Michael Wendt on sun 26 sep 04
Some people have a misconception
about machine capacity. They think
that if a machine is rated at 700 lbs
per hour that is will be too big for
them. The way to view capacity is
in terms of how much time you
can afford to give up for the clay
preparation each day. If one
machine is rated 150 lbs per hour
and another 600 lbs per hour and
you plan to throw 150 lbs per day,
you will lose one hour of throwing
with the smaller machine while the
days clay with the larger machine
will cost you 15 minutes. From
this, you can see the benefit of
getting a larger capacity machine.
My pug mill produces 2200 lbs
per hour so we can mix all the
clay we sell each day in about
3 hours and the rest of the
day is spent making pots.
Use your need per day as
a guide to figuring the size
of the machine required.
For a small studio, the larger Peter
Pugger ( I have no stock in them)
would be my first choice. It mixes
and deairs like my machine but
then it can also pug the material
out. I have to tilt, dump and
feed into the pug mill, an extra step.
Just a thought on quality control...
you take charge!
Regards,
Michael Wendt
Wendt Pottery
2729 Clearwater Ave
Lewiston, Idaho 83501
USA
wendtpot@lewiston.com
www.wendtpottery.com
David Hendley on sun 26 sep 04
Here is my take on clay mixing machine capacity:
You either want it big or you want it small ~ avoid the
middle ground.
In a small one-person studio (at least the way I've
always worked), days and days, on to weeks can go by
without touching any wet clay. For me, it's at least 5 days
every month to bisque fire, glaze, and load and fire the kiln,
and then I usually take a day off after a firing.
Add in all the odd jobs, and I quite often go a whole week
without working with wet clay.
So, you either want a small pug mill that is used often and
can be sealed up enough to not dry out in a week, or you
want a really big one that you will use only periodically.
After each use, you leave it open and let the clay in the
machine dry so it can be easily removed.
The bad situation is a pug mill that has very hard, but still-wet
clay gumming up the works.
My solution is to have 2 pug mills - a 5 HP, 900 pound home
made job that I use only about once a year to make my clay
for the whole year, and the smallest Bluebird de-airing machine,
which is used just for wedging right before the clay is to be
used. This is seldom more than 60 or 80 pounds at a time,
so it doesn't really matter if it puts out 150 pounds an hour
or 400 pounds an hour. But, because it is used so regularly,
the clay in this machine never has a chance to dry out.
Of course most people don't want to have 2 pug mills.
For someone who has no machine, doesn't want to build
one, and wants only one machine taking up space, like
Michael I would recommend the large Peter Pugger. Yes,
you will have pause when you write the check, but if
you are a producing potter, years later you will be
wondering why you waited so long to buy it.
Mixing your own is the best way to take charge.
David Hendley
david@farmpots.com
http://www.farmpots.com
----- Original Message -----
> Some people have a misconception
> about machine capacity. They think
> that if a machine is rated at 700 lbs
> per hour that is will be too big for
> them. The way to view capacity is
> in terms of how much time you
> can afford to give up for the clay
> preparation each day. If one
> machine is rated 150 lbs per hour
> and another 600 lbs per hour and
> you plan to throw 150 lbs per day,
> you will lose one hour of throwing
> with the smaller machine while the
> days clay with the larger machine
> will cost you 15 minutes.
Cindi Anderson on mon 27 sep 04
How do you keep your clay for a whole year without drying out? Double and
triple bag it? Pug it wet?
Cindi
----- Original Message -----
> My solution is to have 2 pug mills - a 5 HP, 900 pound home
> made job that I use only about once a year to make my clay
> for the whole year...
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