Autumn Downey on sat 9 aug 97
Recently I have been trying out some local clay as a glaze ingredient. It's
from Arcola, Sask. where there used to be a brick plant early this century
and a number of buildings in town are made of that yellow brick. A coating
of the clay slip almost melts at cone 6 and is ochre in colour - no real
blemishes, although it does want to crack abit in the raw state if the
application is at all thick.
I did just a few very broad tests fluxing it with (10 - 20%)frit 3134, neph
syenite and Gertstley borate (one at a time). It did get glossier (as
expected) with no real problems that I could see. With an addition of 10%
wollastonite, there is an amber crystally appearance that I think might
indicate devitrification?
So, I'm wondering what I should do next. Should this material be tested (if
so where, cost etc?) or can I assume it's somewhere in the neighbourhood of
Albany and Alberta slips? Maybe I should first see if any glazes are
interesting enough that I would want to use them on functionalware? (Part
of it is just the fun of using a local material. Clay suppliers need not
expect competition even though Arcola Slip has a nice ring to it).
Thanks for suggestions.
Autumn Downey
downeya@internorth.com
Yellowknife, NWT, Canada
Craig Martell on wed 13 aug 97
Hi Autumn:
Sorry to be a day late and a couple of mugs short in responding but I've
been making pots and.........
You might want to get real organized and do line blends with all the
feldspars you have and whiting and talc, wood ash, and other fluxes. I
guess the best way to assess the value of any material is to systematically
try everything you can think of to make it perform and find its stong
points. When you find the melting points and textures with the most
interest, you can then move on to triaxial and quadraxial blends, color
response tests etc. Then, fifteen years later, when you are done, you can
put the stuff into production.
You might check with the Dept. of Geology in your area to see if any mineral
studies have been done on this clay. If it was used for brickmaking, I'll
bet there is an analysis somewhere. Sometimes you can find an analysis
already on file and you don't have to pay through the nose to have one done.
I use a local clay in several of my glazes and really like working with it.
You can develop a real personal palette sometimes, that isn't readily
available to everyone and their cousin Earl.
If I can pass along anything else, or have forgotten to mention something,
lemme know.
Regards, Craig Martell, Oregon
CP Dunbar on wed 8 oct 97
I live in a small town that is fairly proud. I would love to use
local clay to throw.
Can you give me some ideas on how to locate clay to use, such as
color, type, consistancy, where to look, etc.
thanx, cp
--
"And she shall have music wherever my Lady goes."
cpdunbar@concentric.net
Don Goodrich on fri 10 oct 97
Hi CP,
I've had the best luck finding good local clay in construction sites where
there's some fairly deep excavation going on. One of my favorite native clays
came from a trench where some new sewer & water mains were about to be
installed. Another batch, obtained this past summer but not yet thoroughly
tested, is from a large pile of clay from reshaping the land for a new local
golf course. Other places you might look are streambeds (under the sand
and/or muck), road cuts, and under the topsoil in your garden.
I spotted each of the above clays by their distinctive blue-grey color
that contrasted with the common brown clay that prevails around this part of
northeast Illinois. In both cases the excavators had left sizable chunks of
clay just lying there for the taking. I try for the grey clay because it
probably has less iron and a better chance of firing to a lighter color,
thereby increasing the glaze possibilities. Luckily, there is very little
gravel to be removed from these deposits, and it's fairly easy to find a
piece that can be formed and fired just as it comes from the ground. Slaking
and passing it through a window-screen renders it all usable. Your local clay
may differ, of course. To find out how much processing it will need, get your
hands in it and feel it. One way to check its plasticity is to get a moist
piece, roll a coil, and see if it will bend without cracking. Fire
test-pieces, but save "before and after" samples so you can see its changes.
If you have a kiln-sitter, make a small cone of the test-clay and use it
in the sitter, then put a range of cones (from ^04 to ^6 should be adequate,
but keep an eye on it) in your kiln, fire it and see which cones have gone
over when it shuts off. It should be safe to fire your ware up to 2 cones
below the highest one that bent.
With any luck, you'll be able to fire your local clay to at least cone 1,
but put it on a high-fired clay dish for testing it case it melts. I
neglected this step in a pottery class many years ago and angered the people
whose pots were on the shelf under mine :{. Some areas have sandier clay
that can be fired to stoneware temperatures. I know a ravine overlooking Lake
Michigan that yields ^8 clay, but it has a lot of organic material (roots)
making it tedious to clean.
