Talbott on tue 28 oct 97
You will find that clay which you mix is generally far superior in quality
to the clay that is purchased pre-mixed. "You are in control of the clay
body." Depending on the volume of clay that you use will determine if it
makes economic sense to make your own. A Soldner studio model clay mixer
cost about $2500 and a Venco 4" deairing pugmill costs around $4000 so that
is a $6500 investment. If you are in a coop then you can share the cost of
the equipment and share the benefits of making your own clay. We can
produce our own clay (wet mix) at approx. $0.13 per pound. If you are
currently paying $0.43 per lb. for premixed clay then the saving of making
10 tons (20,000 lbs.) of your own clay at $0.13 per lb. would just about
pay for your equipment investment. And once you work with the superior
claybodies that you are making you would not go back anyway.
....Marshall
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>I was equally shocked..In N.Y.state , i was paying $13 per box,2 bags of
>25 lb apiece.,pugged and deaired..I was buying in 500 lb or more lots to
>get that price..here in Sarasota,for 25 lbs,I'm paying what it costs the
>studio owner,$11 a bag of 25 lbs..It is a special mix,but it is not de
>aired...$shock to me.
>Elca, almost at home in Sarasota,Florida
2nd ANNUAL CLAYARTERS' GALLERY - NAPLES, MAINE (Summer 1998)
Details will be forth coming!!!
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Celia & Marshall Talbott, Pottery By Celia, Route 114, P O Box 4116,
Naples, Maine 04055-4116,(207)693-6100 voice and fax,(call first)
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Talbott on tue 28 oct 97
In addition... having a claymixer allows you to easily recycle the slop and
the pugmill allows you to easily recycle your trimings.. just cover the
trimmings to keep 'em hydrated... Over time that amounts to alot of
recycled clay and savings in both time and money... ..Marshall
2nd ANNUAL CLAYARTERS' GALLERY - NAPLES, MAINE (Summer 1998)
Details will be forth coming!!!
http://fmc.utm.edu/~dmcbeth/cag/naples.htm
Celia & Marshall Talbott, Pottery By Celia, Route 114, P O Box 4116,
Naples, Maine 04055-4116,(207)693-6100 voice and fax,(call first)
Clayarters' Live Chat Room, Fri & Sat Nites at 10 PM EDT & Sun at 1 PM EDT
http://webchat12.wbs.net/webchat3.so?Room=PRIVATE_Clayarters
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David Hendley on wed 29 oct 97
This is coming from a guy who owns a clay mixer and a pugmill, but.....
The whole "price shock" thread was started by a user of small
amounts of clay with little space.
Clay mixing machinery is not a practical solution.
Mixing a bucket-full of clay slip and drying it in plaster drying bats is.
10 or 12 bats can be made from a bag of plaster.
One 50 pound bag of each ingredient does not take up much space.
And we know that clay prepared by making a slip and then drying it
produces a more immediately usable, plastic clay body.
I never fire up my pugmill to recycle trimmings and slurry.
When I get a full bucket, I pour it into my bats,
and in a day or two I have extra-plastic clay that I reserve
for handles and extrusions.
It would require more time and effort, but I could get along
fine making all my clay with this method.
BTW, while everyone's talking clay prices, I figure my clay
costs about 9 cents a pound. When the main ingredient
(water) is free, it really brings down the price.
BTW, 2, in addition to other reasons,
I would not consider buying pre-mixed clay because I
have NEVER used any that was mixed stiff enough to suit me.
What good is the convience if you have to set the pugs out to
dry before using them?
Could this also have something to do with the price of water?
