The clay looks the same?

[Nelly]

Dear All,

 

I have now ran through all the recycled trimming in my studio and am ready to break into a new batch of pugged clay that I got from Tuckers. Know that my clay is now kept in my studio in a big rubbermaid container. It is still in the bags but out of the boxes. I keep a small amount of moisture in this bin to prevent the clay from drying out--a tip I received on this forum.

 

Here is my latest angst... Yesterday I went out to break into a new bag of clay and realized very quickly that when I put the clay into the bins, I simply ripped open the boxes and dumped um in. I did not label anything. Nothing!!!

 

I do know I have both majolica and cone 6 red clay in this bin. I remember this as I recall the order placed.

 

How is that for smart?? How could I be so stupid that I would not mark them more carefully?? Every bag in my bin is red!! I can tell the plainsman clay because of the bag. I know this is stone ware but I have no idea what is the other bags are-- red stone ware or majolica??

 

In attempting to problem solve this issue independently I have decided the smartest thing is to work on one bag at a time. All trimmings will go into one pail. No mixing of clay scraps will occur. I do not want any unnecessary explosions if the stone ware and majolica are mixed.

 

My saving grace is that my supplier said I can fire their majolica body to cone 04-05 (i.e., or with regular stone ware clay).

 

So, if I can't tell the difference when I am throwing tomorrow, it is my expectation that the clay I have used will become apparent after I bisque. The majolica clay will have a much different texture and feel than the stone ware. The majolica will be a different color.

 

Once I separate the majolica from the stone ware bisque I can then proceed to glaze and fire using the appropriate glaze and temperature glaze schedule for each clay body (this will definitely be different).

 

 

Anyway, I thought I would share with you my problem solving thoughts today on what is a really silly error on my part--not labeling your bags of clay if you plan to use more than one type in the studio.

 

In retrospect or should I say in the future, I will have two bins for each clay type. Another lesson learned...

 

Nelly

[DAY]

Why would you ever remove the clay from the boxes? They sit in warehouses for months, before being shipped to customers.

I use 4 different clays- 2 "white" and 2 "brown", and the 50 lb boxes are in 4 separate stacks. Partially used bags sit atop their stacks. (Because I once mixed some ^04 with some ^6. Not gonna do THAT again!)

 

If you want to solve your dilemma quickly, make a small sample tile from each bag, number it AND the bag it came from, then fire the whole batch, and label the bags with the correct name after the samples come out of the kiln.

[Nelly]

Why would you ever remove the clay from the boxes? They sit in warehouses for months, before being shipped to customers.

I use 4 different clays- 2 "white" and 2 "brown", and the 50 lb boxes are in 4 separate stacks. Partially used bags sit atop their stacks. (Because I once mixed some ^04 with some ^6. Not gonna do THAT again!)

 

If you want to solve your dilemma quickly, make a small sample tile from each bag, number it AND the bag it came from, then fire the whole batch, and label the bags with the correct name after the samples come out of the kiln.

 

 

 

Dear All,

 

That is even better than the idea I had!! I do have a bisque load almost ready to go. I can do that within the week. This will take my trepidation down a notch or two.

 

I took it out of the box as it had been sitting unused for a long time. I wanted to make sure I used up the least used stuff first as so it went into this moisture tank I created that for the most part has been really good at keeping out the air and preventing drying.

 

But your idea is superb. I will get onto that tonight.

 

Thank you,

 

Nelly