Leather Hard Clay

[RAS]

As I was loading the kiln for a Bisque firing, several feet on the bottom of some vases fell off. Is there a simple way to re-attach the feet to my dried piece (stoneware, Cone 6 clay)? Somewhere I read to use Elmer's glue before bisque firing, would this work?

[Chris Campbell]

Not likely. Dry to dry still won't stick once the glue burns away.

Try wetting both surfaces gently until they soften a bit, score each when you can ... then apply some slip made from the same clay body to one side, then press on the other. This should hold.

Good luck.

[TJR]

Spooze

Powdered clay, Caro syrup[or any cheap syrup], and vinegar.

Might work, might not. This is used for repairing cracks. Don't store it-it really stinks because of the sugar.

TJR.

[Benzine]

What TJR said.  I was given a similar recipe from another poster here, Babs, and it works like a charm.

 

The recipe she gave me also has tissue paper in it, for added strength.  I take the tissue paper, and soak it in the vinegar, then add the clay powder and syrup.  One thing to help the "funk" is by adding peroxide.  I made some last spring, and it has kept fairly well since.  It doesn't smell in the slightest.  It had a little mold on it, after the summer, but not bad at all.

 

I've used this recipe to reattach pieces that I put immediately in the kiln.  The mend comes out quite well.  I can't say that I've tested its strength, but it holds well enough on pieces that aren't stressed too much.

[Mark C.]

Amaco makes a very cheap product that works great for this-I cannot recall the name but have posted about it before-if it was bisque ware its called bisque fix but they make a greenware one as well thats much cheaper.

Mark

[SmartsyArtsy]

I would try any of the methods just so the fit works then use a drop of glaze to adhere in final firing.

[Mark C.]

SP-Mender from amaco makes short work of just such a thing-it will hold it on thru the bisque glaze process.

Mark

[perkolator]

"stick-up slip" is your best bet when trying to attach clay that's gotten to leather-hard.  it's a more advanced version of the modified slips mentioned above.