getting and processing local clay part 1
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- čas přidán 23. 06. 2012
- This is a record of the whole cycle for the clay that I use, from digging it from the river through a finished piece. This section deals with getting the clay and getting it ready to wedge.
Thank you for sharing this! Seeing someone else go through the entire process - not just the tidy or easy parts - is extremely helpful. I have been interested in pottery for about 2 weeks, and this is the first time one of these videos has actually looked like what i have gone through trying to make my own clay. As always, there are ways to learn and improve, but you’ve at least shown me that i am on the right track!
Let us know how it goes Amanda.
Great clip. I find this aspect of pottery fascinating.
Thank you for the comments, I find it fascinating as well. To me it seems like the natural next step, (or maybe first step) to being a potter. Using your own local clay is one more way in which your pottery becomes your own.
Very nice work 👍 good luck, what materials are added to clay after fermentation and during the massage?
Thank you so much for this video and the next one. I really appreciated the meditative, thoughtful way you work and explained things. Editing them down too much would leave out an important part of the process. It takes time and patience! Your 2 videos are the only ones I've been able to find that give a clear picture of the whole process from find digging the clay to having a lump ready to use. I've been trying to imagine what was like for Medieval potters to prepare their clay. I now have a pretty good idea. Thank you.
thumbs up for this video. had to say that after reading a few comments. thumbs up because, for one, I like getting my hands dirty, but for two, I like people who help me get dirty and avoid drama and being angry. Yeah, I agree, the pace could be faster, but that's why there's a speed-up button! ha. I just want a little dirt under my nails, so thank you. Shalom!
thank you for teaching us about clay, and how to process it.
Be patient and let him work at his own pace and allow him to process his thoughts. He will certainly dispense more info and minor detail than if he tries to rigidly structure your idea of a instruction process.
I really enjoy the time you take with your proceess. Thanks for sharing.
Nice work. The easy way is to crush the dry clay into fine grains. Sift the fine crushed dry clay. Then soak with water.
Really appreciate you sharing! Thanks, man!
Great video, very interesting.
OI SOU BRASILEIRA ESTOU AQUI FELIZ .VOCÊ É INCRÍVEL E AQUI NO BRASIL VOCÊ É MUITO CONSIDERADO, NA FACULDADE DAQUI SEUS VIDEOS SÃO MOSTRADO PARA OS ALUNOS , VOCÊ VIROU REFERENCIA IMPORTANTE EM MEU PAÍS ,OBRIGADA
best clay extraction vid
This guy is a champ
I suggest using a palm sander on the side of the bowl to vibrate it through the sieve.
Lol right
For some reason I really want to fill a pool with that stuff and soak in it.... must be soooo smooth
Bring a clothespin. Natural clay is full of organic bio-organisms. The smell of natural slip is pretty loud and a bit sour. Not a bad thing per say. Smells like the earth.
Yeeeeeesssssssss 😊
The grey clay works great for pottery. I have been using it just like that for quite awhile. It has plenty of iron in, which becomes apparent once it has been fired as it becomes a dark red.
Why would I want to add mussel shells to it especially at such a high ratio?
Holy hell. Big props for you embracing the process but this was probably one of the most painful ceramic videos to watch. Edit, condense and elaborate in the dead space. Speak man, SPEAK!
+freshhopped LOL I was thinking the same but honestly... I really love his demeanor and I am far too grateful to complain!
@@AmericanWoman1964 Me too. I like it. I can't stand videos where they're yaking at you 100 MPH.
please do video on clay paint
I would consider using a screen with a 2-3" thick frame that sits over another large tub. You can use a long plank of wood for the "credit card function and process more clay.
20:28 lol You really need to add water. In fact putting clay through a metal sieve catches a bunch of larger particles that aren't even clay. You need to suspend the clay particles in water and then pour off the clay water.
I'm confused... you dug the clay from the riverbed, then at about 1:23, you explain that you spread it out and got it nice and dry. Once it's all dry, then you can add water? I'm missing the point of getting all dry just so you can pour a bucket of water on it?
