Clay recommendations for wheel thrown sculptural work

[tman123]

Hi, 

I make large wheel thrown sculptures where I am stacking multiple sections and then attaching other wheel thrown pieces onto the sculpture… 

I am wondering if you guys have any recommendations in terms of what kind of clay to use - I have been using B Mix with Grog but it’s been cracking a bit. 
 

Thank you, Theo 

[Pres]

Are you certain the cracking is clay related, or is it process related?

 

best,

Pres

[tman123]

It could be process, but I’m pretty careful about compressing and drying the clay pretty slowly. 
 

 

[Mark C.]

If you are firing in the cone 10 range and these clay items are just sculpture then Laguna's WSO is the most forgiving clay I have ever found.I feel Bmix with grog is not your best sculpture clay no matter what temp range-get a more loose body

It's more like a cement feel than clay and very tough to crack. I made a 3 foot wall fish from it and it came out fine spanning 3 -12x24 kilns shelves on a waster slab

Edited May 2 by Mark C.

[neilestrick]

B-Mix, even with grog, does not have a good particle size distribution. It's mostly very fine particles, and then large particles from grog. Not a lot of in-between sizes. You want a body that has a good variety of particle sizes, so a stoneware body that has fireclay, ball clay, grog, etc.

[tman123]

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Edited May 3 by tman123

[tman123]

On 5/2/2024 at 5:32 AM, neilestrick said:

B-Mix, even with grog, does not have a good particle size distribution. It's mostly very fine particles, and then large particles from grog. Not a lot of in-between sizes. You want a body that has a good variety of particle sizes, so a stoneware body that has fireclay, ball clay, grog, etc.

do you have any good recommendations ? im firing in the cone 5-6 range

[neilestrick]

36 minutes ago, tman123 said:

do you have any good recommendations ? im firing in the cone 5-6 range

I'm not familiar with Laguna bodies. Is that the only brand you have available near you?

Is vitrification and glaze fit important to you, or do you prefer a cone 10 body so it's more forgiving?

I assume you want white, not brown, since you were using BMix?

[tman123]

22 minutes ago, neilestrick said:

I'm not familiar with Laguna bodies. Is that the only brand you have available near you?

Is vitrification and glaze fit important to you, or do you prefer a cone 10 body so it's more forgiving?

I assume you want white, not brown, since you were using BMix?

I am not too concerned with the color of the clay/Aardvark is near me. As far as the cone of the clay, I am hoping to stay in the cone 5 range but these pieces are sculptural and will only be for display purposes.

[tman123]

33 minutes ago, tman123 said:

I am not too concerned with the color of the clay/Aardvark is near me. As far as the cone of the clay, I am hoping to stay in the cone 5 range but these pieces are sculptural and will only be for display purposes.

I would like the clay to be somewhat smooth - not necessarily like porcelain but not super coarse. 

[Denice]

Maybe you could contact the clay company and see if they have a technician that can help you with choosing a clay.    I have had problems with Laguna's Buff clay cracking in slab type sculptures and B Mix  has always cracked for me.   I would be interested in finding out what the clay is that the clay company recommends.   Denice

[Min]

Soldate 60 is great stuff. It's a cone 10 clay but for sculptural firing to midrange would work too. I've known people use it for Raku firing also.

[neilestrick]

11 hours ago, Min said:

Soldate 60 is great stuff. It's a cone 10 clay but for sculptural firing to midrange would work too. I've known people use it for Raku firing also.

Isn't that pretty gritty, though? I think the 60 means 60 mesh grog/sand?

[Min]

46 minutes ago, neilestrick said:

Isn't that pretty gritty, though? I think the 60 means 60 mesh grog/sand?

My understanding is the Ardvark Soldate 60 is  is 50  Lincoln Fireclay, 25 OM4, 25-  60 mesh sand and 2.5 spar. Yup, it is gritty and very workable and forgiving. 
 

[tman123]

On 5/3/2024 at 7:23 PM, Min said:

Soldate 60 is great stuff. It's a cone 10 clay but for sculptural firing to midrange would work too. I've known people use it for Raku firing also.

Going to try Soldate 60, will let you know how it goes. 

I threw with Laguna buff sculpture the other day and it was super gritty and pretty uncomfortable to throw with but perhaps that's just an adjustment I need to make from B-Mix.