iandol on sun 28 sep 03
Dear Maurice Weitman,=20
Thanks for your questions.
First of all, I would not try to re-attach any damaged component. I =
would rather trash the piece and reclaim the clay. But there is a body =
of opinion, which I respect, that would inform you this can be done with =
Vinegar or Paper clay slip. It may also work with "Lana's Magic Water" =
but that may be an opinion and not a fact I can vouch for.
Waxing around a joint is recommended by some authorities as a way to =
prevent cracks because it retards the drying process. You would need to =
test this for yourself to validate its usefulness with your own clay.
My own technique is to make a deflocculated slip from the clay in =
progress and thicken this by evaporation to the consistency of "Double =
Cream". It will run but not "Peak". This is used on clay when it reaches =
leather hard. I attach plastic clay handles which I pull from the body. =
My slip is put on the handle stub. When I am about to attach the tail of =
the handle I blob some defloc slip at the point of attachment on the =
body and push the soft clay against the wet spot. The pot is then set =
aside, upside down, for the softer clay to firm up before trimming and =
fairing off is completed.=20
My slip acts as though it were an instant contact adhesive. The shine of =
wetness vanishes almost as soon as it touches the leather hard clay. I =
can tell if the clay has gone past its best consistency for this =
treatment because a shrinkage crack will form in the slip layer no =
matter how slowly the clay dries. That happened last week and the clay =
has been reclaimed.
I deflocculate with Dispex (Aus) but Darvan 7 (USA) should do the same =
thing. These are, so I understand Organic Electrolytes.
I recall I wrote this up for Pottery in Australia a few years ago.
Best regards,
Ivor Lewis. Redhill, South Australia
iandol on mon 29 sep 03
Dear Michael Wendt,=20
Thank you for your accolade. Your candour is appreciated.
I have tried for a long time to imagine a model which would be simple =
and readily grasped by anyone. Once I get some iron powder I will be =
able to test this one out. I have about six dozen 10 mm square magnets =
and if I keep it all in a small plastic bag I think it will represent =
one small flock of plastic clay.
Best regards,
Ivor Lewis. Redhill. South Australia
iandol on tue 30 sep 03
Dear Rick,
Sorry my friend, you have tried to apply my analogy, a "look at and play =
with model" which you could construct, to real life. My model is a =
little plastic bag into which you can put Iron powder, (filings) and a =
collection of small magnets. It has nothing to do with clays which are =
discoloured by the presence of Limonite or any other iron minerals.
Clay hangs together as a plastic substance because of the interaction of =
Pure Water with Kaolinite. Lawrence and West postulate a model which has =
the water adopting a Solid Hexagonal Structure around each clay crystal =
which they call a "Water Hull".
The answer to your "Cream Cheese" comparison may come from analysis of =
answers I get to my question about which elements do people prefer to =
have in their Feral Clays and you have primed my mind to another =
interesting possibility, so thanks for the question.
Best regards,
Ivor Lewis. Redhill, South Australia
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