mel jacobson on thu 9 oct 08
99% of my clay scrap and cleanup goes back into my
pug mill.
i use it all.
why throw it away?
i keep three five gallon pails near my wheel. all half full of water.
dry clay goes in one, i wash tools and stuff in one...
and my hands in the third.
when there is slurry in the bottom i put it into my
pug mill with some dry mix.
almost all of my scrap from throwing for a few hours
goes back into the pug mill...i add grog and throw
a big bowl...that bowl represents the money spent
on a week in the studio, gas, lights, clay and glaze.
if you do not have a pug mill, make a big plaster
or cement slab. add your slurry and scrap to the
batt each day...two days later....wedge it into a ball
and make something from it.
right now i have five/five gallon pails of scrap clay from
a friend...a production thrower that gives away her
scrap...it does not pay her to pay a kid to re/cycle.
so. she throws everything from the box of ready made clay.
i get the trimmings.
and yes, i can afford to buy clay ready made...but, i
make my own special body anyway...add this and that,
and i still want to do that...so, any quality cone 10 body is
a great start. i make about 500 pounds at a time..throw
it all in a few days. doing that right now.
i am a real skin flint when it comes to clay...just can't throw
good stuff out.
the only glaze that i throw away now is cleaning buckets
for a new batch or color. i do that in the yard with a great
deal of hose water. thin it all out.
if i get some clay contaminated with dirt...etc...christmas
boughs...you know...that certain someone that re/pots
flowers in my studio...well that goes on the flower beds.
can't re/cycle that.
so much about scrap cleanup is discipline. don't let it pile
up...do it each day. never leave your studio with crap and
scrap all over. create a system of clean up and re/cycle, and
you will love your studio. i see people all the time with
clay all over, a half inch on glaze dried to the floor, and
old brick and broken shelves around the kiln.
shelves thrown all over. of course they will be the first in
line to blame someone else for their white lung disease...my god,
sue someone.
that is not craft. that is slop and stupid.
any crafts person worth their salt is clean and organized.
on the other hand...we cannot wash our wheels each day.
mop everything..takes hours.....be wise. logic.
i have never washed my wheel...it is always ready to make pots.
i pick up crap. always wash my floor after glazing...but, each
day...clean up is five minutes.
it is not a surgery.
it is a clay studio.
mel
from minnetonka:
website http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
clayart site:
http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
John Rodgers on thu 9 oct 08
Mel,
I with you on clean-up.
Though I am messy at times, depending on the work load - I do thorough
clean-ups frequently. I started one yesterday. I try to work from the
top down to keep clay dust and debris working towards the floor. After
having worked in some big ceramics manufacuring facilities, and seen
what a time consuming thing it is to keep a thorough daily clean-up, and
having been personally engaged in a lot of that mopping and stuff, I
decided to set my next shop up so everything is off the floor - there is
a clear space under everything. Now when it's cleaning time, I get up
all the big stuff, by hand, scoop, or dustpan, then I open my big
roll-up doors, and starting at one end of my working space, I turn a
high pressure water stream on to the floor at a lo9w angle and hose
the place out, pushing all the dusty, dirt and debris across the floor
and out the door on to a concrete apron where after drying a bit it can
all be scooped up and disposed of. It works for me.
Regards,
John Rodgers
Chelsea, AL
mel jacobson wrote:
> 99% of my clay scrap and cleanup goes back into my
> pug mill.
> i use it all.
>
> why throw it away?
>
> i keep three five gallon pails near my wheel. all half full of water.
> dry clay goes in one, i wash tools and stuff in one...
> and my hands in the third.
>
> when there is slurry in the bottom i put it into my
> pug mill with some dry mix.
>
> almost all of my scrap from throwing for a few hours
> goes back into the pug mill...i add grog and throw
> a big bowl...that bowl represents the money spent
> on a week in the studio, gas, lights, clay and glaze.
>
> if you do not have a pug mill, make a big plaster
> or cement slab. add your slurry and scrap to the
> batt each day...two days later....wedge it into a ball
> and make something from it.
>
> right now i have five/five gallon pails of scrap clay from
> a friend...a production thrower that gives away her
> scrap...it does not pay her to pay a kid to re/cycle.
> so. she throws everything from the box of ready made clay.
> i get the trimmings.
>
> and yes, i can afford to buy clay ready made...but, i
> make my own special body anyway...add this and that,
> and i still want to do that...so, any quality cone 10 body is
> a great start. i make about 500 pounds at a time..throw
> it all in a few days. doing that right now.
>
> i am a real skin flint when it comes to clay...just can't throw
> good stuff out.
>
> the only glaze that i throw away now is cleaning buckets
> for a new batch or color. i do that in the yard with a great
> deal of hose water. thin it all out.
>
> if i get some clay contaminated with dirt...etc...christmas
> boughs...you know...that certain someone that re/pots
> flowers in my studio...well that goes on the flower beds.
> can't re/cycle that.
>
> so much about scrap cleanup is discipline. don't let it pile
> up...do it each day. never leave your studio with crap and
> scrap all over. create a system of clean up and re/cycle, and
> you will love your studio. i see people all the time with
> clay all over, a half inch on glaze dried to the floor, and
> old brick and broken shelves around the kiln.
> shelves thrown all over. of course they will be the first in
> line to blame someone else for their white lung disease...my god,
> sue someone.
>
> that is not craft. that is slop and stupid.
> any crafts person worth their salt is clean and organized.
>
> on the other hand...we cannot wash our wheels each day.
> mop everything..takes hours.....be wise. logic.
> i have never washed my wheel...it is always ready to make pots.
> i pick up crap. always wash my floor after glazing...but, each
> day...clean up is five minutes.
> it is not a surgery.
> it is a clay studio.
> mel
>
> from minnetonka:
> website http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
> clayart site:
> http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
>
>
>
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