Carol Tripp on wed 31 mar 04
I have wondered about this: some people recommend completely drying out the
clay to be recycled. Others just toss it in the slops bucket to be mixed
with a tad of old wine and then dried out enough to be workable. So, what
gives? Does clay really need to be dried out completely before rewetting
and then recycling?
Best regards,
Carol
Dubai, UAE
A fraction of what Snail wrote:
>but for smaller amounts, just letting it dry,
>crushing the bits, and re-wetting it in a
>bucket works pretty well.
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Milla Miller on wed 31 mar 04
Each will work but I poke holes deep into the still wet clay to expose more
surface.I think the fully dry clay takes up the moisture a tad faster.Each
preforms best if wedged when restored.I don't use any additives to increase
plasticity but vinegar has the same effect as the wine.
Margaret in SC
>
> I have wondered about this: some people recommend completely drying out the
> clay to be recycled. Others just toss it in the slops bucket to be mixed
> with a tad of old wine and then dried out enough to be workable. So, what
> gives? Does clay really need to be dried out completely before rewetting
> and then recycling?
>
> Best regards,
> Carol
> Dubai, UAE
>
>
Hendrix, Taylor J. on wed 31 mar 04
Carol,
No requirement to fully dry reclaim clay, but here is my newbie
observations. When I let my reclaim dry completely then add water, the
absorption of the water is almost frightening in it's ferocity. Watch
your fingers! In minutes sometimes, I have mixable clay with no lumps.
If I add even hard leather hard pieces to water, I often have to break
or squish hard nodules of clay.
I watched the lady who taught me how to throw make slip for attachment
using pieces of leather hard clay. It was painful to watch because of
the time and energy it took to end up with a nice, thick slip. I have
containers of dried out body just waiting for water. Thick slip in
about 1 and a half minutes.
I had a 5 gal bucket full of dried out reclaim. some of the pieces were
quite thick (hehe newbie throwers). I added water to just covering and
let it hiss away. Next day I could stir it up with very little
lumpyness. I took a drill mixer to it and yum, about 25 pounds of
smooth, stinky clay. I can't wait for it to get dry enough for wedging.
All my throwing slurry went into the reclaim bucket as well.
Taylor, in Waco
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of Carol Tripp
Sent: Wednesday, March 31, 2004 2:14 AM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Recycling: dried out vs moist clay was Re: Meat grinder pug
mill
I have wondered about this: some people recommend completely drying out
the
clay to be recycled. Others just toss it in the slops bucket to be mixed
with a tad of old wine and then dried out enough to be workable. So,
what
gives? Does clay really need to be dried out completely before
rewetting
and then recycling?
...
Liisa Reid on wed 31 mar 04
At 03:14 AM 3/31/04, you wrote:
>I have wondered about this: some people recommend completely drying out the
>clay to be recycled. Others just toss it in the slops bucket to be mixed
>with a tad of old wine and then dried out enough to be workable. So, what
>gives? Does clay really need to be dried out completely before rewetting
>and then recycling?
>
>Best regards,
>Carol
>Dubai, UAE
Carol, My experience is, that like so much else, it all depends.
Bone dry wets down better, but it's not always necessary, especially if the scraps are small, like from trimming. So if you're throwing you may be able to just dump everything all together with a minimal amount of water, dry it out and wedge.
But if you've got bigger chunks or more difficult to wet evenly clay (like porcelain), then more extreme measures may be necessary.
Experiment and find out what works for you and your clay.
Nobody wants to do more work than they need to, but then again if you sluff off too much you may wind up with short, unworkable stuff that doesn't throw well and has little strength in the green (unfired) state.
For my thrown porcelain, I do just dump throwing and trimming scrap together, plus all my carefully saved throwing and washing up water which has the finest, most plastic particles. I mix it all up to thick slip consistency with a strong drill type mixer, so it's really creamy and lump free. Let it sit and remix adding more water if it's thickened up too much. Then dry and wedge.
For stoneware, I don't find the slip stage necessary.
Liisa, in Vermont, USA where it is now the fifth season of the year. Mud season. My driveway is like the clay recycle bin. That's ok, because it means everything is thawing out and spring is on the way. Can't wait til it's really here.
Ivor and Olive Lewis on thu 1 apr 04
Dear Carol,
Totally dry clay slakes out very quickly provided it is not disturbed
after the water is poured over it. Clay which is still damp to a
degree, even beyond leather hard, does not adsorb water easily. This
is why wet, or "puddled" clay makes a good liner for a dam site.
So there is always a tendency to get some variation in quality with
hard spots in places which demand a greater degree of cut and slice
sort of wedging if you just accumulate wet scraps for reclaiming.
But this may be of little consequence if it is being put through a pug
mill.
Best regards,
Ivor Lewis. Redhill, South Australia
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