David Hendley on tue 21 apr 98
How I clean my extruder barrel:
1. let it dry.
2. stick a good sized wrench up the barrel from the bottom,
hold a small bat under it, and hit the sides of the barrel while
moving the wrench in a circular motion. This is the same idea (and
sounds similar to) ringing the old triangular dinner gong that
called Walter Brennon to dinner every week on 'The Real McCoys'.
The wrench is close by because it's used to install the die holder.
3. spray the inside of the barrel with water (an old windex
bottle).
That's it. There may be some little pieces of clay left in the barrel,
but they are so small they are instantly made into plastic clay with
the spray and become part of the new batch as it's loaded.
If I'm changing clays (particularly dark to light), add step
4. scrub the barrel with a long handled brush. A toilet brush
comes to mind. Spray with water again and pull a towel through
a couple of times.
A general comment on WD-40:
For these types of uses, I perfer a silcone lubricant spray.
Not as oily feeling, and very s-l-i-c-k.
David Hendley
Maydelle, Texas
At 08:51 AM 4/20/98 EDT, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>A short while ago I purchased a Bailey extruder. I've been making my own
>dies and having quite a good time playing with the thing. That is until
>it's time to clean the barrel. Clay seems to stick to the barrel's inside
>walls. It's hard to clean the clay off them when it's wet, and it's hard
>to clean it off them when it's dry.
>
>So I happened upon the article in Pottery Making Illustrated about using
>Press-Molds with WD-40. In a side panel in that article it says that "You
>can also use WD-40 on the inside of the clay mixer's extruder barrel and
>dies (but not on the plunger) to make them easier to clean." I tried the
>WD-40 in my extruder barrel and whoa! it's way easier to clean. But the
>can says "Flammable" all over it. I'm worried that the forms I've made may
>explode in the kiln. Well.... maybe I'm not that worried about the forms,
>but I'd really hate to screw up a nice electric kiln with a crazy experiment.
>
>Has anyone on this list tried this WD-40 trick and are my concerns about
>explosion realistic? I'm thinking maybe I should try Pam cooking spray
>instead or Murphy's Oil Soap. Does anyone have any tips/tricks they use to
>make extruder cleaning quicker and easier? Could you please share them.
>
>thanks....
>John Post
>e-mail rp1mrvl@moa.net
>
Cwolo on thu 23 apr 98
Wanted an extruder and was even willing to buy one. But, after looking at the
major brands I decided that they all had one very BIG defect. They were hard
to clean because the barrel couldn't be removed. So when I made my own I made
the barrel removable. It is made of heavy PVC pipe and can easily be taken
off and taken to the sink for cleaning. Don't know why the manufacturers
haven't thought of that. Maybe they don't clean them.
Diane Forida Bird Lady
MJBURK on fri 24 apr 98
In a message dated 98-04-23 07:51:39 EDT, you write:
<< So when I made my own I made
the barrel removable. It is made of heavy PVC pipe and can easily be taken
off and taken to the sink for cleaning. Don't know why the manufacturers
haven't thought of that. Maybe they don't clean them.
Diane Forida Bird Lady >>
Could you Please tell us how you made it. Mj
Stephen Mills on mon 27 apr 98
The Bath Potters extruder comes apart for cleaning, leaving just the
frame on the wall. We're Potters, we make 'em and we use them!
Steve
Bath
UK
In message , Cwolo writes
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Wanted an extruder and was even willing to buy one. But, after looking at the
>major brands I decided that they all had one very BIG defect. They were hard
>to clean because the barrel couldn't be removed. So when I made my own I made
>the barrel removable. It is made of heavy PVC pipe and can easily be taken
>off and taken to the sink for cleaning. Don't know why the manufacturers
>haven't thought of that. Maybe they don't clean them.
>
>Diane Forida Bird Lady
>
--
Steve Mills
Bath
UK
home e-mail: stevemills@mudslinger.demon.co.uk
work e-mail: stevemills@bathpotters.demon.co.uk
own website: http://www.mudslinger.demon.co.uk
BPS website: http://www.bathpotters.demon.co.uk
waverock@C3NET.NET on sat 6 may 00
Hi Joyce,
Here's a couple of extruder tips...
Spray the inside with Pam cooking spray or some other cooking spray like
this. It makes the clay fall off easier when cleaning and isn't as nasty
on the lungs as wd-40. (Tom Buck gave me this tip.)
I wrap the plunger of the extruder with a cut off square of old blue jeans
or canvas and then push it through the extruder. The cloth makes the
plunger wider and it grabs all of the excess clay from the walls. It
cleans the extruder in one pass. (I got this on clayart too, but can't
remember who told me it.)
Lastly if I leave the clay in the extruder barrel for too long and it
dries, I just take a wrench and bang the walls and all of the extra clay
falls off. (David Hendley told me this.)
These three tips have made extruder cleaning a breeze. There was a thread
on this about 2 years ago that I started by asking the same question. You
might find other info in the archives.
Happy extruding...
John Post
Sterling Heights, Michigan USA
waverock@c3net.net
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