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nylon fiber in clay

updated sat 30 may 98

 

William Moody on wed 27 may 98

I am presently working in hand building ceramic forms and have become
intrigued by the use of nylon fiber in my clay body. What I can not seem
to find out is how much do I put in and what length the fibers should
be. I mix my own clay in ~100 lb. batches. I also would like to find out
if I can use the fibers in porcelain without discoloration. Any help
would be greatly appreciated.

Dannon Rhudy on thu 28 may 98


I use half-inch nylon fiber in porcelain for life size figures;
it is amazingly strong and keeps porcelain, even grolleg, from
doing that which it is infamous for: cracking and warping to
an unfortunate extent. Once-fired to ^10. No problems. For a
hundred pound batch, put in just a handful. It will disperse to
an amazing extent, if you pull
apart a chunk and hold it to the light, it will look like it
is growing fur. But experiment a bit; add less, look at it.
If it seems enough, fine; if not, add more. I have not noticed
any discoloration to the porcelain, nor to any other clay body,
from the use of nylon fiber.

I've thrown pots from left-over bits of nylon/porcelain. Not
bad to throw, but a definite nuisance to trim.

Dannon Rhudy
potter@koyote.com



----------------------------Original
message----------------------------
I am presently working in hand building ceramic forms and have
become
intrigued by the use of nylon fiber in my clay body. What I can
not seem
to find out is how much do I put in and what length the fibers
should
be. I mix my own clay in ~100 lb. batches. I also would like to
find out
if I can use the fibers in porcelain without discoloration. Any
help
would be greatly appreciated.

Andi Cody on thu 28 may 98

What effect are you looking for? I have used very thin strands of copper
wire on bisqued pieces with some interesting results. Is the nylon fiber
wedged into the clay or what?


At 08:45 AM 5/27/98 EDT, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>I am presently working in hand building ceramic forms and have become
>intrigued by the use of nylon fiber in my clay body. What I can not seem
>to find out is how much do I put in and what length the fibers should
>be. I mix my own clay in ~100 lb. batches. I also would like to find out
>if I can use the fibers in porcelain without discoloration. Any help
>would be greatly appreciated.
>


thanks,

Andi

email: mailto:acody@ucsd.edu

Clyde Tullis on thu 28 may 98

I've used it for years. It's in my R-2 like throwing boby and is an
important ingrediant in the jigger clay for the birdfeeders.

I mix in an old Bluebird with a batch of about 125# wet. In the water I
put about a cotton balls worth and the start to add the other materials.
You can wedge it in as well. Just sprinkle a little on the wedging board
and go at it. If you add too much you'll get a rippling when you throw
or pull handles.

Clyde Tullis
c/o Raven Hill, Inc and MUDLARK POTTERY
0111 County Road 45
Howard, CO 81233
719-942-4772
FAX 719-942-3211
mudlark@ris.net

Lorca Beebe on fri 29 may 98

Just throw in a wad, if you plan to carve or tream though it will be like
having a bunch of cob webs...dont know anything about how it will act in
porcelain, just throw in another wad and see what happens...

Lorca

John Britt on fri 29 may 98

If you are using Nylon fiber, just be sure you have excellent
ventilation because when nylon fiber burns (bisque) it gives off nasty
fumes!
--
Thanks,

John Britt claydude@unicomp.net
Dys-Functional Pottery
Dallas, Texas
http://www.dysfunctionalpottery.com/claydude