QotW: To wedge or not to wedge?

[Pres]

Bam2015 posted a question in the QotW pool this morning around 9am. She asks:

To wedge or not to wedge? Do you wedge clay when it comes straight from a bag or pug mill? If you do wedge, why?

Maybe you wedge for the following?

a) It's what I was taught and I can't get my instructor's voice out of your head?

b) I'm a little OCD, I can't sit down at the wheel until I've repeated my wedging "x" number of times.

c) There is scientific proof that one must wedge! 

d) Nope, don't wedge, waste of time and my pots turn out beautifully!

e) Other...please enlighten us.

 

Ha, I suppose I should point out that there is one other possibility here, which is . . . because I have to! All of you by now have heard that I order clay once every few years, and store it under my sea kayaks. This means in central PA that it freezes often for months in the winter. That means that the freezing turns the "mechanical water" or water of plasticity to ice. This causes large rifts in the bagged clay, and as it thaws, the water is to the outside of the clay. Wedging or pugging is the only way to get the outside and inside areas of the clay to become homogeneous again. So I wedge, first by cut and slash (tip here: a wiggle wire works really well if having to add water by spraying) then by cone wedging that I learned in my first Ceramics class in college. Without wedging the clay first as I do not have a deairing pug mill or any pug mill my clay would not throw well at all.

So I will ask for @Bam2015, and myself: QotW: To wedge or not to wedge?

 

best,

Pres

[Hulk]

Wedge, aye.

Right out of a fresh bag (a well sealed actually fresh-oh bag), perhaps not, perhaps...

The last bit of clay I got, two bags seemed fresher than t'others; they were softer and more homogenous - likely right out of the bag would have been ok. The other bags, not so much.

Even a slight variation in consistency makes things harder! Looks to me that the clay flows in direction opposite to rotation of the wheel. Anywhere the flow slows down (to go around a bubble, around a blob or bit, around a less wet bit...), there's a thickening spot; anywhere the flow speeds up (wetter bit, a shear...), there's a thinning spot. I don't need more difficult!

I'm fairly certain that throwing is easier with homogenous (Dictionary.com says homogenous and homogeneous are 'bout the same, hmm; language tends to evolve to shorter/easier, so.) clay sans bubbles and bits.

I'm not certain that turning the clay ball up on its right side actually helps, but I believe it does, so, there's that also. I run the wheel clockwise, hence, the clay must turn the opposite way when dragged (by hands/tools). My final wedge is of the "rams head" variety, hence, turning it up on the right side matches what's coming on the wheel. I'm recalling that some recommend the opposite, as the finished piece will then have less of a twist and will unwind less through the drying and firing processes. Any road, I'm not certain, as I haven't thoroughly tested the notion that throwing in the same direction as wedging actually helps, nor have I tested the more/less wound up ideas. I did wedge clay balls for several of my fellow students (just the struggling ones) in "Wheel I" class - matching their counterclockwise-ness - they were amazed.

My preference is to start with clay just a bit damper/softer than ideal (for me), so it will be ideal once wedged up, for there's some moisture loss in the wedging, eh?

I'll spiral a larger chunk afore dividing into the desired size, then rams head. As it looks to me that the inside of said rams head is more static, I'll turn the clay ball several times. After the last wedge, I'm stashing the prepped balls in a container and covering them, so they don't dry out as much.

Clay that's "just right" centers easily, opens and pulls evenly, finishes round and even, winning back some o' that wedging time.

Oh, for a pug mill! I've never worked with freshly pugged clay - maybe some day. However, a new(er) kiln will likely be next.

[Mark C.]

I had 3 bones taken out of my wright wrist in 2012-I have not wedged  any clay from a bag  of new clay since then to speak of. I bought a peter pugger (used shortly after surgery) and do wedge that output either. I can wedge but choose to do so very rarely. I work with  high fire porcealin and have not seen any issues without wedging. 

At one time I weged the heck out of clay. These days  why bother the clay really does not need it out of the bag or pugger.

If the clay is homogenous and air free its ready to throw in my world.

I feel the montra of must wedge all clay is a false statement and should be questioned.

Modern clay is air free and homogenous these days ,at one time that was not the case

 Test the the limits and see if it matters you may find it does not.

My hands /wrists are much happier now-If I had it to do over I would have not wedged for the past 40+ years either 

[GEP]

I pug and don’t wedge. I try to pug the amount of clay I will throw that day, so it is always freshly pugged. This saves me loads of time and wear and tear on my body. If I have to throw clay that was pugged a few days ago, and therefore it feels drier on one side than the other, I will cone it a few times before continuing to throw it. That seems to even it out. 

I agree that pottery instruction can come with a lot of dogma. 