It's a lot easier to process!
holy poo its tom hanks!
great !!!
Fantastic video. Where are you located?
Believe it or not that is where the term "percentile" came from.
The only sure way that I know of is to have the clay lab tested. I usually don't worry about contaminants except in powdered form. Once the clay is fired most of the common things are rendered inert with the exception of lead and that shouldn't be an issue unless you are getting your clay from a heavily industrialized area. I use vinegar because it helps the clay to "rot" down and become more plastic and I don't use borax as it is a flux. Not sure what you mean by paper rotting.
cool thanks man i was doing it the same i hate how long it takes to go through the screen was looking for another solution
Ahh got it, you are using paper clay. I truthfully have no experience with it as a pottery medium however I have used it both as a building medium and to make firebrick out of (not as practical as I thought it would be). I never had an issue with paper rotting but there was no aging involved in those applications. Borax can lower vitrification temps depending on the amount that is used and the clay body. However some clay bodies will never completely vitrify no matter what temp they go to.
bad
would it go faster if you added a small vent holes around the ring of the bucket?
only if the filter forms an airtight seal around the rim, his slip filter might have. also remember that if you don't have a sealed container, you can't use that for storage. also it'll make the bucket less structurally sound if you put alot of clay on the top, i personally would get alot of really cheap buckets from craigslist/bakery and cut the top halves off and make a multi tiered filter assembly that you can customize, so if i wanted to make a slip i could stack a 40 mesh, 60 mesh, 80 mesh, then 100 mesh filter, this would help it flow alot. and if one started plugging too quick, i can just pull that filter from the "tower" if i felt it might not be necessary.
What are the limits on shrinkage for the test tile? i.e. is 5% shrinkage too much to work,? Is 2% too plastic?
thanks a lot for the video, but does grey clay is good enough for pottery
No you need crush mussel shell in it 50/50
Hi. Great video. I am processing London clay and ran it through a 120 mesh sieve . I gave it to a potter friend of mine who said it was a bit rough on our hands to work with on a wheel, probably due to lots of excess sand in there. Just wondering if you clay that you run through an 80 mesh is a bit rough, or is it smooth to work with on a wheel? THanks
I would use 60 or 40
you don't even need to do the arithmatic. put the 10cm mark on one of your ends, and if it shrank 5% the other mark will be on 5mm.
جايه من طرف استاذتي 😃
I'm just wondering when I get the Clay fresh from the riverbank in my case the ocean bank why can t I just add a lot of water mix it make it into a slurry solution and then run it directly through the different grade screens Why do I have to dry it first -break it and crumble it and then rehydrated... That makes no sense to me but then again neither did pulling down on my shroud lines just before impact at airborne school until I got tired of bumping my head on the ground hard.I know the question is I found a large bank of clay here in Puerto Rico on the ocean will this Clay be any different then river clay?
On the ocean? I thought only sand makes up ocean shores. Answer: that is called slaking the clay. Moist clay prevents water from being absorbed any further (hydrophobic state), meaning that it is a lot harder to get the clay completely uniform and smooth when wedging. When the clay is dry and you break it , grind it, or pulverize it to add in the water it will break up and absorb water much quicker than if you slake it moist. One exception I've found out through years of experience is that as long as you slake the clay body, scraps, trims....... for at least 24 hours it will make no difference if the clay is bone dry, or moist. I have one of those large under bed storage boxes that I poured hydrocal 30 to about 3 inches depth where I simply toss my clay scraps for super fast drying and recycling on a pug mill extruder.
