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Showing results for tags 'Clay'.
Found 118 results
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I wasn't sure what topic to put this under, but it's about clay. Sorry if this is a repeat subject. Our company recycles 100% of our clay that isn't considered to be contaminated. We have a reclaim system that one of our employees manages, but this person is moving on from the company in a few days. They get the clay to the right consistency and run it through the pug to be reused. The problem we are running into is that it's actually cheaper and simpler to order new clay than it is to manage this process and inventory. So here's the crazy idea that might upset some folks. What if we got an extra disposal container and threw our scraps away? Im looking for pros and cons here. Here are some I've thought of so far: Pros: Cheaper, no (known) negative environmental effects, more reliable clay consistency, fewer defects as a result of foreign contaminates, simpler training for employees Cons: Someone worked hard to get this clay out of the ground, sounds bad in marketing, Another option is to donate Thoughts?
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Hi! I’ve recently been doing a lot of experiments with clay deposits I’ve found as well as other found materials used in clay or glazed. I’ve been doing a lot of testing with wedging a lot of coarse granite into my clay. It makes it rough to throw with but my hands are tough enough it doesn’t bother me. I’ve usually been applying a found quartz and wood ash glaze that I’ve formulated to these pieces at cone 6 (lots of GB). The glaze gives a nice amber finish and seems to be helping the granite flux as it runs a bit giving nice variation, colour, and texture. My current test are going to include wedging the granite into a clay I found that can be fired up to cone 6 and I’m excited for these results. Does anyone have any tips regarding granite being added to clay, good glaze combos with found rough granite filled textures, other good experiments with found materials, etc?? Thanks! Matt- 5 replies
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Hello, Im a self taught potter. Im starting out wheel throwing. Im progressing well but as I attempt new forms I end up with my entire piece of clay needing to be recycled. What Im currently doing it sticking my clay with my other failed clay and wrapping it up in plastic. My plan is to reuse it but Im not sure the best way to dry the wet clay out without drying it to far. I only read about ways to recycle scraps. Any suggestions on how to recycle large pieces of failed clay?
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I am thinking of opening a members only clay studio, as all of them in my area have long waitlists and the demand is there. I haven’t found any recent threads on the operations costs or best practices associated with running a studio. Can anyone help me out by providing hard expenses associated with and any tips for this business? Thanks in advance for your help! -
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Taking over a college class for a friend and found that the clay body is very "short" . Does well with pinching and coiling but is cracking a lot with a slab roller. Any quick fix ideas? I can't age it for 3 months. Thanks!
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Hi all, I have a question that has probably never been asked before: is clay-based cat litter usable as content for casting slip? I ask this because it's cheaper and I can buy it from a local store rather than order my usual clay online and have to pay an exorbitant delivery fee. I like to experiment so was going to make something small to see what would happen but I also thought I'd put the question out there in case anyone had actually tried this. Thanks in advance!
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The Art Students League of Denver and Plinth Gallery Present a Demonstration Workshop and Exhibit: “Narrative Through Clay” with Visiting Artist Kevin Snipes (https://kevinsnipes.com/) Thursday, October 3, 2019 - Artist Talk at ASLD - 200 Grant Street 6 -7:30pm Friday, October 4, 2019 - Exhibit Opening Reception at Plinth Gallery - 3250 Brighton Blvd. -- 6:00-9:00pm http://www.plinthgallery.com/ Saturday and Sunday, October 5-6, 2019 - Demonstration Workshop at ASLD -- 10am- 4pm The demo workshop will challenge you to consider the ceramic object as a canvas for storytelling. Kevin will discuss the development of his work and artistic inspirations and will demonstrate how he builds his porcelain thrown, altered and hand-built forms. He will demonstrate a variety of techniques that he uses to produce his wonderfully colorful, layered, intricate surfaces using a variety of traditional techniques and discuss how he uses these techniques in nontraditional ways to explore pop culture, contemporary life, narrative and art. Formal design, composition and meaning will be addressed, historical and contemporary resources will be referenced for creative inspiration, and dialog about the social relevance of creating narrative ceramic vessels will be encouraged. To Register, please call 303-778-6990, or register online at: https://asld.org/kevin-snipes-october-2019/ Thanks! Shelley Schreiber Ceramics Studio Manager Art Students League of Denver s.schreiber@asld.org -
Call for Entries: The Art Students League of Denver will be hosting delecTABLE: The Fine Art of Dining - Fifth Biennial Juried Exhibit of Functional Ceramics in April-May 2020. This is a national exhibition of ceramic works from artists across the United States chosen to represent the best in contemporary tabletop clay. The exhibit will feature ceramic works by juried artists, juror Liz Zlot Summerfield, the ASLD ceramics faculty and 'cuisine themed' two dimensional artwork by select artists. Juror: Liz Zlot Summerfield Eligibility: Open to US ceramic artists over age 18. Apply at www.CallforEntry.org between October 1, 2019 and January 19, 2020. Exhibit Dates: April 17 - May 22, 2020 Visiting Artist Workshop with Liz Zlot Summerfield: May 2-3, 2020 For further info, please contact s.schreiber@asld.org
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I just mixed a bunch of colored slips for the studio using trimmings from Laguna #65. I left the studio for 2 weeks and I come back and all the slips I mixed have turned black and smell something fierce. How can I fix or prevent this for next time cause I definitely just burned $20 of mason stain. Would a vinegar ratio have killed bacteria growth? Should I not have used trimmings and just mixed a clay base?
