know I didn't leave tools or objects in it! ;-) Good luck! And, don't take on so much clay for others that it gets in the way of your own creating time and having fun! That's what it's all about! ;-)
I'll keep that in mind! I had an accident recently with my serrated rib, so I've been cautious lately anyways. I am lucky though because I am throwing in a professional studio so hopefully no one leaves their tools in it! But if this was my high school class, they would have thrown them in intentionally. High schoolers are so mean haha!
Rachel K NC IA chi7
thanks for this video!
Excellent
very helpful your demonstration thank you
You are welcome!
Thank you so much!!!
Karan, thanks for these ideas for recycling clay that are new to me. I'm very constrained for space, and some of these ways of dealing with clay scraps will be quite useful.
I'm living in the Utica, NY area. Here we have an institution that is an art school/museum, Muson Williams Proctor Art Institute, now associated with Pratt school of design in Brooklyn, NY. They mostly use a stoneware clay that they mix themselves, but some students prefer a porcelain clay body they buy from Sheffield Pottery in Massachusetts. Over in the corner of the studio they have two large cans of porcelain scraps that the teacher said, "take it all". Probably at least 100 pounds or more. So, your techniques for re-cycling will help me greatly with this. Thanks.
+Chris Amar That's AWESOME! Porcelain scrap can be a goldmine! I need to get recycling in my studio right now too, as I just have so much scrap sitting around which I have been procrastinating on recycling! ;-) But, it is so rewarding at the end... it's like great bonus clay that didn't cost you anything more out of pocket! (...and I'm always looking for a bargain!) ;-) Let me know if you have any questions you encounter! :-)
thank you!!!!!!!
Ik heb er uit geleerd
Dank u.
Karen,
Here's a tip--if new bagged clay feels stiff, it's because of the gel they add to bagged clay when processed. All u need to do is slam the bag several times to the floor--it reactivates the gel and will be ready to throw--without going through the slicing etc u are doing . Courtesy of Bill Van Gilder😉
Oh, absolutely! That one was due to being stored for a long time- and was literally just too dry!! Also, since then, I’ve been doing the trick of just adding water to the bag of clay in lieu of the slicing! But, yes- for sure- I should have covered the dropping truck in that video!!! Thanks! :)
Thank you, Karan, for another excellent video! Your easy-going attitude has helped release the intimidation and stress associated with entering into making pottery. Do you use a respirator when readying your pieces for bisque firing? Do you mix your glazes? What items do you use when mixing glazes...if you do that? Your advice has been a life-saver ... thank you for all you do to further hobby and professional pottery.
Hi Susan- I don't ever sand my pieces- so I don't wear a respirator. I don't allow my kids to sand either, I just tell them to clean it thoroughly when it is in the wet/leatherhard stage. I mix some commercial glazes- and I use my Talisman sieve to mix- (AND wear my respirator) but I don't mix my glazes from scratch. I don't have the storage at home, nor the facilities for proper ventilation for mixing dry ingredients. I do have a video on mixing a glaze- but I do it outside! Here's the video on mixing a glaze: ruclips.net/video/ZJnOjwV1fYE/видео.html
Hi @KaransPotsAndGlass,
I have a bag of clay that went from bone dry 3-5 lbs chunks to extra-watery slip when I was trying to rehydrate it. I was using a method of combining the clay with 1 cup of water in a sealed bag inside a bucket full of water (so that the water inside the bag equally disperses around the clay), but didn't realize that my bag had a hole. Now I have clay that is like extra watery slip. Do you have recommendations? Should I use your method of letting it sit in a plaster mold? I'm not in a hurry to get it dry. Thanks!
you could let it sit in a plaster mold... or, (and I'm actually working on a video about this now...) you could place it in a heavy canvas type bag...or in my case, dump it into a canvas-lined milkcrate (outside) to let sit. Then, the water will go through the canvas ... and it will slowly dry as in the case of the plaster mold. Do dump off any separated water which is on top if you can!
Thank you for the video of reclaiming used clay.....how did you make the plaster mold?
+Ali Tinney
I made the plaster mold by pouring plaster into some sort of container... you can make molds from a flexible rubber pan coated with petroleum jelly... (Like the rubber black pans you could buy at a farm supply store), or by lining a cardboard box with a plastic bag. Then, I pour in the plaster, then push another item (like a bowl or smaller box) which is either protected by a bag or petroleum jelly- down into the first plaster filled mold...it squishes the plaster upward, and you have to hold it down in there to allow the plaster to set up and hold the shape of the indent. The plaster walls are ideally thick enough 2-3" thick to be very sturdy and absorbent when dry. I hope that helps! Let me know if you need any more clarification!
