clay lover Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 I got a couple of boxes of this ,looking for a dark brown clay. It is rated cone 4-6. The suppliers said it might bloat at hot 6. He said dark clays were more likely to do this. Do you use Standard 266 and what is your experience ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S. Dean Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 There have been other threads on here regarding 266, so a search may be worthwhile. I use 266 at a local community center. Due to its color, It is one of the favorite clays among the students. It is beautiful when it comes out right, however it can be temperamental. The community center glaze fires between cone 5 and 6. It can bloat in the hotter firings/parts of the kiln - but not always. If I recall correctly, Neil said that this should be considered a Cone 5 clay with the caveat that there is no guarantee that it will be problem free at cone 5. I experience more bloating with hand built pieces, especially if they are on the thicker side. Almost always get bloating on a glaze re-fires. The problems can be intermittent, and some batches seem to have more problems than others. Throws nicely - kind of like a dark brown cream cheese as it has no grog. It's work to clean up your wheel after a throwing session. All in all, I use it with the knowledge that there are trade offs which have to be accepted. -SD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEP Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 "The suppliers said it might bloat at hot 6. He said dark clays were more likely to do this. " Yes I have experienced this myself. But I've had no problems with it at cone 5.5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flowerdry Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 Love 266. Throws so nicely, looks great with some of the glazes I like. At my community studio, we have had to get rid of it due to the bloating problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 if you are looking for a grog-free clay that fires a nice toasty red-brown at cone 6, try the one my friend Robin Teas invented. there was a discussion about this several years ago. combine half and half XXX saggar clay with redart. add water. that's it. it wasn't compliated enough for some of the tech people who think lots of ingredients make a good clay. lots of ingredients make it more complicated, not better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 266 tends to bloat at cone 6 in my kilns. Very thin pieces like jewelry tend to do okay at 6, but pots often bloat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clay lover Posted November 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 Do you think it's that particular clay,or any really dark clays that will have the bloating problem ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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