Clay Shrinkage

[Venicemud]

I was just throwing a few mugs with rather specific final dimensions in mind and realized that what I thought to be true may not be. Is clay shrinkage uniform in all directions? For example, if I have a freshly thrown cylinder which stands 6" tall and has a diameter of 4" will the final dimensions be 5.28 by 3.52" after the glaze firing?

[neilestrick]

Yes, the shrinkage is in all directions. I suppose it is posible that one direction could shrink a hair more or less than another depending on the orientation of the clay particles, but that's most likely to happen in slabs. For the sake of calculating the final size, it's all the same.

[Chris Campbell]

Those numbers apply if you know your thrown clay pieces shrink by that %. Have you measured or are you going by the numbers reported on the clay site? I only mention this since you said your measurements are important to the finished work. If it is, being off by even a 1/16" could be a major pain ... if you were thinking of adding a travel lid for example.

[neilestrick]

I always tell customers I won't be any more exact than 1/4" in any direction, 1/2" on larger pieces.

[OffCenter]

I always tell customers I won't be any more exact than 1/4" in any direction, 1/2" on larger pieces.

 

 

Hopefully that doesn't apply for your lids.

 

Jim

[neilestrick]

I always tell customers I won't be any more exact than 1/4" in any direction, 1/2" on larger pieces.

 

 

Hopefully that doesn't apply for your lids.

 

Jim

 

 

No, because you don't have to calculate shrinkage with lids! It only applies to when they say they want a piece of a certain size.