Hello! Is the upper layer of slightly cloudy water in a bucket of well-settled clay-water ok to pour down the sink? I got a Glaco trap but is any amount of water with a tiny amount of clay going to damage my plumbing?
I usually pour off the water that has settled, but as it begins to mix up the clay underneath, I stop just shy of pouring that down my drain! Actually, I do use a pre-drain bucket too as a matter of precaution. The big bucket in my sink catches most settling, and then what does make it down the drain gets to the Gleco. :)
Hi Karan, what is the table surface made of where you are wedging your recycled clay?
+Kristen Donlon My table top surface is a thick sturdy plywood covered with a very heavy canvas. (bought from a painting supplier) I love working on heavy stretched canvas- even my wettest areas don't soak through. (I used to use some canvas-covered plaster wedging boards, but really don't use them at home anymore- just school- by taking a thick frame, covering in heavy canvas, and pouring in plaster for absorbency. Now though, I just prefer my table-top!
I reuse my clay and have systems to reclaim....my question is, do I need to let my clay sit for any length of time before I can throw with it? TIA
I don't typically let mine set for any length of time after I recycle... I normally use it right up! :)
Thank you thank you! What is your wedging surface made from?
Hi Debbie- My tabletop is plywood covered with heavy canvas! The canvas is so heavy, moisture doesn't even soak through it! :-) I have another surface I use to spread out the slippy clay which is just plaster, but I normally don't wedge on it! :-)
Thanks for the video - looks like one can see every step of any sort of recycling in this one! So you never added any other ingredient right? Cause I remember reading some stuff way back, and it said clay loses plasticity and you should add this and that...?
Cenk- sorry for the delay in responding. Sometimes, if the clay is not truly plastic, I might add some bentonite to help... but most of the time I don't do that!
Gracias
Thanks, very clear advice. What is your worktop made of - does it need to be absorbent for wedging? I ask because I need to build a table for my wife who is a beginner potter, thanks a lot.
It’s just a board covered in heavy canvas. I like working on that to keep the clay from getting stuck. Some people like hardy backer board (cement) and I’ve heard of others preferring nice birch plywood - but I’ve not personally tried either of those!
@@KaransPotsAndGlass Thanks very much for replying. I was thinking of using Hardiebacker and making an additional small sturdy table with a potter's plaster top for drying and processing. Thanks, there's a lot to learn.
Hello, Karan. This is so helpful, as are all of your videos. I have a question about the ‘sludge’ from your Sind rinsing bucket. Can you reclaim that, or is it best to discard it, as you mention?
I always discard the sludge- (just like when cleaning out my sink trap) as there are all sorts of gross contaminates- stuff from when I mop- and all combination of glazes and clay. You could dump in a bisque bowl to dry and dispose of it if you don’t have a place to dump!
Ok, sounds good. Thanks so much.
How do you get clay to correct viscosity for making mugs etc?
Mines always to wet it seems or turn to hard I never get "plastic "
Good job haa
mam, how you made these soil. please tell how I can start making pottery.
+Ayesha Noor I purchase my clay originally from suppliers. Perhaps you have a supplier near you which sells clay?
Tell me how you can prepare for the clay molds for casting of lead in it, it will not crack? But where I live here I Zsolt clay. It is suitable for modeling ???
No idea! I don't cast metals!
Oh, and I meant to say I have no idea what Zsolt clay is...
ОК
Late question, what is the surface of your wedging table??
My table is just plywood covered with a heavy canvas. I have thought about switching it out to a nice finish plywood- like birch or a hardibacker board, but have not gotten around to it. It's not a special wedging surface! :)
Hi! Thanks for your advices!!!
Where can I buy a chalk mold like yours? Or how can I do it in my home studio?
Thanks!!! :)
Sara
+sara morini Hi Sara- I just make one from plaster in my studio!
