I had no idea the trouble you go through to hold a hand full of ready to use material. Very interesting. As I was digging my lapidary dungeon, I found good thick layers of clay. And I wondered then if it could be used. Much of the Salt Lake Valley where I live is ancient lake bed. Just layers of sand, silt, and clay.
It can be a bit of a process to get that clay into a workable state. Wow, sounds like you have a gold mine around there for clay. You never know that could be some good stuff! Thanks for watching!!
You sure can't. Glad to hear. A lot of that clay starts to smell if you leave it wet, so I like to store it in powder form, and prep it when I need it.
ha ha, I am always using whatever is closest to hand when processing my clay. Im not in an apartment, so I have more options to choose from, tree branch, piece of pipe, brick, rock. The bike lock did look nice and strong, I haven't tried one of those .. yet 😆. It would be a lot easier on the hands than a brick.
Utility work is pretty common in my suburban neighborhood so I often collect clay from these sites whenever I can get permission. Sometimes, I have to let the clay levigate for up to 30 minutes if there's too much topsoil mixed in it. The glacial soil of my region is a clay-loam or silty-clay-loam so there can be a lot of silt to remove from it. For several batches I've had to use a bulb siphon to skim the clay free from the sand and silt. For other batches, there was so much organic matter mixed in that I had to use a 100 mesh strainer to remove the coarsest organic matter particles from the clay. The resulting clay body from my subsoil is a much richer brown than the shale clay and alluvial clay that I also collect so it should be great for making salado polychrome or shell-tempered pottery.
That's awesome! Yikes, that Silt can be a pain sometimes to remove, though it can act as a temper to the clay which can be handy. Sounds like you got a lot of different clays at your disposal!
One time, I collected a very bright orange clay from a construction site and I was surprised at the very high shrinkage rate it had. I most likely had dug up some bentonite clay so it won't be useful as a primary clay body. I'm still saving it in case I need it to make a slip-based paint.
That's a great idea, sometimes those neat colored clays make great slips if they're not workable. One of my primary clays I use actually has crazy high shrinkage. I'll make a bowl that's 8 inches, and it shrinks to a little 5 inch bowl.
Howdy Will ! Great video , glad to see how YOU , find clay (for urbanites ) & prep yur clay ! Looks like a good batch ! I for one would like to see if Yu fire it urban-style ?! 🤠👍🏼
I had no idea the trouble you go through to hold a hand full of ready to use material. Very interesting.
As I was digging my lapidary dungeon, I found good thick layers of clay. And I wondered then if it could be used. Much of the Salt Lake Valley where I live is ancient lake bed. Just layers of sand, silt, and clay.
It can be a bit of a process to get that clay into a workable state. Wow, sounds like you have a gold mine around there for clay. You never know that could be some good stuff! Thanks for watching!!
Well organized and precise presentation- you’re an artist and a teacher - thanks for another great video!
Thanks so much for the kind comment and feedback, I really appreciate it! Thank you!!
Can't beat free clay! Thanks for showing us how to process the stuff
You sure can't. Glad to hear. A lot of that clay starts to smell if you leave it wet, so I like to store it in powder form, and prep it when I need it.
I feel like I'm ready to take on my jungle, I mean backyard now for some clay. This is a great information for finding and processing clay.
Hah! Thanks Alexandra. You never know, you might have some good workable clay in your yard.
ha ha, I am always using whatever is closest to hand when processing my clay. Im not in an apartment, so I have more options to choose from, tree branch, piece of pipe, brick, rock. The bike lock did look nice and strong, I haven't tried one of those .. yet 😆. It would be a lot easier on the hands than a brick.
Hah! Glad to hear that! Sometimes you have to just make do with what you have. Thanks for watching!!
Utility work is pretty common in my suburban neighborhood so I often collect clay from these sites whenever I can get permission. Sometimes, I have to let the clay levigate for up to 30 minutes if there's too much topsoil mixed in it. The glacial soil of my region is a clay-loam or silty-clay-loam so there can be a lot of silt to remove from it. For several batches I've had to use a bulb siphon to skim the clay free from the sand and silt. For other batches, there was so much organic matter mixed in that I had to use a 100 mesh strainer to remove the coarsest organic matter particles from the clay. The resulting clay body from my subsoil is a much richer brown than the shale clay and alluvial clay that I also collect so it should be great for making salado polychrome or shell-tempered pottery.
That's awesome! Yikes, that Silt can be a pain sometimes to remove, though it can act as a temper to the clay which can be handy. Sounds like you got a lot of different clays at your disposal!
One time, I collected a very bright orange clay from a construction site and I was surprised at the very high shrinkage rate it had. I most likely had dug up some bentonite clay so it won't be useful as a primary clay body. I'm still saving it in case I need it to make a slip-based paint.
That's a great idea, sometimes those neat colored clays make great slips if they're not workable. One of my primary clays I use actually has crazy high shrinkage. I'll make a bowl that's 8 inches, and it shrinks to a little 5 inch bowl.
Missed this one somehow. Really informative Will.
No worries, Thanks for watching! And glad to hear!
Nice job. This is really useful information for people getting started.
Thanks! I sure hope so.
Didn't you also make a video where you processed dirty clay from a construction site?
Wow this is amazing to watch ! Never knew one could do this. Very impressive details Will. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, glad to hear! Theres clay all around. I'm always torn between clay and rocks now. haha!
Thanks for sharing this process. I learned a lot. A lot of work goes into clay.
Glad to hear, it can be! Thanks!
Very cool ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Thanks!
Nice really cool process very interesting , good job , thanks
Thanks! A lot of work, but a lot of fun!
Howdy Will ! Great video , glad to see how YOU , find clay (for urbanites ) & prep yur clay !
Looks like a good batch ! I for one would like to see if Yu fire it urban-style ?! 🤠👍🏼
That's a great idea! It warmed up pretty fast out here, so desert firings might be on hold for a bit. Thanks for watching!!
Great video! Lots of good information. Who knows? it could end up being your go to clay!?
Yeah, you never know where good clay might be found. Thanks for watching!