My GOD spit it out. Too much acid. Your nuts dude. I use a similar process but geter done way faster labor wise. Don't be afraid of water, water it down. mix it up with a paint mixer, then pull all floats off, mix it good again let it set for a minute then carefully pour off the mix (flocculate). Most of the good clay is in the floc. Add water to the remains and repeat. The first floc is your best clay. Then I use my screens ( cut ten inches off the top of a bucket, turn it upside down and lay a piece of screen over it and then melt the screen down into the plastic bucket with a torch or a soldering iron. Then take a grinder and grind off the extra screen. I buy stainless so there good forever. 10, 40, 80, 150,and 300 mesh.) pour it through consecutive screens until done (never rub or scrape a screen, especially the finer ones it will destroy the quality by changing the size of the openings, not even sprayed water, it will force things through the openings distorting them. spray it from underneath, If your screening and screen stops up turn it upside down over a trash catch bucket and spray with water and then proceed. ). Then let the floc set and siphon the excess water from it until it gets thick enough to batch on plaster bats. Way less labor and time.
+Ashley Sloop Is that satire or just a complaint. Most generally I would have preferred that an Ashley would be walking away saying " MAN what a DICK". Know what I mean?
Sarcasm, not satire.
+Ashley Sloop Yep Excuse, I guess it is getting pretty late. been a long day.
Very nice idea for making a sieve by sinking it into the melted plastic of a bucket bottom. That's something that should be possible for me. I'll keep the tips about sieve screen handling in mind too.
If I ever get around to making the activated charcoal filter I've been meaning to make, I think your screen attaching method should be useful there too. (The screen in this case would not be for filtering water, but just to keep the filtering medium in place.)
Schooled by the word police! He is painful to watch.
Can I use clay that I harvested as face mask or for hair?
where can I get a strainer like that that fits on a bucket so well? I found one meant for paint. Is that good enough?
Dollar store
Thank you for this video. I am a beginner. Just got my 50 lbs. of grey clay. I wedged it.
Then I tried to make a coil and it was cracking. Does this mean that
the clay they sent me is too old and dry? It seems odd that it is
cracking as soon as I unwrapped it and tried to shape it. Should I send
it back?
Also, would you know for how long I can leave the clay on the shelf,
after let's say I made a plate, or a cup? It may be months before I can
get to a kiln. Can I fire it after months of it drying on a shelf?
Thank you in advance for any assistance you may be able to provide
No age limit on clay. In fact if you keep it moist forever, it just keeps getting better. You have to adjust the moisture content by wedging until it becomes pliable enough to work, and relaxed by wedging it. If you moisten it to a level where you can roll out a nice coil relatively easily and it then cracks when the coil is bent a 90 degree corner it is not plastic enough and needs a higher content of ball clay. Too much ball clay and it is very plastic and workable but when fired will shrink, distort and be un-usable. it's a balancing act. It can dry forever but when you fire it it must be DRY or it will crack or even explode.
You could try adding a little water or wrap the lump of clay in a damp cloth. Rehydrating and kneading the clay can make it more pliable. Learning clay takes some trial and error. Once it is dry it can sit on a shelf forever.
Is it possible to get clay out of soil? I don't have a stream or riverbed to get clay but I do have access to a soil with very high clay content. Every time it rains, if you walk on this the soil builds up on your boots. Very thick layers of soil will stick you your boots. Literally a couple inches of mud stuck to your boots or truck tires. Can I get clay from that?
+Amerijam Acres Yes there are websites with the info you are after. It takes a while. You can also get clay from regular clumping cat litter. Not the crystal or paper cat litter.
Luciffrit clay is silica oxide and alumina oxide mostly.
Yeah give your old credit cards to a starving artist lol good one
@Whoop!