I made the plaster mold by pouring plaster into some sort of container... you can make molds from a flexible rubber pan coated with petroleum jelly... (Like the rubber black pans you could buy at a farm supply store), or by lining a cardboard box with a plastic bag. Then, I pour in the plaster, then push another item (like a bowl or smaller box) which is either protected by a bag or petroleum jelly- down into the first plaster filled mold...it squishes the plaster upward, and you have to hold it down in there to allow the plaster to set up and hold the shape of the indent. The plaster walls are ideally thick enough 2-3" thick to be very sturdy and absorbent when dry. I hope that helps! Let me know if you need any more clarification!
+KaransPotsAndGlass thank you!! It seems very easy! :) I'll try as soon as possible! :)
What if there are different types of clay, ex stoneware. Can you mix them together?
It is possible sometimes to mix together different clays of the same cone. I would definitely recommend testing a small batch before mixing a lot and possibly ruining it!
@@KaransPotsAndGlass Thanks a lot 😊
Did you make your plaster mold or did you purchase it somewhere? If you made it, can you share how you did that?
Yes, I made that- it's over 30 years old! I can try to do a video on that sometime soon! I had an original bowl mold, placed it upside down in a sturdy circular tube (like what is sold for footings for concrete), sealed all "holes" with tape and clay, and then poured plaster around it.
What can I use if I don't have a plaster mold?
I've heard of people using a pillowcase and filling it with the slip, and then hanging it suspended, allowing the water to drip out and it will stiffen with some exposure to air... Or place it on a surface that isn't absorbent, and placing a towel above it, to allow it to dry from the top only...
Excellent tips!!! Thank you for sharing. Glad not to have to spend $$$$ on a pug mill. .
+Deborah Pelley You're welcome! A pug mill has never been in my budget, so it has been a work in progress over the years developing a way that works best for me to recycle in my studio! :-)
What if a i severely moldy clay? Can this be reclaimed? Would i have to let it get bone dry? Will the mold go away once bone dried? I have it in a plastic bag
But I’m so grossed out by it and haven’t let it dry properly
Moldy clay is the best! I work in porcelain and I often add a 'little something' (spit usually) to my clay when I am storing it in its bag so that it does get green and moldy. A lot of artists do that and never tell anyone. Many use cat poo or chicken poo. It helps with the plasticity of your clay. Just wedge it up. You will never smell it.
@@Tangobutton wow, and here I thought I had to throw it out
cuz I thought it went bad(like bread)
Thanks for these tips its gonna be a pass on the poo ideas 😂 my clay is as hard as a brick. But it’s fuzzy!? I assume this is mold too, should I reclaim it, or is hard moldyfuzzy clay useless??
It’s still able to be reclaimed! Some people swear by vinegar to keep down mold too!
Such a helpful video thank you!! I'll be setting up my own studio in the next couple of weeks, and now I am not as worried about cleanup. What do you do with your bucket of slip after throwing? Do you add dry trimming scraps and recycle it too?
Sometimes, other times I get distracted and forget about it and it dries up- ha! ;) Then I end up with a dried up disk I can recycle the same way!
@@KaransPotsAndGlass Ah very true! Thanks for taking the time to respond to comments :)
I'm assuming you are using several kinds of clay; high fire, low fire and in between. When you recycle your clays do you keep the scraps separate or do you mix them??. If you mix them, how do you determine the firing temperature for the mixed clays?? Best wishes again.... Ax
Good question! No, in my home studio, I only use one type of clay. I use a mid-fire stoneware. If I did have various types, I wouldn't recycle different clays together- I would keep separate at all times. Because I want consistent firing results with the clay and the glaze, I don't combine the various clays. At school, I recycle my various clays totally apart from one another to avoid contamination. (At school though, I use two pug mills... one for stoneware, one for earthenware. They are too costly a piece of equipment for me to have one at home!)
Thank you so much for the detailed answer. That helps a lot. Your videos are a delight. Keep up the good work. Ax
:-)
How do you remove the lump in the clay
Through wedging, it dissipates.
Thank you so much. This video just popped up and was just what I needed. Are you ever worried about losing your rings in clay? I lost my wedding ring after using a stack of clay. I had to destroy all my work and still didn't find it.
Oh, that is awful!!!!! My wedding ring is way too tight to ever come off on its own... in fact, I have stopped wearing it most of the time now as I need to get it resized. Either my knuckles are bigger or my fingers just chubbier! That is really heartbreaking about your ring. I've actually considered a silicone one for when working in clay!