Glazing this stuff is another topic in itself. I've gotten majolica glazes
to work, but they may require some adjustment for fit.
>CP Dunbar said:
>>I would love to use local clay to throw.
Can you give me some ideas on how to locate clay to use, such as
color, type, consistancy, where to look, etc.<<
Good luck,
Don Goodrich watching the trees wonder if it's still summer in
Zion, Illinois
John Guerin on sun 12 oct 97
In a message dated 97-10-11 09:57:14 EDT, GoodrichDn@AOL.COM writes:
<< Luckily, there is very little
gravel to be removed from these deposits, and it's fairly easy to find a
piece that can be formed and fired just as it comes from the ground. Slaking
and passing it through a window-screen renders it all usable. >>
If you do a second screening through a nylon mesh bag, you can even eliminate
most of the sand and soil too. The nylon mesh bags I am referring to are
available at your local paint stores. They are used by painters to strain the
paint so it will not clog the nozzel of the power sprayers. The nylon bags
are a very fine mesh, so you still need to the window-screen straining first
or it will clog the nylon bag mesh.
John Guerin
Tucson, AZ
Halpot@aol.com on mon 13 oct 97
To: Ceramic Arts Discussion List, CPDunbar, etal.
Right on there man, in searching for and using local clays. One of the most
plentiful substances on the face of the earth. Whether or not you can throw
pots with what you find (there are other ways of forming too, and you can get
away from that "always round" thing) discovering how to use a local clay will
be a truly educational experience.
People don't always believe me, especially those prone to blame clay when
they can't handle it well, but to me all clays are good. Stretch that idea as
far as to include, say, Albany or Michigan slip clay; can't be used for
forming (or coud it? I've not tried that one) but it's found its use as a
glaze for well over a century. So, clay isn't always just for forming
objects.
I once had a week-long workshop in the field at Encampment, Wyo. at the site
of a former mining operation. We didn't find what normally would be called
clay, but did discover a material that was in part plastic. We ended by
blending it thoroughly, making solid balls or chunks, letting this dry
somewhat, and then carving forms from the chunks. Dired and then fired the
things. They were amazing; unlike anything else seen usually in ceramics. So,
it's good to stretch the boundaries of your inquisitiveness.
On the matter of gray clay firing a lighter color than the "common brown"
clay (Don Goodrich) is the red-brown clay in the same formation as the
blue-gray, but nearer the top of the soil? I've always thought, and
experience proves out, that it's basically the same clay but that nearer the
surface has had its iron content oxidized. Times when I've experienced these
two colors from the same formation, the fired color is the same. But then, no
two clay beds are the same. Have fun, you guys, Hal Riegger
McCoy, Jack Eugene on mon 13 oct 97
I have a clay pocket on my place that I suspect has a lot of
fine-grained sand in it. I've slaked it, run it through a nylon bag,
aged it, and it's just plastic enough to make you think you can throw
something with it. Well, you can. But it's difficult. The interesting
thing is that I fired a small bit of it to cone 9 without melting. (I
placed it inside another pot for protection of course.) Could it be the
sand?
However, I think I'd be much happier with finding a local clay that's
easier to work with and doesn't require quite as much processing--even
if it fires to a much lower cone.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-=-=
Jack McCoy
Systems Programmer
East Carolina University
Voice: (919) 328-6855
Fax: (919) 328-4258
email: mccoyj@mail.ecu.edu
> ----------
> From: Don Goodrich[SMTP:GoodrichDn@aol.com]
> Reply To: Ceramic Arts Discussion List
> Sent: Friday, October 10, 1997 3:32 PM
> To: Multiple recipients of list CLAYART
> Subject: Local clay
>
> ----------------------------Original
> message----------------------------
> Hi CP,
> I've had the best luck finding good local clay in construction
> sites where
> there's some fairly deep excavation going on. One of my favorite
> native clays
> came from a trench where some new sewer & water mains were about to be
> installed. Another batch, obtained this past summer but not yet
> thoroughly
> tested, is from a large pile of clay from reshaping the land for a new
> local
> golf course. Other places you might look are streambeds (under the
> sand
> and/or muck), road cuts, and under the topsoil in your garden.
