Anne W. Bracker on thu 31 jul 97
A customer of mine recently experienced the same problems in attaching
handles when using the Laguna B-Mix 5 clay body. She had tried all sorts
of recommendations - thin slip, thick slip, vinegar, etc. - and had even
consulted Laguna for other remedies. She was about to concede that any
pottery that had handles or other attachments would have to be taken out
of her line. Yesterday she happily called to tell me that the solution I
suggested to her had worked. The credit for my recommendation actually
belongs to Bill Bracker. He taught and practiced that water (yep, plain
ole' water) on a scored site is the best "solution" (pun intended )
for attaching handles and slabs for any type of clay body. She put it to
the test by attaching leather hard to dry, leather hard to leather hard,
etc. All pieces that had attachments put on by water came through the
bisque firing intact and with no creeping joints.
When you are joining two different items together, they may already have
different, established shrinkage rates and moisture contents. If you add
slip to join the pieces together, you are introducing an item with a
third shrinkage rate and moisture content. This makes it difficult to
achieve good results consistently. With plain water (which is already a
major ingredient in a clay body) you are allowing the differences in
shrinkage and moisture content to meld together slowly, and at a
concurrent pace for each item, without the abrupt changes of the other
methods. The water joins the two different clay bodies so that they form
a bond together.
Any comments on this method can be mailed directly to me at my e-mail
address below.
Good Luck
Bracker Ceramics
1835 E 1450 Road
Lawrence, KS 66044
1 913 841-4750 OFFICE
1 913 841-8142 FAX
1 888 822-1982 ORDER LINE
bracker@midusa.net E-MAIL
"Clay Ain't Dirt"
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