Maid O'Mud Pottery on thu 25 may 00
I have a very very OLD pugmill that started spitting metal into the clay
(which of course only shows up after glaze firing!). We took it apart
on the weekend, and discovered 4 large (over 1") areas in the barrel;
top and bottom; where the metal was green/white and easily picked off
with fingernails.
I brought the barrel to a local specialist in aluminum and white metal
repair. I picked it up today. He's attempted to fill in the 4 areas
with white solder BUT can't fill "flush" due to the contamination in the
top 1/8" of the metal. He assumes it's a bauxite compound. It's very
pitted on the interior, and he pointed out a bunch of new, greenish
"starting points" that will soon be causing trouble as well.
He suggested I have the barrel professionally sandblasted, then soak the
entire barrel in "water glass" afterwords.
I can't be the only person with a pitted barrel - but I've never read
about this problem. How have you all handled what I'm going through?
The machine is very old, and was made in England, so original
replacement parts are out of the question.
I'll be at FUSION the next 3 days, but would appreciate coming home to
good news!
Many thanks
--
sam - alias the cat lady
SW Ontario CANADA
http://www.geocities.com/paris/3110 scuttell@odyssey.on.ca
"First, the clay told me what to do
Then, I told the clay what to do
Now; we co-operate"
sam, 1994
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