Lili Krakowski on mon 3 jan 11
What is so complicated about wedging that some of us [!] make a hooha =3D
out of it?
There is nothing esoteric or bizarre, or arcane about it. =3D20
Clay is prepared for use by wetting and then drying. (No, really)
First the clay (which, if a mixture of clay and other materials, is =3D
called the "clay body") is wetted down, slaked, into a thick soup that =3D
allows all ingredients to be mixed thoroughly. OK so far?
That soup--called "slop" or "slip" by potters-- then is dried out to a =3D
semi-soft consistency. About that of cream cheese at room temp. (No, =3D
it does not matter if regular or low fat cream cheese! )
Basically the clay should no longer stick to the fingers if a pinch is =3D
taken.
When the clay is of the right consistency, it needs to be well mixed. =3D
Why? Because in the original drying the outside parts (the ones exposed =
=3D
to air) will dry more than the inside parts. This comes as no =3D
astonishment to anyone who ever has left a wadded up wet washcloth on =3D
the sink, rather than a flattened out one. What the air hits dries =3D
first. So the clay must be mixed thoroughly AT THIS STAGE to become =3D
homogeneous, all parts the same consistency, and all air bubbles =3D
(vide infra) eliminated. Any strange foreign objects that have fallen =
=3D
into the clay, eliminated as well.
This mixing can be done in a vast number of ways. Any way that works =3D
for the particular potter is fine. There is no special virtue or merit =3D
to any method as long as it works.
CUTTING AND SLAMMING. The Wendt Method belongs to that school. The =3D
clay is formed into a lump. The lump is cut in two and Sub Lump One is =
=3D
banged/slammed onto SubLump Two in a position different from the way =3D
they two were assembled before. So if the Mother Lump oriented N to S =3D
and is cut in two E to W, the piece cut off is turned about 90 degrees =3D
before being slammed back down. This is repeated and repeated till the =3D
Mother Lump is nice and uniform.=3D20
One can cut the Mother Lump into slices and slam them together. The =3D
point is to re-orient the clay so that slices and lumps are not =3D
assembled ":as before".
One can slam Mother Lump against the edge of the wedging surface so =3D
that the table edge does the cutting. One must be careful to leave =3D
one's fingers clear! One can cut the Mother Lump in two with a handheld =
=3D
wire. One can use a wire stretched diagonally across the table...as =3D
instructed by Mel .
KNEADING Here the lump is kneaded as a lump of bread or pizza dough =3D
would be. I pull the lump towards me, push down hard with the heels of =3D
my hands, pull the lump back up towards me till the whole thing is a =3D
kind of sausage. I then slap the sausage back into a loaf and start =3D
again.
RAMSHEAD A variant of above where the lump is pulled up only part way =3D
before being pushed down again. Very good for large balls of clay, Name =
=3D
derives from the shape achieved which looks a bit like a ram's head with =
=3D
nice curly horns.
JAPANESE METHOD. ALSO CALLED SPIRAL WEDGING. Here the lump is turned =3D
as it is pushed ...Pull lump up, turn a bit, push lump down, pull lump =3D
up, turn a bit, push lump down.=3D20
.
NB (Or Not Our Beans). Cutting with a wire has a great advantage when =3D
dealing with clay in an open studio/class area. I lengthened my life =3D
line by a good inch as a student by finding an Xacto knife in a lump of =3D
clay I took out of the bin. In fact I would urge anyone starting out =3D
with a lump of unknown clay to cut it in slices before getting involved;
Also. I learned this at SAC from Frans Wildenhain This is what =3D
pastry bakers know as "fraisage"which is findable, with pictures, on the =
=3D
Internet. The clay is formed into a sausage. which lies on the table, =3D
perpendicular to the wedger's body. The heel of the hand is pressed =3D
onto the top of the sausage and a little bit of clay is pushed out =3D
paper thin onto the wedging board. This process is repeated across the =3D
sausage, and then repeated till all clay has been used. The spread-out =3D
clay then is reassembled into a sausage and the whole procedure repeated =
=3D
till the clay is well mixed. This is a great method for recycled clay, =
=3D
as well as when mixing two bodies together. =3D20
VIDE INFRA. Air bubbles do not appear on their own. An air bubble =3D
indicates that two clay surfaces were not joined with enough gusto, =3D
strength, etc. You can experiment here by laying slices of clay on top =3D
of each other gently, then starting to wedge. Nothing but air between =3D
slices. Air bubbles also will appear where bits of sponge or chamois =3D
are in the clay. Per se air bubbles are not our enemies. They ARE the =3D
indicators of poor wedging or stuff in the clay. =3D20
Lili Krakowski
Be of good courage
David Hendley on tue 4 jan 11
Lili left out my method of wedging in her list of various ways to
prepare clay for use:
"The Bluebird method".
I have not hand-wedged a piece of clay in my studio since buying
a small de-airing pugmill in 1998. If you have electricity, it is by far
the most efficient method.
David Hendley
david@farmpots.com
http://www.farmpots.com
http://www.thewahooligans.com
----- Original Message -----
What is so complicated about wedging that some of us [!] make a hooha out o=
f
it?
There is nothing esoteric or bizarre, or arcane about it.
Vince Pitelka on tue 4 jan 11
David Hendley wrote:
"Lili left out my method of wedging in her list of various ways to prepare
clay for use: "The Bluebird method". I have not hand-wedged a piece of clay
in my studio since buying a small de-airing pugmill in 1998. If you have
electricity, it is by far the most efficient method.
David -
I would like to nominate the deairing pugmill as the best wedging method
ever. I was a full-time studio potter for only ten years (before I went to
grad school), but I attribute the good condition of my wrists to the fact
that I was not hand-wedging my clay during that time. I built my Harry
Davis deairing pugmill before I started making pots full-time, and it was
one of the best investments of time and money in setting up my studio. I
used a variety of Westwood (now Laguna) claybodies, and purchased a year's
supply at a time, so it needed to be remobilized before throwing. The
deairing pugmill did a beautiful job, and I also used it to wedge all my
recycled scrap.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft
Tennessee Tech University
vpitelka@dtccom.net; wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka
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