Michael Wendt on thu 4 aug 05
Alyssa,
Sometimes cone 6 porcelains are high enough in non plastic materials that
even a small amount of deflocculation due to the dissolution of some of the
feldspar or nepheline syenite can make them flabby and subject to sudden
collapse on the second go round. One way to see if this is the problem is to
get some distilled water, mix a small amount of the scrap with it, decant
the excess water off and then wash it again with fresh distilled water the
same way. Each time you decant the water rather than leave it to evaporate,
you carry off some of the dissolved mineral load. Eventually you remove
enough of the offending dissolved material to improve the plasticity of the
clay. Dry in your usual manner. Test the treated sample side by side with
the offending material. If this IS the cause, you can try flocculating
your recycle clay with Epsom salts. See the archives for the full details.
Vince, Ron and others have mentioned this technique often and it can work
wonders for a flabby clay.
Good Luck and let us know how you solve the problem.
Regards,
Michael Wendt
Wendt Pottery
2729 Clearwater Ave
Lewiston, Idaho 83501
USA
wendtpot@lewiston.com
www.wendtpottery.com
Alyssa wrote:
hoping someone can shed some light for me... am working in cone 6 porcelain,
and because i'm desperately poor am recycling clay.
i let it dry fully, soak down, mix with my hands, then plop on a plaster
wedging board till it's wedgeable. then i store it in plastic bags to let it
age a bit.
a month later and working with it is not ideal: pull a wall too high or too
thin and it practically starts disintigrating. not helpful for a potter who
throws very thin, wide bowls... should i do what we did in college when we
mixed clay, and add some beer to the mix? should i just drink the beer and
forget about the clay?
Alyssa Ettinger on thu 4 aug 05
hoping someone can shed some light for me... am working in cone 6 porcelain,
and because i'm desperately poor am recycling clay.
i let it dry fully, soak down, mix with my hands, then plop on a plaster
wedging board till it's wedgeable. then i store it in plastic bags to let it
age a bit.
a month later and working with it is not ideal: pull a wall too high or too
thin and it practically starts disintigrating. not helpful for a potter who
throws very thin, wide bowls... should i do what we did in college when we
mixed clay, and add some beer to the mix? should i just drink the beer and
forget about the clay?
Liz Willoughby on thu 4 aug 05
Hello Alyssa,
If you can afford to purchase a small amount of clay, the workability
of your porcelain will greatly improve if you mix the new with the
old, by wedging.
What I do is slake the clay down, let it get to a thick sloppy
consistency by drying slowly in a bucket, and add the old slop in
between slabs of new clay. The clay ages very well as slop in the
bucket. You could use some of the old recycled clay in the bags,
with old slop, plus a slab of new clay, to see if you can still throw
thin wide bowls.
Yes, drink the beer, . . .or save the beer money for some new clay. {:>)
Good luck, if you are going to make good pots, you gotta have some good clay.
Meticky Liz from Grafton, Ontario, Canada.
>hoping someone can shed some light for me... am working in cone 6 porcelain,
>and because i'm desperately poor am recycling clay.
>
>i let it dry fully, soak down, mix with my hands, then plop on a plaster
>wedging board till it's wedgeable. then i store it in plastic bags to let it
>age a bit.
>
>a month later and working with it is not ideal: pull a wall too high or too
>thin and it practically starts disintigrating. not helpful for a potter who
>throws very thin, wide bowls... should i do what we did in college when we
>mixed clay, and add some beer to the mix? should i just drink the beer and
>forget about the clay?
Mildred Herot on fri 5 aug 05
Hi: Just a note on recycling clay. I keep my clay scraps in a bucket and
water it down. I also keep a large paint mixer (courtesy of Home Depot) in
the bucket and mix the clay a little every day. When I have (what I think
is the right consistency) I just transfer the clay to plaster bats and let
it dry out to a usuable plasticity I don't know if this is of any help but
it works for me.....Mildred Herot in unbelieveably hot Cheltenham, Pa.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Liz Willoughby"
To:
Sent: Thursday, August 04, 2005 10:42 PM
Subject: Re: recycled clay and elasticity
> Hello Alyssa,
> If you can afford to purchase a small amount of clay, the workability
> of your porcelain will greatly improve if you mix the new with the
> old, by wedging.
> What I do is slake the clay down, let it get to a thick sloppy
> consistency by drying slowly in a bucket, and add the old slop in
> between slabs of new clay. The clay ages very well as slop in the
> bucket. You could use some of the old recycled clay in the bags,
> with old slop, plus a slab of new clay, to see if you can still throw
> thin wide bowls.
> Yes, drink the beer, . . .or save the beer money for some new clay. {:>)
> Good luck, if you are going to make good pots, you gotta have some good
> clay.
> Meticky Liz from Grafton, Ontario, Canada.
>
>
>>hoping someone can shed some light for me... am working in cone 6
>>porcelain,
>>and because i'm desperately poor am recycling clay.
>>
>>i let it dry fully, soak down, mix with my hands, then plop on a plaster
>>wedging board till it's wedgeable. then i store it in plastic bags to let
>>it
>>age a bit.
>>
>>a month later and working with it is not ideal: pull a wall too high or
>>too
>>thin and it practically starts disintigrating. not helpful for a potter
>>who
>>throws very thin, wide bowls... should i do what we did in college when we
>>mixed clay, and add some beer to the mix? should i just drink the beer and
>>forget about the clay?
>
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>
Alyssa Ettinger on thu 11 aug 05
liz, your method has been working exceptionally well. i'm not even halfway
through a new 25 lb bag of clay and i've doubled its size by mixing it,
about half and half, with the recycled stuff.
THANK YOU for the great tip. --alyssa
www.alyssaettinger.com
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