millie carpenter on tue 22 dec 98
hi group,
I finally got myself a bluebird deairing pugmill, the 440. I do have a
question. the directions were minimal, as is my patience with reading
directions, so now I am wondering about something that I did. I did not
have slurry to mix with the clay to soften it so I just took an old soda
bottle, filled it with water, and poured some in the hopper with the
clay. made sense to me and seemed to work okay. but should I have
slaked some down to slurry first? and what do I do If the clay needs to
be dryer, does just running it thru again dry it the way wedging would?
and the cleaning and greasing, what is the pug mill equivelent of 3
months or 3000 miles? I guess that I am a little over anxious, this is
the only piece of equiptment that I didn't have any experience with
before I started off on my own.
thanks
Millie in Md having made it thru Hanukkah without burning the house down
David Hendley on wed 23 dec 98
Millie, a pug mill is not a mixer; especially the 440, with its
tiny little hopper opening.
The clay shoud already be reasonably well mixed before it
goes into the pug mill. For years Bluebird stressed this in their
advertising, but they seem to not be doing it so much lately.
So, either buy a clay mixer or mix dry clay and water to the
right consistancy in a bucket before it goes in the pug mill.
The "Peter Pugger" machine is advertised as a mixer/pug mill
in one, and the old Walker pug mill could kinda do both,
but the little Bluebird cannot.
I bought a new 440 last spring and I have had trouble with the
rubber "spider" that connects the motor to the pug mill shaft.
I suggest that you check it quite often for wear. Just remove the
3 screws and take off the orange cover to look at it. While you're
at it, go ahead and give the bearings a hit with the grease gun.
Don't over-do it; when you see a little grease coming out around
the bearing, stop.
I don't see any reason to clean the machine unless you let it
sit for a long time and the clay in the barrel gets very hard.
Don't try to run it if this happens. If you know you won't
be using it for a long time, clean most of the clay out of the
barrel before it sits up.
David Hendley
Maydelle, Texas
At 02:17 PM 12/22/98 EST, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>hi group,
>
>I finally got myself a bluebird deairing pugmill, the 440. I do have a
>question. the directions were minimal, as is my patience with reading
>directions, so now I am wondering about something that I did. I did not
>have slurry to mix with the clay to soften it so I just took an old soda
>bottle, filled it with water, and poured some in the hopper with the
>clay. made sense to me and seemed to work okay. but should I have
>slaked some down to slurry first? and what do I do If the clay needs to
>be dryer, does just running it thru again dry it the way wedging would?
>and the cleaning and greasing, what is the pug mill equivelent of 3
>months or 3000 miles? I guess that I am a little over anxious, this is
>the only piece of equiptment that I didn't have any experience with
>before I started off on my own.
>
>thanks
>
>Millie in Md having made it thru Hanukkah without burning the house down
>
Betsy Wilding on fri 25 dec 98
Hi Millie, David's right, the 440 just further mixes clay you've already
started mixing. I recycle lots of scraps through mine. And it saves
your wrists from some of the wedging.
Betsy in Silver Spring, MD
David Hendley wrote:
>
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Millie, a pug mill is not a mixer; especially the 440, with its
> tiny little hopper opening.
> The clay shoud already be reasonably well mixed before it
> goes into the pug mill. For years Bluebird stressed this in their
> advertising, but they seem to not be doing it so much lately.
> So, either buy a clay mixer or mix dry clay and water to the
> right consistancy in a bucket before it goes in the pug mill.
>
> The "Peter Pugger" machine is advertised as a mixer/pug mill
> in one, and the old Walker pug mill could kinda do both,
> but the little Bluebird cannot.
>
> I bought a new 440 last spring and I have had trouble with the
> rubber "spider" that connects the motor to the pug mill shaft.
> I suggest that you check it quite often for wear. Just remove the
> 3 screws and take off the orange cover to look at it. While you're
> at it, go ahead and give the bearings a hit with the grease gun.
> Don't over-do it; when you see a little grease coming out around
> the bearing, stop.
> I don't see any reason to clean the machine unless you let it
> sit for a long time and the clay in the barrel gets very hard.
> Don't try to run it if this happens. If you know you won't
> be using it for a long time, clean most of the clay out of the
> barrel before it sits up.
>
> David Hendley
> Maydelle, Texas
>
> At 02:17 PM 12/22/98 EST, you wrote:
> >----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> >hi group,
> >
> >I finally got myself a bluebird deairing pugmill, the 440. I do have a
> >question. the directions were minimal, as is my patience with reading
> >directions, so now I am wondering about something that I did. I did not
> >have slurry to mix with the clay to soften it so I just took an old soda
> >bottle, filled it with water, and poured some in the hopper with the
> >clay. made sense to me and seemed to work okay. but should I have
> >slaked some down to slurry first? and what do I do If the clay needs to
> >be dryer, does just running it thru again dry it the way wedging would?
> >and the cleaning and greasing, what is the pug mill equivelent of 3
> >months or 3000 miles? I guess that I am a little over anxious, this is
> >the only piece of equiptment that I didn't have any experience with
> >before I started off on my own.
> >
> >thanks
> >
> >Millie in Md having made it thru Hanukkah without burning the house down
> >
--
Betsy Wilding --- Silver Spring, MD
mailto:ewilding@digizen.net --- http://www.digizen.net/members/ewilding
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