Les Haworth on wed 4 dec 02
Hello Mel, I hope all is well with you. Being such a huge Southern Ice user,
I thought I'd share my experiences and tricks with you. If clay had an
attitude, this porcelain would be cantankerous. To say the least, it is a
temperamental body indeed. However, I believe the end result to be worth the
extra TLC that this special clay needs and I hope you'll give it another
whirl.
Southern Ice comes in a 20# bag filter pressed, pugged, and de-aired. Before
I place it on the wheel head I spiral wedge this clay not once but twice. I
find that this helps to align most of the clay particles. Then I slam the
pointed end down on the wheel head, and start to center the clay. I have
tried to throw this clay off the hump with limited success. I myself, prefer
to prepare individual pieces and throw them one at a time for this clay
body. (Slow process, I know.)
When I'm beginning to finalize the form, I have found that this clay is
slightly forgiving. So if you make a mistake it could be corrected as long
as its a slight mistake! Also, access to a good supply of bats is helpful.
The less handling, the better. If you prefer to trim, I recommend using a
Giffin Grip. Recently, I have discovered that trimming is easier at the
Cheese-hard (slightly softer than Leather-hard.) state.
As many of you already know, this silky porcelain likes to dry slowly, Well
thats VERY SLOWLY I tell you! (this method is real slow) After you have
finished your piece, wrap it up tightly in plastic and let it sit for a
week. Then punch two holes in the plastic and let it sit for four more days.
Then uncover, and allow to dry at room temperature. Three weeks is not
uncommon to dry for some forms. I know this seems like a lot of work but I
do feel that the end product is worth the heartache. You'll see when you
glaze a SI (Southern Ice) piece. The glazes in your studio appear to have
been altered! Actually, the whiteness of the clay body brings out the best
in your glazes.
I hope you'll try SI again. It is cantankerous, but I have always found
difficult clay bodies to be a challenge worth my time and effort. My mentor,
Charlene Felos at Cypress College always told me "Don't fall in love with
your pieces until their done." I do however, and I guess that's something
that I must always work on. Take care.
Sincerely,
Lester R. Haworth III
Sales and Technical Support
Laguna Clay Co.
14400 Lomitas ave
City of Industry, CA 91746
1(800) 4-LAGUNA ext. 229
(626)330-0631 ext. 229
les@lagunaclay.com
www.lagunaclay.com
-----Original Message-----
From: No title defined [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG]On Behalf Of mel
jacobson
Sent: Wednesday, December 04, 2002 2:23 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Australian ice clay
i tried my first bag of that new clay body.
very porcelain. white, baby pooh stuff.
i made 6 big bowls, and 6 small bowls...turned ring
feet, and put them with about 30 other pots from my
standard stoneware clay to dry.
all of the big bowls cracked in circular patterns, fell apart.
talk about S cracks...wow. 2 of the small ones cracked too.
not one of my clay pots cracked at all. and, i may add that
the porcelain was well thrown, consistent.
no more of that stuff for me. it also altered it's shape
when drying.
i realize now that it takes very slow, covered drying. not for me.
it also left a very hard, dense frit like substance at the bottom
of my throwing bucket. hard as a rock.
it may be great for others, but all that special handling, and
shape altering would not suit me at all.
i am going to throw a couple hundred pounds of michael wendt's
helmer body this week. i am sure it will be a much better result.
now that i have a clean wheel, well i will have to make some more
white clay pots. never waste a clean wheel. (the axner test wheel.)
mel
From:
Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S.A.
web site: my.pclink.com/~melpots
or try: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
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