william schran on mon 30 may 05
At school we have the benefit of a small pug mill, and soon, a Peter Pugger!
We scoop slurry out of the buckets, spread out on plaster, dry to
workable state then run through the pug mill.
In my home studio, I do the same, except for the pug mill that I don't have.
My slurry buckets are 5 gallon dry wall compound pails that sit right
next to my wheel. When 3/4 full I scoop out the slurry on to a
plaster wedging board. When workable, I reclaim/wedge by the
following method that works to mix clay of different consistencies.
I have an angled wire attached to my wedging board. Starting with a 5
pound lump of clay, I position it under the wire, grasp with both
hands and draw the lump toward me cutting the clay in half. My right
hand turns the clay over (what was the bottom is turned up), with the
cut side facing away from me and I throw the lump onto the plaster
wedging board (don't do this on canvas covered surface - too much
dust!). I turn the cut side of the 1/2 lump in my left hand
towards/facing me and slam that down on the other 1/2. So what was
the bottom of the original lump is cut in 1/2 is slammed back
together. I repeat this process until the clay appears to be blended,
usually about 15-20 times. Hope this explanation makes sense.
This manual mixing method will blend clays of different consistencies
(or clays of different colors) and wedge/remove air pockets very
quickly without the strain on the wrists of spiral wedging.
I do a quick wedge to form a cone shape prior to working on the wheel.
Bill, in Fredericksburg, VA, where it is a pleasant, sunny day, high
70's and thanking all of our past and present veterans for their
service to our country.
pdp1@EARTHLINK.NET on mon 30 may 05
Hi Bill,
When I was still at-it, I had good luck just putting all the scrap into
those plastic 5 Gallon Buckets, and covering them with Water. Same with any
dried out things or greenware rejects or dried out old Bags of Clay that had
turned into 'rock'.
I'd cover them in water...let 'em sit a few days, stirr or agitate them
robustly ( when other than 'rocks' I mean) and once the soup was
homogeneous, I would leave the lid ajar and soon it would be ready to use.
The 'rocks' would take longer of course, but also came around just fine to
where I coulr agitate and stirr into a homogeneous thick 'soup', then let it
thicken with the lid ajar untill it got to where I wanted it.
Easy to do, costs nothing, and wastes nothing...and made nice Clay too..!
Phil
el ve
-----Original Message-----
From: william schran
>At school we have the benefit of a small pug mill, and soon, a Peter
Pugger!
>
>We scoop slurry out of the buckets, spread out on plaster, dry to
>workable state then run through the pug mill.
>
>In my home studio, I do the same, except for the pug mill that I don't
have.
>
>My slurry buckets are 5 gallon dry wall compound pails that sit right
>next to my wheel. When 3/4 full I scoop out the slurry on to a
>plaster wedging board. When workable, I reclaim/wedge by the
>following method that works to mix clay of different consistencies.
>
>I have an angled wire attached to my wedging board. Starting with a 5
>pound lump of clay, I position it under the wire, grasp with both
>hands and draw the lump toward me cutting the clay in half. My right
>hand turns the clay over (what was the bottom is turned up), with the
>cut side facing away from me and I throw the lump onto the plaster
>wedging board (don't do this on canvas covered surface - too much
>dust!). I turn the cut side of the 1/2 lump in my left hand
>towards/facing me and slam that down on the other 1/2. So what was
>the bottom of the original lump is cut in 1/2 is slammed back
>together. I repeat this process until the clay appears to be blended,
>usually about 15-20 times. Hope this explanation makes sense.
>
>This manual mixing method will blend clays of different consistencies
>(or clays of different colors) and wedge/remove air pockets very
>quickly without the strain on the wrists of spiral wedging.
>
>I do a quick wedge to form a cone shape prior to working on the wheel.
>
>Bill, in Fredericksburg, VA, where it is a pleasant, sunny day, high
>70's and thanking all of our past and present veterans for their
>service to our country.
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