I have a different type of question pertaining to ceramic sculpting and pottery making. In general is there away given a block of clay to look at it and determine from the color what type of ceramics it will make. For example telling earthware , stoneware , and porcelain clay from one another. Also curious is there every a case where you can fire earthware at higher temps like cone 10 and get a porcelain clay. Or do all clays have a set temperature to fire at and if you go below or beyond it then it won't work... Just curious on what bad firing makes and what happens if you choose to randomly fire it at different cones not following the cone temps recommended. ( I am thinking maybe there exist one type of clay out there that could be fired at different cones depending on what ceramic you want to make earthware,stoneware, porcelain...etc) ....But maybe clays don't work that way maybe you need a special type of clay for each different type material ceramics?
Over fired earthenware can potentially melt into a puddle. There are fluxes within low fire clays which will make them melt if fired too high. I’ve never known of any way of identifying clay purely by looking at it. Some clays that are low and high fire both look alike! If you under fire clay, it won’t have the ability to vitrify if it is highfire. Therefore, it will always be weaker and absorbent. Glazes are formulated to shrink a proper amount with clay bodies as well. Therefore, if you choose random glazes or firing temperatures they may not be compatible and they might shiver off or craze. It is impossible to fire earthenware to cone ten. It would be like pouring gravy all over your shelves! ;)
@@KaransPotsAndGlass Gotcha the each type of clay has a distinct way to fire it and only creates one distinct type of ceramic material. I thought it might have been possible to uses one type of clay to get a couple different ceramic materials depending on the temp you change. But it seems from what your saying each clay has a specific way to be fired and thus only creates one type of ceramic material. Basically each different clay is mostly one to one correspondence with one type of ceramic output. So for example you uses 100% kaolin clay to make porcelain , but for earthware you uses some blend of clay like 25% kaolin, 25% ball clay, 35% quartz and 15% feldspar. Each clay / clay mixture defines one material output. That different firing will not make a new material it just makes the input crap or unusable. By what your telling me.
The other question i had is how to grind up dried block clay for uses in sandcasting of metals. I don't have a grinder or a pugmill so i have to recycle by rewedgeing and wetting the clay in a plastic bag in a bucket method. Its ok because i don't have alot of clay i need to recycle anyway so pugmill is over kill as of current. But i have no clue on how to grind up clay or ceramics to uses it for sandcasting/powder form.. And yes i am well aware of the safety of wearing a mask so you don't breath in sand , plaster , sawdust ,...etc Though i am still looking into the type of rated mask that is best i rather overkill it to make sure nothing is getting thru... Again i am not going to be starting off processing a lot of clay materials so there won't be to much powder dust/ me doing it all the time ...as of current.
Since I’ve never tried to grind dry clay, I don’t have a great answer. Perhaps if you just ran over it with a vehicle on pavement?
@@KaransPotsAndGlass ok anothe thing curious about is do you just focus on ceramics or have you used your kiln to do glass , recycled glass or sent away for the glass mixtures. Because if you create ceramic glazes from scratch alot of them are very similar to creating glass. Ceramics usually have a high melting point then glass thats why glass glazes melt onto the ceramics and not the other way around.
Nice video, I get how to recycle clay in solid form i am wondering how you recycle clay to powder/sand form now. For sandcasting or just to have powder mixture of clay to mix with other sands /mixtures to make a specific clay mixture for a particular type of ceramic for example. Obviously you can buy clay in powder forms and mix them but it be nice to beable to hand recycle all the clay to a powder form as well. Pugmills only recycle in bulk clay to block form again which is great but you really need a grinder which i don't have to powderize really dry block clay to clay powder. The powder forms are essentially for sandcasting , or in making glazes , slip casts ,..etc. So would like to understand how to do this type of powder form recycling as well.
When working with any ceramic item in powdered form, you need to take precautions about dust. Ceramic or clay dust, when inhaled, can lead to silicosis- as the silica in the lungs doesn't expel. When people mix clay in powdered forms they normally would use a clay mixer. It is like a giant mixer designed for huge quantities. You could use a pug mill, if it can accept batches and mix for some time. (Like a Peter Pugger Pug mill- that is quite possible) . I don't fully understand if you are interested in mixing clay which is in a hard block or a powder. If it is in a block, it doesn't need to be ground or smashed to a powder to be used. It can be slaked down in a bucket of water, then sieved. Bone dry clay is quite easy to recycle in this fashion. If you are wanting to create a powder, I honestly wouldn't do that due to health concerns of creating the dust... I would just purchase it.