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I took ceramic classes in college and loved it. I quickly became good on the wheel and that is my primary focus, however I also sculpt. I had the pleasure of working with multiple different clays. I primarily used stoneware and porcelain but occasionally earthenware as well. The stoneware I fired at cone 10 and 6 and porcelain at cone 10. I would consider myself a beginner as far as mixing the clays because I never had to do it and all the clay was made for us. I would like to mix my own clay bodies at home because I assume it’s cheaper than buying pre-made clay and I also will have more control with my preferences. I really liked stoneware and porcelain and wondered if anyone had any good recipes to share and advice to get me started. Like I said I mostly do wheel throwing (mugs, plates, bowls, teapots, etc.) I have the capabilities to fire up to cone 10. Thanks to everyone in advance!!
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Gips inside clay its ok to survive firing? please?
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Hello, I'm firing a cone 4 vitrified slip cast body which looks lovely but seems to slump particularly with the larger pieces. I'm going to try firing at a lower temperature but thought I would ask on the forum to see if anyone had any other suggestions. I'm using a fairly large electric kiln which I recently purchased. I also will try taking out the lower plug on the kiln as I heard that helps keep the temperature more even. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! Harriet
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As found groove crack after firing , Attachment :-Top view of Groove with crack in shell Item
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I order from a clay company that shall remain nameless (cough cough.. columbus clay). Every few weeks or so we will find a rubber or plastic chunk in the clay we receive. A few times in the past few years we have even had potters "find" metal shavings in the clay while they are throwing. . Once or twice this has resulted in a minor cut. We took precautions to minimize the possibility that contaminates come from us. Moved all unrelated work out of the clay processing area, checked that the clay processing tools were not coming off in the clay, created clear signage for what does or doesn't belong in certain reclaim buckets. Some pieces have been found before we process in the pug mill(straight from the supplier), others after. It's hard to know whether it's us or the clay company. There's some urgency to this issue for me because it could have been much worse. As experienced potters, what is your experience with clay companies. Is this normal? Should I shop around for another supplier(despite a new clay body creating a potential nightmare)? What actions would you take to prevent this from happening again? What additional precautions might we take in our clay mixing area?
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Greetings! I'm a fairly novice potter who has made figurative pottery with some functionality using Amaco Low Fire White, which fires to 04. These are mostly ring dishes and candle holders. I've recently been looking to make food safe pottery such as plates, teapots, and pie plates, but have been given conflicting reports on how to make them fully food safe. I know that low fire clay is somewhat porous, but would a good quality glaze make them 100% food safe? I also have heard that pie plates and other bakeware may be prone to thermal shock if just stuck into a hot oven, and then contradicting information that well glazed, low fire pots tend to have less of this issue than say, stoneware. I'm not sure, and would love any insight! Thank you!
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Dear all This is my first post here, having been a lurking reader for a while. I would like to suspend some coarse particulates in a porcelain slip. I am intrigued by the coarse feldspar inclusions in some Japanese wood fired pottery. I have tried adding coarse inclusions in a porcelain body, which fired well but the large chunks got in the way of my preferred style of handbuilding and surforming the surface. I now want to try to add these particulates in a porcelain slip that I can apply to my pots by dipping. Does anyone have any tricks on how to suspend larger particulates in a clay slip, eg grog or coarse inclusions? Do grogged slips exist? I was thinking that perhaps adding bentonite could help due to its thixotropy, but I am not sure. Any help from this very helpful forum in my self-learning endeavors would be much appreciated Best Joris The Netherlands
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I need to find the best All-In-One clay for cone 5, great for both hand building and wheel throwing I know. That's a tall order. But I can dream. I have a pug mill and don't want 2 bodies. Problem: I have too many problems with my gas kiln for cone 06 anymore. I'm DONE. I am moving to cone 5. Criteria / Factors: I'm in Southern California I teach 180 high school students grades 9-12, all levels of art skills, so it has to take punishment Not too sandy on the wheel, not too smooth or squishy for hand building Not too dense so it is so top-heavy when trimming I'm willing to pug the new clay to soften it for throwing, if it is stiff and great for hand building, or visa versa Doesn't stain clothes or the tables, rolling pins, or make a mess everywhere Is not pure white (students can't see where they missed glazing spots when using light color glazes - painting) Good leather hard, doesn't soften up too easily when re-wetting to score things together Doesn't take every indentation to the surface of pieces, temperamentalD Centers on the wheel fairly easily, especially for teen girls with tiny hands