spencer clay

[johnnyg]

I have just acquired a bit of Spencer throwing clay. Never heard of it....believe it said mfg. in Seattle. It is very old dry and was stored under a house...all or most of the labeling is gone from the boxes... but some is marked LLM..and others have an SMY label ... the SMY is yellow in color...not buff but yellow. another is redder than an earthenware...or so it seems to me. The LLM is offwhite. Anyone know what type and cone(s) these clays might be? Whats the best way to figure out what I have (after I reconstitute these bricks ... HAH.) . thanks.

Johnny

[Biglou13]

I have just acquired a bit of Spencer throwing clay. Never heard of it....believe it said mfg. in Seattle. It is very old dry and was stored under a house...all or most of the labeling is gone from the boxes... but some is marked LLM..and others have an SMY label ... the SMY is yellow in color...not buff but yellow. another is redder than an earthenware...or so it seems to me. The LLM is offwhite. Anyone know what type and cone(s) these clays might be? Whats the best way to figure out what I have (after I reconstitute these bricks ... HAH.) . thanks.

Johnny

 

 

Here is a start. It's a freemium from ceramics arts daily. "Successful Tips for Buying and Using Pottery Clay: How to Select, Process, and Test Clay Bodies for Better Results" google it

 

http://www.ceramicindustry.com/articles/ppp-clay-body-shrinkage-absorption

 

http://digitalfire.com/4sight/education/the_physics_of_clay_bodies_211.html

 

I've been reading up I'm about to make clay for first time.

 

Since its very unknown I' d build. Catch tray for tests. So you don't end up with a mess in kiln.

[Mark McCombs]

I found this while searching about...

 

 

"Deb Barrett asked about the clay I used for the demonstrations in the book. It comes from Clay Art Center in Tacoma, WA. Here's the description:

 

CL043 SMY - MID-RANGE STONEWARE CONE 4-6:

 

Yellow iron gives this general purpose clay body a ...golden appearance when wet. It fires a warm light brown in oxidation and dark brown in reduction. Fine textured with 70 mesh sand. Cone 4-6. Wet Color golden, Oxidation Color light brown, Reduction Color dark brown, Texture medium smooth, Shrinkage 13.0%, Absorption 0.5%."