Where can i find this, what ive heard its sea bottoms and old sea bottoms (when people dig etc they find it) but then .. how to identify it? .. Ive found something whitish that atleast i think is what they called blue clay but as far as i can see when it dries up and is fired it just withers down to sand if you toutch it .. is this the behavior of this clay or what? :P
Yeye, thanks for any answers and have a good day :>
I have not heard of blue clay, actually found blue clay. I guess it does exist. If you want to have blue clay that you can fire successfully though just wedge cobalt into it. Small percentage, cobalt is a strong colourant. Test with cobalt oxide and cobalt carbonate and different amounts. Wedgewood is like this I think. Goodluck.
Don't know where you are exactly, but in the mid west of the US, blue clay deposits are used to line earthen dams for man made lakes etc. here's a link to several blue clay sites. May help you find some.. Tony
More often than not a clay is called a *Blue* Clay because it is high in carbonaceous material which gives it a blue/grey colour. The ones I have met in Hampshire UK fired pale pink in bisque, and buff at 1100oC plus
Steve Bath UK
In article , tony writes
Don't know about the sea bottoms part. I've heard the same as Steve relates, that "blue" clay has organics that fire out. I'd be more inclined to think this comes from swampy areas or lake bottoms rather than oceans, but that's just a guess based on where you find organics in general.
As for the stuff that crumbles after firing: Was it really "short" to the point of being unworkable before drying, and really fragile after drying? That could be marl, a purely calcareous deposit typical of some lake bottoms. Or maybe yours has enough real clay to be workable, but too much lime to hold together after firing.
Pure marl does look whitish to blueish or grayish white. It can be ground up shell bits, or it can be the result of certain calcium-gathering plant activity.
Hope this helps!
Bob Masta dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom D A Q A R T A Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
In Norway, we have quite a bit of blue clay (called "blåleire") and I found a place that makes all kinds of products using it. Unfortunately, the site is in Norwegian, but there are many good pictures under "produksjon" - just click on the word behind "neste" to see more.
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