Can take a good amount of water from beginners Pulling walls, it is strong, doesn't warp or sag easily Won't dry out too quickly in hands while hand building Doesn't bend or warp easily when removing from the wheel Not so soft that it caves when cutting and sliding off the wheel Doesn't make teens hate the class because it stains clothes or gets everywhere and of course, takes glazes well and can handle a little fluctuation in gas environments Cone 5 clays I've Tried: Laguna - Dover White: Nice clay, but pure white. easy to center, but A little soft when hand building Laguna - Plain (Buff): Nice light tan color, easy center and to rehydrate if repairing, but a bit too squishy and shows every dent Laguna - Moroccan Sand: I love this clay, doesn't leave residue - color, but a bit dense to center. It is really dark grayish brown, if they only could lighten it Laguna - Buff with Sand: Nice tan color, but WAY too sandy for students on the wheel Laguna - Greystone: Too dense and top heavy for small pieces, hard to center, but really takes a beating with water, warps when thin due to density of surrounding clay Laguna - Speckled Buff: A bit dark in color, has iron so it gets read everywhere, could stain (think girls with pure white vans) Laguna - LB-6: hmmm, can't remember, but nixed it very soon after Laguna - Sante Fe: OMG - red EVERYWHERE, like a crime scene Aardvark Clay - SBF - Too dark tan - a bit sticky for students Aardvark Clay -Arctic White: Too white Opinions???? Go!!! -
I have been busy with firing pieces for several exhibitions since the weather broke. The obvara was pretty successful. I have been experimenting in the saggars using tiles as baffles to help hold combustibles in place. I am including two pieces of framed baffles because I find them so intriguing. the pots range from 8-12" in ht. I am using terra sig on the sagger pieces as well as on the smooth areas of the obvara pieces. I use ball clay TS so that it absorbs the obvara and the fuming in the saggars. I just added the poster for the Invitational show. Marcia
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Hello. Does anyone in Los Angles have a Peter Pugger (hopefully a 20 or 30) I can come try out? I would just use clay you already have... chat a bit... bring you lunch or a coffee. I am desperate to try one to resolve my purchasing issue. I teach high school, and my last 2 pug mills (Bailey and Shampoo) had big issues. Peter Pugger does not have a single business in LA to test out a unit.
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Hi, We have been doing the jigger for the first time and the pieces whatever we are making have a cracks in a same pattern in a same location, and we are using Terracotta clay to make the pieces and here I m attaching the cross sectional pieces of the molds., and in the molds I have few doubts and I would like to get clarified so that I can reduce the cracking doors one by one., Does the thick and thin portions of the molds absorbs water differently so that the pieces are cracking ? As you can see the picture of the pieces the cracks are happening in the place where the side wall is connecting with the curved edges, and the cracks are happening only with our terracotta clay and we have tried quite a lot of receipes to avoid cracks but nothing is helping out and the cracks are happening in the inside of the pieces and the outside wall is just fine. Also we have tried jiggering few pieces with our stoneware clay and we havent have any cracks in the stoneware. Does the uneven wall thickness is the reason to get the cracks ? Wi only the Terracotta is cracking and not the stoneware ? Wi the inner wall is cracking and it didnt extend to the outer wall ? Does it anything to do with the plasticity and the composition of the clay? As far as the design is concerned, we make sure theres no undercuts in the design and even the wall is not striaght and it has an angle of 10% for easy releasing., we used to have few issues with our clay body which I was working with Tom (Glazenerd) to solve the issue, but apart from that I would like to know what are the other possible reasons for the cracking.
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Hello Community! :-) I am pretty new to ceramics and I am learning new things about this fantastic material on a daily basis. For my latest project I am trying to crack/break up old clay bottles with the principle of the heat shock. Does anyone have an idea what would happen, when I rapidly heat up a bottle (like the one in the picture) to 1800 degrees Fahrenheit ? My wish would be to let the bottle explode and to create many fragments. Is the wall of the bottle maybe too thick (approx. 4mm) to really burst into pieces? Will nothing happen or maybe just one big crack? Or does anyone have an idea how to make the shock/explosion bigger ? Thank you so much for your help!
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Hello, So I've mixed a few of my own glazes. Some of them are more stable than others but I always fire to cone 6 and use a pretty standard stoneware. I'm finding that some glazes run more than others. Is there any additives than be used to stop this from happening? I've done a bit of research and it looks like gum arabic can help? Also, does anyone know what the ratio is when mixing gum arabic with water (that's assuming the GA will help to stop the glaze running). Thanks in advance for any advice given! Carl
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Is there any scientific way of measure the plasticity and tell it in numbers ? I know the easy way by rolling out a coil and wrap around the fingers to check the plasticity in no time but I wanted to know is there any way that I can measure it and keep noted so that it can be a reference is future ...
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