[Clayart] pug mills

[Gregg Lindsley]

Hi all!

I have a bluebird 800, one I bought 30 years ago from a fine lady in the
Bay Area for $1500. besides a wheel, it was one of the first equipment
purchases I made after starting out as a studio potter.    It's a nice
machine, and requires tender care. In California, we don't get much rain in
the summer, so I have to tend it.  To keep the clay wet when not in use, I
put a wet shop towel in the hopper touching the clay and a piece of plastic
over it.  The top to the vacuum chamber is heavy enough to keep a good
seal.  I put a clay bag with a big yellow sponge, which I keep wet over the
4 inch barrel with the clay touching the clay.  A red brick holds the whole
thing in place.  I pug often enough that it doesn't dry out.  If I am away
from it for a while, I check and make sure the towel is wet as well as the
sponge.
as for recycled clay, I have a 2 gallon bucket next to my water bucket on
the wheel, and all scraps go in it. when it is full, I add some water from
the throwing bucket, tie it up with a twist tie, and throw it outside the
studio window onto a pile that is already there. part of what makes
recycled clay workable is that it has time to slake, for the water to soak
into clay.  My pile goes back a few years, so when I put it through the pug
mill, it is old and gooey.  I spread it out on large plaster bats, let it
dry until it is workable, and then pug it.
The result is a well mixed clay that is never short.  Clay manufactured at
factories is not slaked, but just mixed with water, bagged and shipped.  I
order clay with extra water, a penny a pound, so that it is usable out of
the bag. helps my students too.
So if you can, let your clay get old and mellow.

- thinking about becoming a pig farmer

and the wheel of time season two will be released tonight!!
-- 
Gregg Lindsley
Earth and Fire Pottery
10325 Brookside Drive
Middletown, Ca. 95461
707-490-7168
Function and Beauty
in the Mingei  and
Bauhaus traditions
www.earthandfirepottery.net
'At home among the lost and found'
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.clayartworld.com/pipermail/clayart/attachments/20230831/6d48a388/attachment.htm>