> I spotted each of the above clays by their distinctive blue-grey
> color
> that contrasted with the common brown clay that prevails around this
> part of
> northeast Illinois. In both cases the excavators had left sizable
> chunks of
> clay just lying there for the taking. I try for the grey clay because
> it
> probably has less iron and a better chance of firing to a lighter
> color,
> thereby increasing the glaze possibilities. Luckily, there is very
> little
> gravel to be removed from these deposits, and it's fairly easy to find
> a
> piece that can be formed and fired just as it comes from the ground.
> Slaking
> and passing it through a window-screen renders it all usable. Your
> local clay
> may differ, of course. To find out how much processing it will need,
> get your
> hands in it and feel it. One way to check its plasticity is to get a
> moist
> piece, roll a coil, and see if it will bend without cracking. Fire
> test-pieces, but save "before and after" samples so you can see its
> changes.
> If you have a kiln-sitter, make a small cone of the test-clay and
> use it
> in the sitter, then put a range of cones (from ^04 to ^6 should be
> adequate,
> but keep an eye on it) in your kiln, fire it and see which cones have
> gone
> over when it shuts off. It should be safe to fire your ware up to 2
> cones
> below the highest one that bent.
>
> With any luck, you'll be able to fire your local clay to at least
> cone 1,
> but put it on a high-fired clay dish for testing it case it melts. I
> neglected this step in a pottery class many years ago and angered the
> people
> whose pots were on the shelf under mine :{. Some areas have sandier
> clay
> that can be fired to stoneware temperatures. I know a ravine
> overlooking Lake
> Michigan that yields ^8 clay, but it has a lot of organic material
> (roots)
> making it tedious to clean.
> Glazing this stuff is another topic in itself. I've gotten majolica
> glazes
> to work, but they may require some adjustment for fit.
>
> >CP Dunbar said:
> >>I would love to use local clay to throw.
> Can you give me some ideas on how to locate clay to use, such as
> color, type, consistancy, where to look, etc.<<
>
>
> Good luck,
> Don Goodrich watching the trees wonder if it's still summer in
> Zion, Illinois
>
Don Goodrich on wed 5 nov 97
Hi All,
In the continuing quest for interesting native clays, a friend in
Wisconsin presented me with samples of novel (to me) finds. While cutting a
driveway along a hillside otherwise made up of sandstone, deposits of
alternately green and purple clay were uncovered. Green like guacamole,
purple like beets. Might make a good paint pigment. Fine-textured and rather
sticky, clean and almost plastic enough to throw as mined, but I'm adding a
little distilled water to it. Haven't test-fired yet as the test-pots aren't
dry, but will probably put some in a bisque in a few days.
Anyone have any ideas what might be responsible for these colors? Copper?,
chrome?, iron?, kryptonite?
Don Goodrich in Zion, Illinois where there's no clay this interesting
Mel Jacobson on sun 18 jan 98
on two occassions i have dug local minnesota clay, (it was yellow), mixed
it with 50% feldspar, fired it to cone 11. each time it was a nice
glossy celedone...not very pretty...but it worked.
one must be very careful of your kiln shelves....if it runs off it is a
mess.
i was lucky....it did not run off...but close each time.
use the double or triple dip method.....one dip all the way, then half then
a quarter. about three seconds a dip.
mel, mn
http://www.pclink.com/melpots
Stuart Altmann on tue 24 feb 98
Yvonne:
I too found clay on my farm, and much of my work is now made from it. There
is a deep satisfaction to making pots from clay that you have dug from your
own ground.
It is easy to check out a clay and modify it. Remove the surface material
(soil, leaves, roots, eroded material, or whatever), get some clay that is
about as wet as throwing clay, role some out between your palms to about the
thickness of a pencil, then wrap it around your finger. If it will go all
the way around without breaking, it should need little modification. If it
does so with few or no surface cracks, you are blessed with a very plastic
clay. If it won't go around your finger without breaking, it will require a
fair addition of plastic clay to make it workable; perhaps it has too much
sand in it, a problem you might solve by digging in another spot.
Next, find out whether you have a low-firing earthenware clay or a high-
firing stoneware. If you are in a kaolin area, such as Georgia, Florida, or
parts of West Virginia, and your clay is white or off-white, you probably
have a kaolin-based stoneware clay. If the clay is very dark, particularly
red, you probably have an earthenware. The geologists at your nearest
college can probably tell just from your location. Others that may know are
your local well diggers and septic tank installers. Or you can just pinch
out a small bowl and put it in your next firing--with the caution that an
earthenware clay may melt at stoneware temperatures, so if in doubt, put
your test piece in or on some clay that you know is okay, so as to catch any
runs.
