Slaking earthenware

[Pyewackette]

So I got tired of waiting for the studio to repug the red earthenware and I just took a bunch of it home (I DID ask first). Some of it was still slightly flexible but a lot was in sort of mid-leatherware stage - still damp, but not at all flexible.  I sliced it up into thin slabs and broke most of those up and its all in a bucket (with a lid on) slaking, covered with water.

Can anybody give me a rough idea of about how long it might take until its fully slaked, or how I can tell that it has reached that stage - where I could put it out to dry  and then wedge it up?

I'm pretty sure the studio manager said they were going to throw it away so I am going to try to bring ALL of it home.  There's about half a rubbermaid tote of the stuff still languishing there.  I swear I've been waiting for this stuff to be fixed up so I could use it since last September LOL!  At least I'd have something to practice throwing on my wheel and I DO have functional plans for it once its throwable again.

[neilestrick]

The best way to slake down clay is to first let it dry completely. Anything wetter will resist taking in water. Bone dry clay will slake down overnight.

[Pyewackette]

@neilestrick Yeah I totally forgot. That's ok.  I have another 90 lbs of it, about 20 lbs is drying out to bone dry right now. I'll just let the water evaporate out of that bucket and process the stuff properly eventually.

Heck I was just glad I actually remember I needed to do something with that and actually had the energy to do it - even if it was the wrong thing LOL!  I'm having a Rip Van Winkle experience now that I'm getting proper medical care.  Its like I've been asleep for the last 30 years and I just woke up old!  

[Callie Beller Diesel]

Bone dry slakes down pretty quick, but some clay bodies you can just throw into water as-is, especially if you’re slurry mixing it anyways. Could be worth a small experiment to see if you can get away with it.