What to use to secure clay

[samrose]

I work at a Bisque pottery studio, we are holding a spring break camp for kids.

The owners want to use Earth clay to have the kids make their own work, but we are not sure of what to use to secure pieces together?

I was told of clay slip, spooze, and APT-II High Fire Fire Porcelain/Stoneware Enhancer but I am not sure which to use.

To make it clear, nothing is broken. I'm not trying to fix anything, I say this because a few answers I received, people thought I had broken something.

We want to secure the pieces preferably prior to firing.

 

We were also told that if we could stand waiting to secure things after firing, we can just use regular super glue?

 

I have never worked with clay in this manner, and the shop owners opened only four months ago with little knowledge.

 

All help is appreciated.

[Guest JBaymore]

I work at a Bisque pottery studio, we are holding a spring break camp for kids.

The owners want to use Earth clay to have the kids make their own work, but we are not sure of what to use to secure pieces together?

I was told of clay slip, spooze, and APT-II High Fire Fire Porcelain/Stoneware Enhancer but I am not sure which to use.

To make it clear, nothing is broken. I'm not trying to fix anything, I say this because a few answers I received, people thought I had broken something.

We want to secure the pieces preferably prior to firing.

 

We were also told that if we could stand waiting to secure things after firing, we can just use regular super glue?

 

I have never worked with clay in this manner, and the shop owners opened only four months ago with little knowledge.

 

All help is appreciated.

 

 

From this information it is very difficult to understand exaclty what it is that you want to do.

 

Are you talking about the kids making pieces out of raw wet clay? If so, then to join one piece of clayto another piece if the clay is "fresh wet" (same exact consistency and at the highly plastic state) then you usually can just press the pieces together firmly and work them into each other. If there is any "doubt" here.... score the surface lightly to rough it up, and then apply a TINY bit of either plain water, or use a mixture of clay and watter that has been made to the consistency of cream.

 

If the pieces of clay you want to join have dried to the consitency of cheeze, then you really should use the creamy clay mixture and scoring a little more aggressively to join the two parts. And still try to work the join area toward each other.

 

My strong suggestion is to get a good basic book on clayworking and read it and then practice this stuff before subjecting the kids to this idea of theirs. Or FAR better yet, find a decent potter in your area (there HAS to be one) and hire them to come in and lead the group so that they will get a decent educational and fun experience with a strong prospect of final-fired success. You don't want this to be a case of "the blind leading the blind".

 

best,

 

.........................john

[samrose]

From this information it is very difficult to understand exaclty what it is that you want to do.

 

 

 

 

The kids will be making their own things so if a kid wants to layer say two heart, would we just score them?

[Chris Campbell]

If I understand you correctly, you want to have the children make their own objects out of real clay. If this is what you want here is how I would do it.

 

I would talk to my clay manufacturer and ask them which clay body is the most forgiving and good for beginners and children. Some clays are extremely easy to work with and very tolerant of beginner errors so make sure you get one. A friendly clay will make for a fun experience.

When they are making the work they can just rough up the connecting edges, ( ask them to bring an old toothbrush ) dampen one side with a little bit of water and gently press together. No need to glue things after firing. With a little TLC the join mark can be pretty well hidden.

Then you have to really, really dry them ... with kids their work is so thick that it takes a long time. ( sometimes a week or more ) A good test for dryness is to hold the work to your cheek and if it feels at all cool it is not dry.

Fire the pieces slowly to about Cone 06.

The pieces will then be ready to be decorated with underglaze and fired just like you would any other bisqued pot in the shop.

Have fun!