Once you know the approximate vitrification temperature, make up a batch of
a few hundred pounds. Shovel it out of the ground, break it into chunks,
and let it dry *completely*. When dry, break the larger chunks with a
hammer, dump the clay into a clean plastic garbage can, and slake it: pour
in water (preferably hot) up to the surface of the clay, and let soak.
Don't stir.
After a couple of weeks, the clay will have stopped bubbling and will be
soft. Reach in and break up chunks. Pull out any stones, roots, or other
non-clay stuff that you encounter. Repeat about weekly, as necessary, each
time breaking and squishing any big pieces, and stirring everything as
vigorously as you can. The object is to convert the clay clods plus water
into a slurry. This will happen much more quickly if you dried the clay
thoroughly.
Once most or all of the material has been converted to a slurry, sieve it.
A 30-mesh sieve is fine enough. Sieve clay into about half a dozen 5-gal
buckets, each about 3/5 full. Let this goop sit for a few days, until the
clay has settled and water has come to the surface.
Use two such buckets of clay "straight": siphon the supernatant water from
these two (save for terra sig, if you wish), then dry the clay to working
consistency in your usual way. Label these buckets. To others add modifiers,
depending on what you started with. For example, if your clay is completely
smooth--if you feel no grit when you smear it between your finger tips and
little was left on the 30-mesh screen--add two cups of fine silica sand or
fine grog to each of two buckets, and add twice that amount to two others
(call these pairs low and high grog, respectively). Label the buckets. If
the clay cracked when you wrapped it around your finger, add four cups of a
plastic kaolin such as Sapphire to one of the high-grog buckets and to one
of the low-grog buckets, and twice that amount of plastic kaolin to the
other two grogged buckets. Label these new additions. (Note that EPK is not
very plastic, despite its name, Edgar's Plastic Kaolin.)
You now have five clay brews to test: your clay alone, your clay with high
and low grog additions, and each of the last two with high and low kaolin
additions. After these dry materials have had a chance to slake (at least
overnight), thoroughly mix the contents of each bucket, let settle, siphon
off the excess water, dry, and begin testing.
As you work with these clay brews, keep notes on how well each throws, how
they react with glazes, how they fire, and so on. Note any further changes
that might be needed in your subsequent batches. For example, if the walls
of large, thin bowls develop vertical slits as you throw, you need more
plastics, and in your next round of tests, you should include some ball
clay. If your pots warp, add a low-sulfur fire clay, such as Hawthorn.
Additions of silica may help with glaze fit. If you overshoot on some
ingredient, say by adding too much grog, mix the remainder of that batch
with some that has not grog. There are several books on clays that give
advice on what to add to cure particular clay maladies.
If your local clay is really good, even your first brews will make fine
pots, at least small ones. Successive tests and modifications should
continue to improve your clay. When you have a brew you like, make up
larger batches of it. Good luck!
Stuart Altmann
Fredrick Paget on fri 5 apr 02
My next door neighbor has started an addition to the house in back and
since the lot slopes up at about a 10 degree slope he had it dug out by
hand to get a level spot. Their yard is too tight to get machinery in
there.
They hit good clay at 4 feet down and digging the foundation trench at the
up hill end they are down about 8 feet at the bottom of the hole. They took
out about 15 tons of dirt and clay to the dump but I got about a quarter
ton of the clay .
This is low fire brick clay but it will make good flower pots, birdbaths,
etc. Fires to about cone 03 at maturity. It has a little sand and gravel in
it- probably less than 10 per cent- but it cleans up nicely if you make a
slip out of it and strain it.
A couple of weeks ago there was someone around here who was looking for
some of this kind of clay and if he will contact me he can have half of it.
Fred
From Fred Paget, Marin County, California, USA
Fredrick Paget on wed 10 jul 02
One possibility, if it is acting short, is it might really be plastic
but is loaded with fine sand. To check on this dry out a couple of pounds,
pulverize it and make it into a pretty thin slip. let it settle for a few
minutes skim off any floating stuff and pour off and save the liquid. Now
you can see how much junk rock and sand is in the clay.
Dry out the liquid fraction and test for plastic behavior. You should
be able to make a small coil about 1/4 inch in diameter and wrap it around
your finger without serious cracking of the clay.
