Martin Butt on sun 16 mar 97
Sam;
I ship lots of micaceous clay to Hawaii so I have dealt with the ins and outs
of freight
costs. You speculate that shipping the water in premixed clay is a probably
a great waste of money, and mixing equipment would be justified: Curiously
enough, it is probably CHEAPER to ship boxed moist clay than dry bagged clay!
The reason is that ocean freight is billed by the cubic foot rather than by
weight. Pugged clay is so much denser than dry clay that even after taking
into account 20 percent water content you still come out ahead. Besides,
take it from someone who has made a few hundred tons; making pots is a LOT
more fun than making clay.
Martin Butt
Director, Coyote Craft School, Albuquerque, New Mexico
email martinb888@aol.com
http://members.aol.com/martinb888
Peter and Sam Tomich on tue 18 mar 97
Martin Butt wrote:
> I ship lots of micaceous clay to Hawaii ...
1. Do you sell it, and can you send me some info?
....ocean freight is billed by the cubic foot rather than by
> weight. Pugged clay is so much denser than dry clay that even after taking
> into account 20 percent water content you still come out ahead.
2. I speculated that it would be cheaper to ship dry. I, too, think
that was an error. I received my first shipment: 150 lbs ready to go
clay, 100 lbs dry premixed clay, 175 lbs clay ingredients for a specific
clay recipe, and 100 lbs premixed dry glaze. If I had to do it over I
would have skipped the dry premixed clay and glaze and gone ready made.
I also think that having them mix custom batches would be a good idea. I
was unaware of the difference the cubic foot measurement vs. weight
would have on my shipping cost. It takes a while for these things to
sink in!
3. No pug mill for me, at least for a while. Maybe I'll get a Peter
Pugger later to deal with the reclaim (I have very limited studio
space). Any better ideas for dealing with reclaiming clay?
Sam in Hawaii, I like having all this clay around with my new wheel, but
I need finished work pronto for a craft fair around the corner and alot
of my clay isn't ready to go.
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