David Hendley
Maydelle, Texas
See David Hendley's Pottery Page at
http://www.sosis.com/hendley/david/
Vince Pitelka on wed 29 oct 97
>You will find that clay which you mix is generally far superior in quality
>to the clay that is purchased pre-mixed. "You are in control of the clay
>body." Depending on the volume of clay that you use will determine if it
>makes economic sense to make your own. A Soldner studio model clay mixer
>cost about $2500 and a Venco 4" deairing pugmill costs around $4000 so that
>is a $6500 investment. If you are in a coop then you can share the cost of
>the equipment and share the benefits of making your own clay. We can
>produce our own clay (wet mix) at approx. $0.13 per pound. If you are
>currently paying $0.43 per lb. for premixed clay then the saving of making
>10 tons (20,000 lbs.) of your own clay at $0.13 per lb. would just about
>pay for your equipment investment. And once you work with the superior
>claybodies that you are making you would not go back anyway.
Talbott -
I can certainly appreciate your enthusiasm for mixing one's own clay. It is
wonderful to have that flexibility, and to have the equipment to use for
recycling as well. We mix all our own claybodies, but we are an educational
institution and need to teach our students those skills, and need ot have
the opportunity to experiment with recipes.
But there are about eleven gazillion potters out there who would disagree
with you that "clay which you mix is generally far superior to the clay that
is purchased pre-mixed." In Northern California I used to go in with a
group of potters and buy clay from Westwood (now Laguna). Average total
orders were between ten and twenty tons. We were fortunate to get very
cheap freight from Southern California, since the semis hauling wood
products out of Humboldt County often came back empty. I used a number of
Westwood bodies, but my primary one was Rod's Bod stoneware, which I got for
..09 per pound, but this was fifteen years ago. In the years I used Rod's
Bod I never had a complaint about it. It threw and fired beautifully, and
was very consistent and reliable. Here at the Craft Center we have mixed so
many claybodies, and I cannot say for sure that any were superior to those
Westwood bodies.
So much of the performance of a really good claybody depends on the age of
the clay. I purchased clay once a year, and I always made sure I had at
least a month's worth left when I received the new batch. So I never used
clay which was less than a month or two old, and of course it got better
through the year.
In deciding whether or not to mix one's own clay, there are so many things
to consider. If you wish to mix your own clay it takes considerable space
to warehouse the materials, accommodate the mixing equipment, and if you
want to age your clay, how do you store it? It seems to me that the ideal
situation for many people, given the space, is to do both - to have the
mixing equipment for custom bodies and for recycling, and to order
moist-bagged clay in quantity when it fits the needs. Both approaches have
their advantages and disadvantages. I was perfectly happy with moist-bagged
clay, especially with a de-airing pugmill for wedging and recycling.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka - vpitelka@DeKalb.net
Home 615/597-5376, work 615/597-6801, fax 615/597-6803
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
Unruly JuliE on thu 30 oct 97
David,
I don't know about you, but here in Michigan, in the City of Grand
Rapids, we have to pay for water. It's not that cheap! The more
water we use, the more it costs us. Hard to water the lawn
sometimes, when you think of what that bill is going to be each
quarter (approx $120, but this includes sewer).
JuliE in Michigan where it will again rain on Halloween, those wet
little ghouls! (now thats free!)
David Hendley on fri 31 oct 97
Well JuliE, I have to pay $8 a month at my shop for my
first 2000 gals. of water, if I use it or not.
I never even come close to 2000 gallons a month from just
flushing the toilet and washing my hands,
so, yes, the water in my clay is free.
If I had to pay the going rate ($3 per 1000 gals.) it would work out to
approximately .0085 cents per pound,
or 85/100 of a cent per 100 pounds of clay.
Save that Halloween water in big buckets
and avoid confiscatory water rates!
David Hendley
Secretary-treasurer
Maydelle Water Supply Corporation
(220 customers and growing by dozens more every decade)
At 12:27 PM 10/30/97 EST, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>David,
>
>I don't know about you, but here in Michigan, in the City of Grand
>Rapids, we have to pay for water. It's not that cheap! The more
>water we use, the more it costs us. Hard to water the lawn
>sometimes, when you think of what that bill is going to be each
>quarter (approx $120, but this includes sewer).
>
>JuliE in Michigan where it will again rain on Halloween, those wet
>little ghouls! (now thats free!)
>
>
David Hendley
Maydelle, Texas
See David Hendley's Pottery Page at
http://www.sosis.com/hendley/david/
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