You may on the other hand have a non plastic clay or loam.
Look around Kodiac and see if anybody sells mason supplies. They use a
clay in mortar, it is cheap, and it is usually from Lincoln CA around here
and perhaps there too since you are on the Pacific coast. This Lincoln clay
added to any clay you find will raise the vitrification temperature and
increase the plasticity.
Fred
>Living on top of a clay bed.
>______________________________________________________________________________
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
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>
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
>melpots@pclink.com.
From Fred Paget, Marin County, California, USA
Earl Brunner on wed 10 jul 02
Sounds like you might be a candidate for "Pioneer Pottery" by Michael Cardew, I
think that it has just been reprinted. Excellent for using local materials.
knik at kodiak wrote:
> Hello from Alaska,
> I've done slip casting, but I'm a beginning potter. My wheel and kiln
> are arriving by barge today!
> Also 500 pounds of clay. In the mean time, while we were camping we
> found some secondary clay. It is very dark brown. I've strained some
> with a spaghetti strainer and have it wrapped in cloths and plastic bags
> to dry out some. I really wish I knew more. This clay is not really very
> plastic. Will it get that way with wedging and kneading? --
Earl Brunner
http://coyote.accessnv.com/bruec
mailto:bruec@anv.net
knik at kodiak on wed 10 jul 02
Hello from Alaska,
I've done slip casting, but I'm a beginning potter. My wheel and kiln
are arriving by barge today!
Also 500 pounds of clay. In the mean time, while we were camping we
found some secondary clay. It is very dark brown. I've strained some
with a spaghetti strainer and have it wrapped in cloths and plastic bags
to dry out some. I really wish I knew more. This clay is not really very
plastic. Will it get that way with wedging and kneading? Most books I
found at the Library here in Kodiak, give a paragraph or so about
digging clay and then say good thing we can buy processesed clays. Is
there a good book on processing local clay? This stuff breaks off real
easy, I don't need to cut it. Maybe it's just still too wet. Any help
would will be appreciated. Thanks
Marilynn
claybair on thu 11 jul 02
Hi Fred,
I dug about 2lbs of gray clay out of a berm/flower bed.
After screening out the debris I had about a quart which was very sandy.
I didn't dry it but let the evaporate and skimmed the top layer.
It was yellow & wonderfully plastic. I had about 2 teaspoons of it.
It fired bisque ^06 and glaze ^5 and came out a rich brown. Now the problem
is
how to get enough of it without having to dig the entire flower bed.
Gayle Bair
Bainbridge Island, WA
http://claybair.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Fredrick Paget
One possibility, if it is acting short, is it might really be plastic
but is loaded with fine sand. To check on this dry out a couple of pounds,
pulverize it and make it into a pretty thin slip. let it settle for a few
minutes skim off any floating stuff and pour off and save the liquid. Now
you can see how much junk rock and sand is in the clay.
Dry out the liquid fraction and test for plastic behavior. You should
be able to make a small coil about 1/4 inch in diameter and wrap it around
your finger without serious cracking of the clay.
You may on the other hand have a non plastic clay or loam.
Look around Kodiac and see if anybody sells mason supplies. They use a
clay in mortar, it is cheap, and it is usually from Lincoln CA around here
and perhaps there too since you are on the Pacific coast. This Lincoln clay
added to any clay you find will raise the vitrification temperature and
increase the plasticity.
Fred
>Living on top of a clay bed.
Ababi on thu 11 jul 02
I bought from Tony Hansen the E book Potter Geology. I belive it can help you.
try at http://digitalfire.com/
Ababi
Steve Mills on fri 12 jul 02
Historically, the generally accepted technique for local clay over here
(UK) was; having dug it out, break it down roughly and leave it out to
weather for as long as possible (a year if you can bear it!), during
which time it picks up organic matter which helps it to decompose and
ultimately assists plasticity. We used to hope for a good series of
frosts to help the process. I don't know your area but I expect that's
not a problem! After weathering, it was mixed with lots of water
(Slaked), run through a coarse sieve, and run off into shallow pans to
dry back to a usable state, then wedged and used. This was all part of
the tradition of making clay this year for use next year, especially in
areas where the clay was not naturally *friendly*. Near where I used to
live in Hampshire, the local clay, less than 12 inches below the topsoil
in my Parent's garden, was so excessively plastic we had to add at least
30 percent sand to it or it self-destructed when it dried.
