Paper Clay Forum, Here Or Elsewhere?

[TBm]

I just finished reading Rosette Gault's book, Paper Clay for Ceramic Sculptors: A Studio Companion.

The latest edition contains helpful insights, but lots of questions were left unanswered.

 

Is there a Paper Clay forum here at CAD that I 've overlooked? If not, can someone suggest an energetic/active forum elsewhere?

 

I'm not referring to Sculpey classroom clay products. I'm interested in adding cellulose fiber to stoneware claybodies.

Thanks,

Tom

[AndyL]

Why not put these questions in the Clay & Glaze Technical Board here?

[TBm]

Why not put these questions in the Clay & Glaze Technical Board here?

 

AndyL ==

I wasn't sure which would be the better forum. Since my question was quite general--seeking a direction rather than a specific technical solution--I decided to go the "studio" forum route...

 

Since posting, I googled up a Paper Clay post by Anthony Foo in this forum. Visited his sites and found several other related sites, but most seem to be dated/inactive with their most recent posts written back in 2005-2006.

 

Has paper clay fallen out of favor? I hope not.

[Chris Campbell]

No, paper clay is alive and well.

 

Google Graham Hay ... He might have some forum links on his site or be able to recommend one.

 

Many of us regularly use paer clay for a wide variety of uses and can answer questions.

I have a paper clay section on my site www.ccpottery.com

[TBm]

No, paper clay is alive and well.

Google Graham Hay ... He might have some forum links on his site or be able to recommend one.

Many of us regularly use paer clay for a wide variety of uses and can answer questions.

I have a paper clay section on my site www.ccpottery.com

 

Thanks, Chris. I visited your site. Your murrinis patterns are so sharp and your colors sing. Really beautiful.

 

I read your paper clay section while there. Despite reading Rosette Gault's book and your own very helpful presentation, I still don't understand an extremely basic P'clay concept: That is, can I mix my celluose fiber with typical damp/plastic stoneware clay, or must I mix cellulose fibers with dry clay body (powder)? I read the whole book and still don't get it (duh).

 

I intend to try Minnesota Clay MB STONEWARE at first...unless you or anyone else warns against it.

 

Thanks

[Chris Campbell]

As you can see on my site I just mix soaking wet toilet paper into a bag of wet clay.

One to one and a half rolls of cheap single ply per 25 lbs of clay.

 

You can also mix it into dry clay.

You can also add it to clay slip then let it dry to the consistency you want or use it

as slip to repair cracks or make joins.

 

It is extremely versatile so just try whatever technique you want.

 

The good thing about making your own is that you can control how much paper is in

it depending on what you want to do with it ... Less if you want to carve more if you

Just need greenware strength and lightness.

[TBm]

Thanks for the reply, Chris. I'm very encouraged to learn how versatile (fool proof, LOL) PC is. My intended clay body is difficult to find in its dry form, so I'm glad to know I can mix fiber into wet clay.

 

 

Warning: I have zero experience in this, but just finished a careful read of Rosette Gault's book

(in other words, a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing).

 

Your paper clay presentation mentions less-than-perfect results when carving PC. On pages 25 and 56, Gault makes three recommendations for attaining better carving results:

 

1) Carve when soft, before leather hard.

 

2) Carve at bone dry. Re-wet the work area with a sponge and wait several minutes for the surface to soften before carving. Or dip the whole object in water instead.

 

3) SINTER FIRE (a pre-fire / interim fire): To get "super crisp" detail, sinter fire the object at 1000F (570C) for "a few hours" to burn out the paper fibers. You get a soft surface resembling soapstone or soft plaster. Smooth texture and impeccable detail. Sintered porcelain carves off as a powder. Most sintered forms can still accept additional layers, repairs, etc.

 

 

Two other great sources of paper clay info:

Jerry Bennett's paperclay blogspot

JerryBennett.com Paper Clay page

[anthonyfoo]

Thanks for the reply, Chris. I'm very encouraged to learn how versatile (fool proof, LOL) PC is. My intended clay body is difficult to find in its dry form, so I'm glad to know I can mix fiber into wet clay.

