thinking about changing clay body

[elaine clapper]

I have used Laguna B mix for years. I am comfortable with it. This is what I used when I was teaching at the high school level for plus 20 years.  It is available close to me at Columbus Clay in Ohio.  I like the forgiveness with the smooth texture in cleaning up leatherhard ware. I like the ease of carving into leatherhard forms without grit getting in my way.  But, too often I throw heavy when it comes to anything larger than 10 inches. The thickness feels ok when I am throwing, but as it dries I realize it is thicker than I want.  So I do a lot of trimming on larger pieces.  I am thinking if I had a clay body with just a little grog I could throw larger pieces more easily. Looking for a recommendation of a clay available in Ohio with a small amount of grog.

 

[baetheus]

You could buy a 50lb bag of grog (about $35 from my local supplier) and wedge grog into your bmix, best of both worlds really. I'd start with 30-48 grit grog and keep your additions of grog under 7% (I use 4-5% but am not careful with measuring) by weight (ie. if you wedge up 500 grams of clay don't add more than 35 grams of grog). I sprinkle the grog onto my wedging surface and then wedge right on top of it until it's well incorporated, about 50 turns if you spiral wedge.

Hope this helps!

[Denice]

I don't know about your supplier but mine carries B-Mix with grog.   I like using a clay that has a little more strength for throwing,  it is Laguna Buff.   I can also use it for small handbuilding projects.   Denice