Nowadays, clay is being used within a month of being dug, with various
substances being added to *plasticise* it. One of the clays we sell
definitely smells of Linseed Oil!
I still use home made Cider Vinegar to help re-constitute dried out
reclaimed clay.
I think Earl's suggestion of looking at Cardew's *Pioneer Pottery* is
your best starting point.
Steve
Bath
UK
In message , knik at kodiak writes
>Hello from Alaska,
> I've done slip casting, but I'm a beginning potter. My wheel and kiln
>are arriving by barge today!
>Also 500 pounds of clay. In the mean time, while we were camping we
>found some secondary clay. It is very dark brown. I've strained some
>with a spaghetti strainer and have it wrapped in cloths and plastic bags
>to dry out some. I really wish I knew more. This clay is not really very
>plastic. Will it get that way with wedging and kneading? Most books I
>found at the Library here in Kodiak, give a paragraph or so about
>digging clay and then say good thing we can buy processesed clays. Is
>there a good book on processing local clay? This stuff breaks off real
>easy, I don't need to cut it. Maybe it's just still too wet. Any help
>would will be appreciated. Thanks
>Marilynn
--
Steve Mills
Bath
UK
Janet Price on fri 12 jul 02
Last place I lived I had a friend building a house. When we went to
look at it as the foundation was going in, I noticed that some of the
piles of dirt looked like clay. Grabbed a couple buckets of it and
strained the debris and used it to glaze a pot for my friend as a
house-warming gift. Turned out glossy dark brown, but a bit gritty at
cone 4.
Janet Price
jkprice@amherst.edu
John Guerin on sat 13 jul 02
In a message dated 7/10/02 9:39:41 PM Central Daylight Time,
knik@PTIALASKA.NET writes:
<< I've strained some
with a spaghetti strainer and have it wrapped in cloths and plastic bags
to dry out some. I really wish I knew more. This clay is not really very
plastic. Will it get that way with wedging and kneading? Most books I
found at the Library here in Kodiak, give a paragraph or so about
digging clay and then say good thing we can buy processesed clays. Is
there a good book on processing local clay? This stuff breaks off real
easy, I don't need to cut it. Maybe it's just still too wet. Any help
would will be appreciated. Thanks
Marilynn >>
Go to your local Paint Store and get a nylon mesh bag that painters use to
strain paint through so it doesn't clog up the nozzle on their power sprayer.
They come plain and also with an elastic band at the top. They are made for
the 5 gallon plastic buckets. After you use your spaghetti strainer, then do
a second straining with the nylon mesh bag. This second straining not only
removes dirt and sand which will improve your plasticity but will also remove
small particles that will prevent "pop-outs".
Good Luck
John Guerin
Tucson, AZ
Khaimraj Seepersad on sat 13 jul 02
Hello to All,
Marilynn,
[Did anyone suggest this ? Apologies
if it is repeated. ]
you need to just pass 100 gms of that
clay through a finer sieve.Can you
find a 200 mesh or 325 mesh ?
Then reconstitute,make a snake,
and coil it around your little finger.
Khaimraj
Fredrick Paget on sat 2 jan 10
I choose to make some of my work out of Southern Ice clay that comes
from New Zealand while I am sitting on top of the world's best and
most beautiful clay under my studio.
I call it Mill Valley Gold and it is damn hard to get since it is all
on this valley floor covered with million dollar houses.
One guy down the street put up a 2 million dollar one on a tear down
and he had a huge back hoe in to dig the foundation. That machine had
a 50 foot reach and he went deep into a virgin bank of the most
beautoful stuff you ever saw. I begged a couple of hundred pounds of
it while they were carting it off to the brick factory in San Rafael.
He dug a big basement hole or was it a swimming pool in the basement?
We don't usually have basements here in this part of California
because they usually fill up with water in the rainey season. He
probably has a swimming pool even if he doesn't want one.
You need to dig deep to get the best stuff. It gets good after about
4 feet of overburden is removed. I keep watch for new construction
where they are digging. Usually they are glad to give me all I can
handle as they have to pay to dump it.
It fires to a golden orange at earthenware temperatures but I have
fired it up to cone 6 and it goes to gray stoneware.
--
Fred Paget
Twin Dragon Studio
Mill Valley, CA, USA
fredrick@well.com
Charter Member Potters Council
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