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Hard Time With Extruder..not Extruding?


Tracyann

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I have a Bailey extruder and cannot get my clay to come out of it.  I called Bailey to make sure I was doing everything correctly (not my first time using an extruder) and the confirmed all was correct.  I have wedged my clay well and was soft but that did not make a difference.  If anyone else has had an issue like mine and has a suggestion I would appreciate it greatly.

 

Thanks-Tracy 

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Which Bailey extruder do you have? They make several models and it's hard to imagine where the trouble is not knowing which mechanism you are working with. Can you take the clay out of the barrel look down through it to see through the die at the bottom? Can you move the plunger up and down inside the barrel when there is no clay in it? If yes to both of the above, then there is something odd about your clay that it gets stuck.

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Probably not helpful but I will chime in away:

 

I have a Scott Creek extruder and find misting the inside of the barrel with water helps immensely to get the clay to move through. I use fresh clay right out of the bag so it's really soft but there are still times when I am practically hanging from the plunger to get it started. I have also found smacking the clay around a bit to get it into the right shape seems to wake it up and help as well, my extruder is round so I cut the bag of clay long ways into 4 pieces then bang these against the table to shape them into long round plugs that I can drop down the shaft. Also once it gets moving it seems to get easier but that first pull can be a bear some days.

 

I hope this helps!

 

T

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I spray the barrel of the extruder with WD-40 to both lubricate the barrel and to make cleanup easier.  Cooking oil, PAM spray, etc. also work. If the contact area between the clay and the barrel material is rough due to dried clay or corrosion the force to move the clay is increased. 

The die should also be clean and open to minimize the drag on the clay.

 

My experience is that the ease of extruding will be proportional to the amount of open space in the die.  Stated another way, a small hole say 1/2 inch in a 6 inch extruder will require be harder to push  the through than the same die in a 4 inch extruder.

If you need to make small items in a big extruder, you might want to make a die that has your "small hole" in one part and a "relief hole" in another part of the same die.  You re-wedge and  recycle the strand that comes from the "relief hole."

As others have said, slam wedging or dropping on the floor to wake up the clay is useful.  The clay needs to be plastic, not stiff. However, the clay should be strong enough to hold it self up and not collapse when it exits the extruder.

 

On some extruders, there must be more that a "minimum" amount of clay in the barrel for the extruder to work.  It has to do with clearances, links, etc. of the specific extruder.  I have learned on just "fill er up" to be sure I have enough to do the job.

 

LT

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look at the die to see the percentage of open to closed areas.  as pointed out above, it is very hard to get all that clay to go through a small hole.  if you made the die yourself, what shape did you intend? if you bought one with multiple shapes,  have you closed off 2/3 to 3/4 of the openings so you get only one part of the possible combinations available? 

 

think about driving into the city on a busy 8 lane highway and suddenly everyone has to exit single file.  not easy.

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I agree with oldlady and Magnolia, the size of the extruded hole also has something to do with the difficulty in pressing the clay through. When I make custom dies with smaller openings I drill a couple additional holes for clay to press out through. These extrusions I loop up and store in a damp box, depending on the plate I use and it's hole size they make excellent coils for seams or as foot rings. I'm all about making stuff easier, more efficient, as well as lessening waste and doing this does all of that.

 

T

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Did you get this figured out?  Which Bailey extruder system do you have?

 

We have 3 extruders in my studio - manual Bailey wall mount, free-standing Bailey pneumatic, and a custom 14" hydraulic extruder.

 

Does your extruder function without any clay in it?  Obviously it should.

If it's the pneumatic extruder - you have to press the foot pedal and let air through in order to see any reading on the regulator.

I don't really know how you can jam up a manual extruder unless the plunger gets stuck/wedged from an object or misalignment.

 

Soft clay is the key to getting clay to come out, less resistance for certain shapes.  Lubricating with water on the clay/in the hopper helps tremendously.  Bailey recommends spraying WD-40 on the wood die plates when you first start using them, i've noticed it help slightly.  Beveled edges seem to help on some shapes too.
 

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