[Denice]

I rarely wedge anymore,  I work out of a fresh bag of clay.   Cone 6 clay needs some slamming around before you start working with it.   I drop my on the studio's concrete floor and that usually loosens it up.      Denice

[Mark_H]

I'm not going to wedge.  Had carpel & bicubital tunnel surgery (from contracting) and after finishing my studio build I wouldn't dream of not getting a pugmill.  For the younger folks out there who plan on having a long career/hobby; any tool that can save your back/knees/wrists/elbows/lungs is paying you forward by extending your body's usable lifespan IMO.

[oldlady]

if you find the clay out of the bag is too hard to throw easily, do what denise does, drop the bag on concrete from waist high.  drop it on each of the 6 sides.  then it is very happy to stick nicely to your bat or wheelhead.  look up thixotropic clay.  it is not that, just more plastic.

i work mostly with slabs and my clay comes in long rectangles, not cubes.   i slice the long side just an inch and a touch  and slap it firmly on a printers blanket on the floor.   two things happen, the clay compresses itself and stretches.   my slab roller is 24 inches wide so i slap the clay two or three times until it just fits the width of my slab roller with printers blanket on it.  then i can cut a number of pieces at the same time and have a variety of slab pieces by the end of my energy.   can get a lot of (24) circles cut and made easily.   the big ones use a lot of the original slab so i only get 5 or 6 pieces at a time.   used to work through a box of clay a day.   now it is slower.

fresh clay for throwing gets dropped on its 6 sides and cut in chunks about 2 1/2 x 4 or so.  that just gets whapped onto the bat and struck several times with a 'whammerdammer"  a 4x6 wood mallet that i cut on a band saw to make a handle.   whapping it into a cone shape with no sharp edges takes a few seconds and coning the clay up and down a few times is enough wedging for me.

these tiny birds were made from a large round biscuit cutter.  i squeezed the beak and tail and shaped the body simply.   they sell out at big shows.

[Mark C.]

I always drop the pug on the 4 long sides to even it out mositure wise. This trick works very well. Hard clay softens on the drop-at least porcelain does.

As my plaster table is 5-6 inches thick it not an issue to drop it on the wedging table. I cut the pugs on that table to size as well with a cut off wire with one end handle free works great

[LeeU]

8 hours ago, oldlady said:

tiny birds

These look like fun-post a pic when glazed! Are they spoon rests, ornaments, catchalls, or whatever people want them to be?

I rarely wedge these days. It has made no difference in my pieces.  Not for wheelwork, nor for hand building. When I think that I should wedge, if the clay is not quite moist/fresh enough to just be put to work, I cut & slam, and sometimes spiral wedge it.   I hate wedging reclaim so I am piling up the dried scraps until I can find someone to either give it to, or who I can bribe to wedge it for me. 

Edited May 16, 2021 by LeeU

[Chilly]

I only slab build:

 If new/previously recycled clay is cold (8 months a year)  I cut and drop on the concrete paving greenhouse floor to warm/wake it up.

I do wedge recycled slurry as it comes off the plaster drying blocks.  But only just, and small amounts.

 

I do make new students wedge clay, straight out of the bag/recycled.  It's good practice, as otherwise they are not aware of the feel of clay. 

Edited May 16, 2021 by Chilly

[Callie Beller Diesel]

I will wedge for anything over 3 lbs or so, but mostly just to make sure the moisture is distributed properly. Anything in the 1-2 lb range just gets cut off the block. 

Reclaim does need wedging, unfortunately. I don’t have a pug mill.

 

[Babs]

Tiles, hand rolled  ware just wake up the clay. Small thrown not wedged

Reclaim and bug cut, slam, wedge atlast bit.

[oldlady]

lee, the cutter, the plain metal kind, no fancy wilton rubber edge, is now shaped into a bird.   the length, end of bill to end of tail is 4 inches.  depth from back to breast is less than 3 inches.  i do not know what size the original circle was but i would guess just over 3 inches.   i shaped it with a needle nose pliers so the finished line is a little wobbly.  who cares?  a damp sponge cleans up the edge anyway.  i made this one to do bluebirds, the theme of the bluemont fair one year.   bluebirds are simple.  dip back into blue glaze and front in amaco red underglaze.  fire in slots of a cut firebrick.  the underglaze does not stick to the firebrick.  those birds were flat, though.

now, i do very little to the bird.   the eye is the grey end of a sharpie, there is a slight stylus line of wing and a smaller end of the stylus for the beak.   dipped into a single color, i can use Qtip spots of any color dots on the breast.  not trying for realism.  would like to try a black licorice with a red triangle on the wing just for fun.  brown top, beige bottom, brown spots and you have a thrasher.  pink bird, purple and green spots and you have a child's tiny friend.   good way to teach children to be careful with china!

there is another shape that comes out like a fish with no alteration.  a big strawberry makes a fish if,  once it is cut, you remove the stem from the clay.   fish this size are very popular and if you like to decorate, what is more colorful than a fish?  that one is big enough for a soap dish.  have any questions, just ask.

this is a test to place a photo and type next to it.

Edited May 23, 2021 by oldlady
testing addition of photo