Brandon Phillips on tue 22 oct 02
The last batch of fireclay that I've gotten has been absolutely horrible.
I've found many pebble size chunks and even pieces of pencil and wood. I
called the supplier (Armadillo Clay in Austin TX.) and apparently the AP
Green fireclay mine is under new ownership and they got rid of the quality
control department and doubled the price. Armadillo says if this continues
they will no longer carry AP Green fireclay. Unfortunately now I have to
run my fireclay through a screen before I can mix it. Just thought I'd let
ya'll know and see if anyone else has come across this problem yet.
Brandon Phillips
Abilene, TX
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Chris Stanley on wed 23 oct 02
We are using Christy minerals Fire clay from Trinity Ceramics!
Sweet and neat hard to beat!
Seems to want a little more silica than AP green, but none of the crap!
I miss the old AP Green!
-----Original Message-----
From: Ceramic Arts Discussion List [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG]On
Behalf Of Brandon Phillips
Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2002 8:21 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: AP Green Fireclay Sucks
The last batch of fireclay that I've gotten has been absolutely horrible.
I've found many pebble size chunks and even pieces of pencil and wood. I
called the supplier (Armadillo Clay in Austin TX.) and apparently the AP
Green fireclay mine is under new ownership and they got rid of the quality
control department and doubled the price. Armadillo says if this continues
they will no longer carry AP Green fireclay. Unfortunately now I have to
run my fireclay through a screen before I can mix it. Just thought I'd let
ya'll know and see if anyone else has come across this problem yet.
Brandon Phillips
Abilene, TX
_________________________________________________________________
Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online
http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963
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Jim Bob Salazar on wed 23 oct 02
hey brandon,
that answers my questions. we are also getting stones and pebbles in all
our pots. some are finding them in the throwing process and some in the
trimming. i have collected a small hand full in just the past few days and
planning to send them to craig at armadillo. the students are pretty hot
about having pots ruined over poor quality ingredients. thanks for the
info.
jim bob
alpine, texas
Gail Dapogny on wed 23 oct 02
Brandon,
We were having similar problems (in our guild), then heard about the new
A.P. Green and its problems 9apparently a lot of lime chunks as well as
other stuff). We've switched to Hawthorne. Will probably do some
additional tinkering after I get Ron to look at the recipes since we now
have a rather heavy amount of Hawthorne in there. But it is still a major
improvement over the A.P. Green stuff.
---Gail
>The last batch of fireclay that I've gotten has been absolutely horrible.
>I've found many pebble size chunks and even pieces of pencil and wood. I
>called the supplier (Armadillo Clay in Austin TX.) and apparently the AP
>Green fireclay mine is under new ownership and they got rid of the quality
>control department and doubled the price.
>Brandon Phillips
>Abilene, TX
Gail Dapogny
1154 Olden Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48103-3005
(734) 665-9816
gdapogny@umich.edu
http://www.silverhawk.com/ex99/dapogny (single historical photo - no longer
registered with Silverhawk)
Mondloch on wed 23 oct 02
About a year ago I was having popouts in finished pieces from 1/8" hard
little white stones - traced it back to the APGreen fireclay. I've been
screening the AP Green fireclay and the Cedar Heights Bonding Clay I use
since then.
If Jonathon K were still on the list, he'd probably be scolding us for using
fireclay at all, but I guess so far I like the fireclay in there so much
that the extra hassle is worth it.
Sylvia
---
Mark & Sylvia Mondloch
Silver Creek Pottery & Forge
W6725 Hwy 144
Random Lake ,Wi 53075
HotArt@silvercreekpottery.com
http://www.silvercreekpottery.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Brandon Phillips"
To:
Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2002 8:21 PM
Subject: AP Green Fireclay Sucks
> The last batch of fireclay that I've gotten has been absolutely horrible.
> I've found many pebble size chunks and even pieces of pencil and wood. I
> called the supplier (Armadillo Clay in Austin TX.) and apparently the AP
> Green fireclay mine is under new ownership and they got rid of the quality
> control department and doubled the price. Armadillo says if this
continues
> they will no longer carry AP Green fireclay. Unfortunately now I have to
> run my fireclay through a screen before I can mix it. Just thought I'd
let
> ya'll know and see if anyone else has come across this problem yet.
>
> Brandon Phillips
> Abilene, TX
Bob Pulley on wed 23 oct 02
I quit using AP Green years ago because I was having trouble with pop
outs. Little bits of limestone. or something.
Unfortunately I lost a nice blush to the reduced stoneware that the AP
Green seemed responsible for.
Bob
Ron Roy on sun 27 oct 02
AP Greens attitude to potters was not good when they were the owners of the
mine - take it or leave it they would say.
If you are mixing clay the best thing to do is screen through 30 mesh -
especially fire clays - if you don't you will probably pay the price sooner
or later.
My recommendation to any individual or clay maker is to screen everything -
you will be amazed at what you find on the screen - that includes sharp
stuff you don't want to bunp into when wedging or throwing - never mind
what it can do to a pug mill.
It's dusty work and most potters don't even have the right equipment to do
it - my best advice is to find a clay maker that will do it for you - just
make sure they screen the dry materials - and make sure they test their
clay - or test it yourself.
Even if you make you own clay - you need to test - especially when new raw
materials arrive - it's all dug up and the person running the front end
loader is making the decisions about where and what to dig.
RR
>The last batch of fireclay that I've gotten has been absolutely horrible.
>I've found many pebble size chunks and even pieces of pencil and wood. I
>called the supplier (Armadillo Clay in Austin TX.) and apparently the AP
>Green fireclay mine is under new ownership and they got rid of the quality
>control department and doubled the price. Armadillo says if this continues
>they will no longer carry AP Green fireclay. Unfortunately now I have to
>run my fireclay through a screen before I can mix it. Just thought I'd let
>ya'll know and see if anyone else has come across this problem yet.
>
>Brandon Phillips
>Abilene, TX
Ron Roy
RR#4
15084 Little Lake Road
Brighton, Ontario
Canada
K0K 1H0
Phone: 613-475-9544
Fax: 613-475-3513
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