Lise Stoessel on wed 16 may 12
Hi all,
I have recently dug a little bit of clay from a streambed. I've processed=
=3D
it, but have kept it pristine (nothing added) and am looking for guidance=
=3D
as
to what cone I should fire to. Just making little pendants with my nurse=
=3D
ry
class, so nothing big, but it would be great to have them actually be
usable! Anyone worked with hand dug clay in the Charlottesville area?
I'm new to this list serve, so not sure how to navigate, but if you have
advice, could you email to lisebsbss@gmail.com?
Thanks!
Lise
Snail Scott on thu 17 may 12
On May 16, 2012, at 9:37 PM, Lise Stoessel wrote:
> I have recently dug a little bit of clay from a streambed. I've =3D
processed
> it, but have kept it pristine (nothing added) and am looking for =3D
guidance as
> to what cone I should fire to...
Start low - try whatever your normal bisque cone is. =3D20
It's usually a safe bet, and you can slide the test into a=3D20
regular firing instead of a separate one.
Make a small slab of it, and put a kiln-washed tray of=3D20
your regular clay under it. Do this whenever you test-fire=3D20
an unknown clay, just in case it's sticky at that temp. It's=3D20
not likely to be sticky at a conventional bisque temp, but=3D20
you never know. =3D20
I tend to do most clay tests with a shrinkage test mark=3D20
on it, but some native clays are a bitch to even get a=3D20
10 cm bar out of. Little thingies, though aren't a very=3D20
demanding application, and knowing the shrinkage=3D20
will likely be interesting only if you plan to do larger=3D20
stuff with this clay.
After firing, weigh it, boil it, towel it dry, then weigh again.=3D20
This will give you some notion of how vitrified it is, and=3D20
whether it's worth testing at higher cones as well. Or=3D20
lower. Always nice when it can go into a regular kiln=3D20
load, though, and for little ornamental thingies, the main=3D20
concern is merely to not melt it into a blob.
> I'm new to this list serve, so not sure how to navigate, but if you =3D
have
> advice, could you email to lisebsbss@gmail.com?
On this listserv, most people just respond to the list=3D20
itself, though some also respond to the poster directly.=3D20
If you need a response sent directly to you in addition to=3D20
the list posting, you can ask. People might or might not=3D20
remember to do that, though, so check the list anyway.
If you want a response off-list only, you can ask for that,=3D20
too. I am sending this post to both addresses, since you=3D20
asked.
-Snail
William & Susan Schran User on thu 17 may 12
On 5/16/12 10:37 PM, "Lise Stoessel" wrote:
>I have recently dug a little bit of clay from a streambed. I've processed
>it, but have kept it pristine (nothing added) and am looking for guidance
>as
>to what cone I should fire to. Just making little pendants with my
>nursery
>class, so nothing big, but it would be great to have them actually be
>usable! Anyone worked with hand dug clay in the Charlottesville area.
I have dug clay from different locations in Virginia and all fired fine to
an earthenware temperature, cone 06 - 04. I have had some do ok at cone 6
but due to large quantity of iron, they became very dark and thinner
thrown pots slumped. Since you are not making functional ware, the low
fire should be fine.
Bill
--
William "Bill" Schran
wschran@cox.net
wschran@nvcc.edu
http://www.creativecreekartisans.com
douglas fur on thu 17 may 12
Lise
Keying on Bill's comment- if it looks like it has a hi iron content then
it's probably lo-fie.
It seems like the appropriate firing technique matching getting your clay
from nature would be to fire it in a bon fire. If it's too porous then wax
it.
DRB
Seola Creek
Pam Cresswell on thu 17 may 12
Having been born in Central Virginia and living there till after college, I
would bet $ that it is a low fire clay. You know all those lovely red brick
colonial buildings around Charlottesville, like the big daddy of them all,
Monticello? Made from good Va red clay. There are, or were, big brick
making factories all over central Va, I remember playing around one on the
James in Lynchburg as a kid, I went to work with an adult who worked there.
Back in colonial times, brick making was something a family could do on
their land to build their own house. I love that idea :-)
Edouard Bastarache on fri 18 may 12
My experience with locally dug clay :
http://ste-annedesorelslipglaze.blogspot.com/
Plejkore,
Edouard Bastarache
Spertesperantisto
Sorel-Tracy
Quebec
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30058682@N00/
http://edouardbastarache.blogspot.com/
http://smart2000.pagesperso-orange.fr/bloggs_edouard.htm
http://www.facebook.com/edouard.bastarache
----- Original Message -----
From: "douglas fur" <23drb50@GMAIL.COM>
To:
Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2012 9:04 PM
Subject: Re: locally dug clay in Central Virginia
> Lise
> Keying on Bill's comment- if it looks like it has a hi iron content then
> it's probably lo-fie.
> It seems like the appropriate firing technique matching getting your clay
> from nature would be to fire it in a bon fire. If it's too porous then
> wax
> it.
>
> DRB
> Seola Creek
>
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