@@KaransPotsAndGlass I mostly would be doing blocks which i am fine with recycling thanks to you and others. But i also want to beable to making powder form from block clay or dry clay as well for sandcasting of metals and other things. But yes normally block form and rewedge it to the consistency i want is going to be fine when doing sculpting or pottery. The issue is when i wanted to cast metals or glass.
Why would you not chop your clay up if it's past leather rather than drying it completely? I understand that dry clay will break apart but couldn't you cut it up and wet it?
Or cut it up to dry more quickly. Then, when dropped in a bucket with other clay and water after a day or so you should be able to mix it with a drill and a large paddle to get better consistency and then you will have a smooth clay to lay out on your plaster
Hi Renee- I apologize that I didn't see your message until right now, or I would have replied months ago. So, the reason I don't just chop it up is because leatherhard clay doesn't absorb the water as well as bone dry. I look for the ways to save myself the most time- and I have found that getting the clay to bone dry will take me less time in the recycling process. Of course, if I have smallish scraps that are leatherhard, I will just douse them in water, and return to a bag to sit for a day or so. If I have a whole block which is hard I have a new video which addresses that. You can see that here: ruclips.net/video/FfVaz5lOWMI/видео.html
Levi- I assume you are talking about the hunk I am showing at around the 15 minute mark. That clay was actually too hard for me to cut. Had I tried it, I would have broken my cutter! :) . I DO actually cut the clay whenever I can... but that one was too hard to get a wire through. And, I do have a newer video over how you can recycle a whole block of hard clay with minimal work- here: ruclips.net/video/FfVaz5lOWMI/видео.html
what kind of clay do you use here?
Hi Melanie-
I I happen to use Laguna B-Mix cone 6 midfire with grog. You can recycle any clay with this procedure! :-) I love the b-mix as it is super creamy and beautiful with glaze!
Is Laguna an American product? Not often seen here in Australia but have heard about it as a casting slip. Thanks for your video. I tend to put dry clay in buckets and let it melt down then blend with a drill then lay on plaster bats or flat plaster molds then easy to wedge. I'm not as good as you at wedging though. Im not sure my clay body would be as workable.
Melanie Hardy Yes- Laguna Clay started in Laguna beach, California I believe... however, B-Mix is a rather popular and common mix that other manufacturers can make. You can check with your local suppliers if they make a recipe they might call B-Mix. I use just a midfire rather than cone 10. Mixing with a drill is a great idea- I usually don't as sometimes my bucket consistency might be too thick for my drill. (And I usually fill it too full anyway! Ha!)
Great
What is the table top made of please?
It’s just plywood covered with heavy canvas!
looks like it's been Gesso'd?? Like painter's canvas for stretching on frames??
No! It must be my lighting! Just straight up heavy canvas! Nicely absorbent for wetter clay or when rolling slabs! :)
great!! thanks so much from Northern Wisconsin!!!
Do you believe that recycled clay glaze fires the same as new clay. I have noticed that for me it doesn't. With the glaze I use most, new clay is the best for the color I want!
Interesting, Connie! For me, I can't tell any difference at all between pieces made with new or recycled. I assume you only have one type of clay you are dealing with?
I don't even notice the feel when I'm throwing, but the glazes turn out just a little different, imo.
interesting... because logically, nothing has changed in the clay. Just re-hydrating it. The only thing I can think of is if, when you are throwing, you end up by removing a lot of slip, that will have smaller particles. So, if you use a lot of that slip in your recycle, your clay will have overall less of the large particles like grog, or perhaps magnetite (iron), if you have a speckle body, and that, could in turn, have an effect on the eventual glaze appearance? Just a thought! :-)
You are right, I think. No, I don't have a speckle body, but I think there might be different proportions of particles.Just thought I'd throw it out there, nothing is assumed for me anymore since I started pottery.
How to slake
clay
if you source and dig your own clay all this becomes apparent before you even make your first pot.
do u have instagram?
+Kasandra Boycott
That's a great question! I have yet to find time to try to fit that into my life... hopefully someday soon I will be able to! With teaching full time, and 3 teenagers, I have found little time left for social media for my business... hopefully I'll get my act together enough someday to do it! ;-) Thanks for asking! :-) Karan
I hope you do manage to get one and when u do please add me on instagram (@sassykasy) so I can follow you (:
Where can I get some of those thick plastic bags?
I've never actually purchased them - I just reuse my old clay bags!!