Fredrick Paget on mon 16 aug 04
I have clay in my garden too. The topsoil is clay mixed with humus
and whatever drifted in over the ages but the subsoil about 2 or 3
feet down is a layer of pure clay. Good cone 04 earthenware clay.
If you decide the clay is something you want based on a test of the
little pieces you can pick up you might try digging down with a post
hole digger to see if you have a vein of pure clay down there.
Fred
>My garden is littered with a blue-grey plastic clay. But it's mixed
>with soil. The clay seems to rise to the top of the garden but it's
>never enough to actually dig, just smaller than fistful fragments and
>sheared slices.
>
>I put some in a bucket with water, thinking, I don't know, a magic
>electrolysis might occur and the soil would rise to the top, leaving
>the plastic clay to settle. That hasn't happened. It's mostly muddy,
>mucky, dirty clay. Is there any way to clean this stuff?
>
>Thanks!
>
>Kathy Forer, on Clay Pit Creek, or at least that's what the maps say.
>
--
From Fred Paget, Marin County, California, USA
fredrick@well.com
Kathy Forer on mon 16 aug 04
My garden is littered with a blue-grey plastic clay. But it's mixed
with soil. The clay seems to rise to the top of the garden but it's
never enough to actually dig, just smaller than fistful fragments and
sheared slices.
I put some in a bucket with water, thinking, I don't know, a magic
electrolysis might occur and the soil would rise to the top, leaving
the plastic clay to settle. That hasn't happened. It's mostly muddy,
mucky, dirty clay. Is there any way to clean this stuff?
Thanks!
Kathy Forer, on Clay Pit Creek, or at least that's what the maps say.
Ivor and Olive Lewis on tue 17 aug 04
Dear Kathy Forer,
If you can dig down a few feet (A Back Hoe Might be useful) you might
get down to the Clay Stratum. This will e clean and uncontaminated
with Top Soil.
I suggest you try to get a copy of the Geological Survey map of your
district. This will tell you about the deposit.
Best regards,
Ivor Lewis.
Redhill,
S. Australia.
.
Jaqartstudio on tue 17 aug 04
Hi Kathy,
You may want to check the archives Oct or Nov of '03, I had posted a similar question as I had dug two 10 gallon buckets of river mud at that time. There were many useful responses to include sieveing through pantyhose which are suspended,
screening, and also digging the mud when dry rather than wet to
avoid alot of impurities.
I built frames out of two by two square to fit over clean bucket, using different mesh screen stretched and tacked down around the frame. Working larger to smaller mesh in the seiveing. I dug wet mud after a hard rain on the banks of the Elijay River, so had
alot of leaves, sticks, even found a salamander in one bucket....let that muddy puppy out the door...... Anyway the frames work for larger quantities, some impurities can be desireable. For a smaller batch you could try the panty hose.
I used the rivermud as brushed slip decoration. It gave a nice bernard like color and worked well under a transparent glaze. I've yet to experiment with bringing it to throwing consistency, but would like to find the time to give that a go.
Send a note on your results.
Peace,
Pamela
~jaq
Kathy Forer wrote:
>clip< I put some in a bucket with water, thinking, I don't know, a magic
electrolysis might occur and the soil would rise to the top, leaving
the plastic clay to settle. That hasn't happened. It's mostly muddy,
mucky, dirty clay. Is there any way to clean this stuff?
______________________________________________________________________________
JaQart Studio
Inspiration, Insight and Idioms come from the most unlikely places, when we least expect it; Only when our heart is open does the 'it' become an Identity ~ jaq
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Bruce Girrell on tue 17 aug 04
> I put some in a bucket with water, thinking, I don't know, a magic
> electrolysis might occur and the soil would rise to the top, leaving
> the plastic clay to settle. That hasn't happened. It's mostly muddy,
> mucky, dirty clay. Is there any way to clean this stuff?
Of course there's a way to clean it. Our ancestors were not able to order
from Laguna.
You pretty much started out right. Here is the way that Juan Quezada taught
us to clean clay:
1) Allow your mixed material to dry.
2) Break up the big chunks.
3) Fill a large (garbage can) container at least half of the way with water.
4) Add the mixed material to the water and mix well. Keep the mix quite
liquid. Don't add too much soil. You don't want thick slip. You want very,
very runny stuff.
5) Allow to settle for a few minutes.
6) Using a bucket or other manageable container, take the muddy water and
pour it through a screen (like window screen or coarse curtain cloth) into
another large container. The sticks, leaves, and other "floaties" will be
trapped by the screen. Those small enough to pass through won't matter -
they become LOI.
7) At the bottom of your original container will now be a mix of rocks,
sand, and more clay. Add some more water and mix well. Let settle, then
screen into the second large container, adding it to the previous stuff.
Continue doing this until there's no significant clay to be recovered from
the first container and all that you have is rocks and sand.
8) Discard whatever remains in the first large container (for those from
mel's school, keep the choice rocks and sand, add in your taconite pellets
and mix into the second container).
8a) Depending on your energy level and how fine you want the clay to be, you
may wish to pass the entire contents of the second container through a finer
screen.
9) Let the strained material sit for at least a day. Leave the screen in
place so that leaves and insects do not get into it.
10) There should now be a clear water layer and a clay layer. Dip, siphon,
or decant the clear water layer to remove it, leaving the clay slip at the
bottom undisturbed. If you accidentally disturbed the clay or if you want to
remove more water, let the container sit another day and again remove the
water layer.
11) The remainder of the water must be removed by pouring the slip into a
plaster container or otherwise allowing it to evaporate. Again, the clay
slip should be covered to prevent unwanted debris from collecting on the
surface. Sheets of newspaper are perfect for this and help wick water from
the clay.
12) Depending on temperature and humidity you will eventually get a workable
mass. Wedge the clay to achieve a uniform consistency and, if necessary,
continue to adjust the moisture content by allowing more drying time or by
adding clean water.
I have made it sound long and complicated, but it isn't. It just takes a lot
of words to describe some simple acts. Patience is the main ingredient.
When firing the clay, be careful to do some maturation tests first. Chances
are the clay will mature at a much lower temperature than your commercial
clay. The first time I tried firing local clay I completely liquefied the
bowl (since ITC on kiln shelves is also an active thread, I'll mention that
this mess ended up on a shelf coated with ITC 100. It came off with just a
few smacks, but the ITC came off with the mess and had to be recoated).
Good luck!
Bruce "twelve step [clay] recovery program" Girrell
steve harrison on wed 18 aug 04
On Tuesday, August 17, 2004, at 11:00 AM, Kathy Forer wrote:
> My garden is littered with a blue-grey plastic clay. But it's mixed
> with soil.
Hello Kathy,
If the clay is plastic enough to make pots from, it will be harder than
the top soil in which it is mixed.
The easiest solution could be to dry sieve the bigger clay lumps out of
the soil.
If the clay falls to bits and cannot be sieved out, then it probably
doesn't have much dry strength, and therefore probably not very
plastic. So you're not missing out on anything.
Best wishes
Steve Harrison
Hot & Sticky Pty Ltd
5 Railway Pde
Balmoral Village
NSW 2571
Australia
http://ian.currie.to/sh/Steve_Harrisons_books.html
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