reclaiming clay

[I've never heard that before. Even if your clay contained feldspar (not all of it does) I don't see how it would be lost preferentially. Most potters reclaim their scraps; reclaimed clay works just fine.]

However, since I'm very new at ceramics

[It's wise, unless you're making rocket parts or something equally critical. Just don't get any foreign material mixed up in it, keep different kinds of clay separate, and wedge well to eliminate air bubbles and inconsistency.] [This sounds like a potter's legend to me - I never add anything and haven't noticed a difference...] [Throw all your scaps in a plastic barrel, let them dry thoroughly (for some reason, clay accepts water when dry better than when semidry) and then fill with water until the scraps are covered. After a few days, work the soggy mass with your hands until it's more or less uniform in texture (don't worry about lumps, just get it all moving together). At that point I turn it out onto a plaster slab and wedge it the next day (or whenever it's ready). Some people don't like plaster - if you're one of them, you can sew up the ends of an old pair of jeans and fill them with clay (or make a special canvas clay bag). Hang that in a dry place and turn it out onto your canvas-covered wedging board when it gets to the right consistency. Of course, if you're working on a large scale, you'd use a pug mill, but this works for smaller batches.]

Good luck-

Andrew Werby

Good answers all around from Andrew. You can also reclaim the sloppy clay just by setting it on a piece of board or plywood--it avoids the potential lime popouts of plaster bits, and is easier than old pants to get the clay onto it. I always wait until it's dried enough (sitting by the kiln) to put on the boards without slopping off the sides. Brad Sondahl

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Thanks to both of you. I'm making up a canvas/cotton liner for a plastic utility pan (Aice Hardware special). This is my all around UTILITY pan for everything, so the liner is best. Currently there are several plastic buckets containing different types of liquid clay becoming very smelly and waiting to come back together again.

When you say separate the different kinds of clay, how critical is this? All my clay is cone ten and most of it is separated by red or white stoneware at least-- there's no porcelain -- but there is some mixing amongst small scraps of differing either white or red (sounds like wines). If its not critical good. If so,...

[For the "hang it in a bag" technique to work, you'll need to lift it out of the pan. If the clay's smelly, that usually indicates that some organic matter has been introduced - usually it's fairly odor-free. ] [You definitely don't want lumps of low-fire clay contaminating your stoneware - they will melt when the rest is maturing, which could be bad. If it's all stoneware, then it's not as bad, although you might run into some cracking problems if the COE (coefficient of expansion) is different between the clay types. If you've got a mixture of red and white clay of similar COEs, just call it rose'...]

Andrew Werby

[For the "hang it in a bag" technique to work, you'll need to lift it out of the pan. If the clay's smelly, that usually indicates that some organic matter has been introduced - usually it's fairly odor-free. ] [You definitely don't want lumps of low-fire clay contaminating your stoneware - they will melt when the rest is maturing, which could be bad. If it's all stoneware, then it's not as bad, although you might run into some cracking problems if the COE (coefficient of expansion) is different between the clay types. If you've got a mixture of red and white clay of similar COEs, just call it rose'...]

Andrew Werby

"Andrew Werby" wrote in news:WUwrc.591$af3.55715@attbi_s51:

Reclaiming clay comes down to how much you value your time and what you want to do in the time available.

The simple equation is. How much product (or practice making) could I make in the time I have taken to reclaim, wedge and age the clay. Relate this back to the price of a bag of clay and base your decision on this.

On a personal basis I do not reclaim scraps or trimmings as it is not worthwhile and secondly I do not enjoy doing it. I just give them away or dump them in the recycle bath tub at our pottery centre.

However, all clay can be recycled.

Regards

John W

I always dry my scraps first in a bucket for each type of clay.

Then I break down only FULLY DRIED clay with a sledgehammer (just jamming it into a bucket 1 inch of clay at a time). Not hard to do using the side of metal part hammer going down into bucket.

Then I put water into the bucket and mix overnight.

Then I put on a plaster pad I made approx 3 inches thick 20x20" wide to let it set up and firm.

Once it has reached a firmness that can be wedged, I wedge it and put it back into bags that I originally purchased the clay in.

This takes a little time, but NEVER a failure. Actually extrudes better this way.

Note: I label each 5 gal bucket with the type of scraps I'm putting into it as not to mix.

Ed