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Helio Porcelain & Bat Recommendations


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Hey folks,

 

I recently starting working with Helio porcelain which is a pleasure to throw with. Its seems to hold up very well for a porcelain during throwing, except for one thing. I have problems with it sliding on the bat while I am centering. I don't have this issue with stoneware and other courser clays. I do everything I am supposed to; start with clay that is the proper consistency, dry the bat, make sure the bottom of the clay is convex when I smack it onto the wheel, I slap it into place and start with a downward force before coning up. I even seal the edges to prevent water from getting underneath.

 

I've tried both masonite and textured plastic as well as throwing directly on the metal wheel head. I've found Masonite to be the least objectionable so far but even so about 50% of the time I have to start over because it slips while I am centering, a couple of times I have even lost a piece while trimming off the excess before wiring from the bat.  I am operating at an intermediate level here but even my instructor had it happen when he tried to do it so I know it's not just me. I think a few other people in the arts center have had this problem as well and just went back to white stoneware. Has anyone else had this problem with the Highwater Helio or other porcelain?

 

Is there a bat material that you can recommend that may help to improve my "rate of slippage?" 

 

The only other thing I can think to do would be to take some course sandpaper to the center of a Masonite bat to give it more tooth. Not sure if it would affect the bat adversely...

 

Thank you in advance,

 

 

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I threw some Helios a while back and never had this problem.

 

I use masonite and wonder bats.

 

This is what I do:

 

I take bat, attach to wheel head, take sponge, wet bat slightly.

 

Take lump of clay, lightly thunk it down on the bat in the middle. 

 

Take my hand like I am opening a jar over the lump of clay. Like a claw hand with my fingers touching the bat and clay like I am throwing a ball or something and press down while my wheel head spins at a pretty decent rate. This sort of seals the moisture and the clay to my bat. It also slightly centers the lump of clay. Then I apply my downward pressure with my normal centering position and my left hand and right hand pushing the clay into a cone, then I cone up the rest of the clay and go from there.

 

I am not really sure why you would use a dry bat. I would think that is your issue. I have always wet my bat before throwing. I am not talking about super wet, but just damp sponge wet.

 

It seems to make the clay tacky and stick to my bats better.

 

Am I the only one who damps bats before adding clay?

 

Another thing I do that you might not do is I wedge all my clay before throwing it. Even if it is fresh out of a bag. With porcelain I cut off 5-10 lbs, and slam it down on my wedging table multiple times to loosen the clay up, because it is nigh impossible to wedge right out of the bag without slamming it down a few times first. Then I wedge the 5-10lbs of clay spiral, then slam it into a log shape and cut it quickly by eyeball into the weights I want. This process takes about a minute and makes the clay like butter soft compared to brick hard.

 

I find if I don't do this process, centering porcelain is a huge pain because its soo darn hard out of the bag.

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Welcome to the forum. As stated above, make sure you get good contact at the base. Even so, once in a while I pull porcelain off the bat. Just stick it back on. Don 't go fast and. Try to use little water.

As for being hard out of the bag, drop it on the floor on all sides. I drop it twice on all sides before opening the bag. Softens right up.

Marcia

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With plastic bats, the textured side will hold best. The bat must be dry. Smack it onto the bat hard enough that you can't easily pull it off.

 

With any type of wood material bat- medex, masonite, etc.- you'll need to wet the bat slightly to get it to attach. Otherwise the absorbent bat sucks the moisture out of the clay  where they touch, and the clay comes loose.

 

Either way, the first thing you should do when you put your hands on the clay is seal the bottom edge to the bat so the clay is fully attached to the bat and water can't work its way under the clay. I so this by cupping may hands over the clay and letting my right pinky finger push in slightly along the bottom edge to create the seal. 

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  • 3 months later...

Hi everyone,

 

Thanks for your input. I figured out my problem...With my concern about oversaturating the porcelain I was throwing a bit too dry. Worked fine for my stoneware bodies but apparently the porcelain lived up to its more finicky rep. Once I started using more water the clay stayed stuck. The Helios is a pleasure to throw with. Now I have other issues trying to find an alternate throwing porcelain for cone 6 but I'll post that in a new topic if I don't find anything in a search.

 

Joesph: when i referred to a "dry bat" i should have been more clear; I meant that after moistening the masonite I dried it so it wasn't saturated.

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