 

 

Warning: I have zero experience in this, but just finished a careful read of Rosette Gault's book

(in other words, a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing).

 

Your paper clay presentation mentions less-than-perfect results when carving PC. On pages 25 and 56, Gault makes three recommendations for attaining better carving results:

 

1) Carve when soft, before leather hard.

 

2) Carve at bone dry. Re-wet the work area with a sponge and wait several minutes for the surface to soften before carving. Or dip the whole object in water instead.

 

3) SINTER FIRE (a pre-fire / interim fire): To get "super crisp" detail, sinter fire the object at 1000F (570C) for "a few hours" to burn out the paper fibers. You get a soft surface resembling soapstone or soft plaster. Smooth texture and impeccable detail. Sintered porcelain carves off as a powder. Most sintered forms can still accept additional layers, repairs, etc.

 

 

Two other great sources of paper clay info:

Jerry Bennett's paperclay blogspot

JerryBennett.com Paper Clay page

 

 

 

 

 

HI TBm,

 

Came across your post just today. I started a post here in this Forum jsut a few months ago this year. Here's the direct link to the topic.

Hope this helps. Welcome to the world of paper clay.

[Marcia Selsor]

I just finished reading Rosette Gault's book, Paper Clay for Ceramic Sculptors: A Studio Companion.

The latest edition contains helpful insights, but lots of questions were left unanswered.

 

Is there a Paper Clay forum here at CAD that I 've overlooked? If not, can someone suggest an energetic/active forum elsewhere?

 

I'm not referring to Sculpey classroom clay products. I'm interested in adding cellulose fiber to stoneware claybodies.

Thanks,

Tom

 

[anthonyfoo]

No, paper clay is alive and well.

Google Graham Hay ... He might have some forum links on his site or be able to recommend one.

Many of us regularly use paer clay for a wide variety of uses and can answer questions.

I have a paper clay section on my site www.ccpottery.com

 

Thanks, Chris. I visited your site. Your murrinis patterns are so sharp and your colors sing. Really beautiful.

 

I read your paper clay section while there. Despite reading Rosette Gault's book and your own very helpful presentation, I still don't understand an extremely basic P'clay concept: That is, can I mix my celluose fiber with typical damp/plastic stoneware clay, or must I mix cellulose fibers with dry clay body (powder)? I read the whole book and still don't get it (duh).

 

I intend to try Minnesota Clay MB STONEWARE at first...unless you or anyone else warns against it.

 

Thanks

 

 

Hi TBm,

 

In making your own paperclay, here's a link to my blog where I made my own Black Mountain paper clay.

 

It is a lot of work, but kind of fun to do.

 

My local retailer here is Aardvark Clay Co. in Santa Ana, California and they carry 5 different types of paper clay from a low fire cone 06 all the way to porcelain cone 10 paper clay.

 

Hope this helps. Feel free to contact me if you have questions.

 

Anthony

[Marcia Selsor]

I have used cellulose in paperclay..the type you get at Home Depot for insulation. It worked very well. I used it in architectural pieces. I liked it better than paper pulp because it mixed easier.

I mix in my Soldner Mixer. What did you want to talk about?

[Marcia Selsor]

No, paper clay is alive and well.

Google Graham Hay ... He might have some forum links on his site or be able to recommend one.

Many of us regularly use paer clay for a wide variety of uses and can answer questions.

I have a paper clay section on my site www.ccpottery.com

 

Thanks, Chris. I visited your site. Your murrinis patterns are so sharp and your colors sing. Really beautiful.

 

I read your paper clay section while there. Despite reading Rosette Gault's book and your own very helpful presentation, I still don't understand an extremely basic P'clay concept: That is, can I mix my celluose fiber with typical damp/plastic stoneware clay, or must I mix cellulose fibers with dry clay body (powder)? I read the whole book and still don't get it (duh).

 

I intend to try Minnesota Clay MB STONEWARE at first...unless you or anyone else warns against it.

 

Thanks

 

I think not. I can't see how you could mix cellulose evenly into damp clay. I mix cellulose with dry batches in my Soldner mixer. You could try making slip from scrap clay and add cellulose to that then dry to a workable consistency...I use plaster slabs for drying paperclay made in this process.