Thank you love
great video but it could have been made a lot faster and not lose any effect. trim out dead space and stuttering to speed things up. this video covers a lot but could have been trimmed down to like 15-18 minutes. also, i'd have used a large metal screen like a 20, then 50 mesh strainer to get a lot of the leaf bits, grass, sticks, bug bits, ect, out of the slurry first, it'll make it flow a lot easier through a 80 or 100 mesh filter. also rubbing action used to move particulates can shave wet organic bits through the sieve like a cheese grater, so it's best to gently scoop these out. also a V strainer is a lot faster and easier to use as long as you don;t get really cheap ones that will tear under the weight. also vibrating the bucket/strainer somehow will get the job done even faster without pushing fine sand through that gets in even with gentle pressure. also a great way to pour large amounts from a tub would be to add a spigot about 2 inches from the bottom, that way you don't drain sand and gravel into the strainer, and you don;t have to do alot of lifting if you put the tub up off the ground a bit before mixing and stirring. a great way to storing clay is obviously with buckets, and a good source of buckets are local bakeries and donut stores. they will readily give or sell buckets dirt cheap, usually 25 cents for 1 gallon, $1 for 5 gallon buckets if they charge at all. and for evaporating the early stages of clay, i use a black tote and black fabric in the sun to heat it up and dry it just alittle faster, but don't let it get to dry.
watering down the clay more would make it much easier to sieve.
Are there different colors of clay, and what colors? I am planning to make roof tiles from clay for my mother's house. I saw red like color soil about 15 miles away from my mom's house, Is it clay? Thanks.
there's red, white,brown and grey clay dirt.
For the most part the color has little to do with anything, it is the active mineral content that matters more than many color components that are inactive. I've seen black clay fire anywhere from dark red to white, red clay fire dark gray to white, and white clay fire dark red, gray, or white. Take a pinch of the red soil in your hand, put enough water on it to make mud and stir it until you get a workable claylike substance to make a coil then test for pliability and you will know.
Do you put vinegar in yours?
NO
EDIT, EDIT, EDIT: For sound (it was up & down, varying cadence), for time (no need for us to watch most of this), for content (Explain why you do what you do., e.g., why did you put clay on top of the sieve back in the original bucket? Isn't it contaminated?) Why did you first dry the raw clay, then wet it? Why can't the raw clay be dry screened?
In the fifties, I separated sand from clay by screening, then adding water, agitating, shaking, and let sit. They form layers. This is how I knew the % of clay, sand, and silt in my source. If it was 20-40% (30% is perfect) clay and 70% sand I used it to make adobe.
Clay dust gives you silicosis. So not good. Wet is better
You should hold off taking the Quaaludes until after you're done filming brother
Happy that you have a credit card.
You trying and that's all that matters.
good video, tom hanks with a goatie : P
Nah man, that was Dimebag Darrel mixing clay...
Very informative but you should try to write down some of what you want to say so that you don't stumble so much verbally. Good video and you captured the imagery very well for a how to video. But the pauses and quiet talking make it tedious. Over all, I learned what I needed to, so I give you thumbs up.
Wouldn't it be far easier to have kept the clay dried and grind it into powder first, then sift it?
shexdensmore ô
Once clay is dried, it is a pain in the ass to grind it without adequate tools. Here he just let the water do all the work for him.
sieving the slip was very long!!! Actually, I hope no beginner sees this and thinks this is real! Amazing , wasted patience!
Sorry but we had a lot of difficulty hearing you well. Seems like good info, though.
it's just to meany of observing its too much
More editing please!
explain why you let it dry out so you can re wet it again.....serves no purpose,....break it up when its dry into a powder, then wet it and strain it...like the other person said...It was painful to watch this
By drying the clay out then rehydrating it, it makes it more homogenous. Makes a much smoother clay for on the wheel.
i made it to 10:52 before I had to stop. Not loud enough to hear without straining my ears and to understand what you are saying. To many pauses etc etc ,
Sorry man,
You have big commitment, but this is such a hard way to do it. Its so much better to do it like this: 1 dig up the clay. 2 break it into sand. 3 go though mesh couple of times. 4 add water. 5 stir it up with a mixer. 6 remove the grains and bits that come to the surface once in a while before you mix it again. 7. Drain to the righ consistency and use.
I like your passion, and though your information was interesting, you stumbled, talked incredibly slow and made NO PROGRESS WHAT SO EVER. Im sorry man, but i couldnt make it further than 15 minutes. Keep going!
Tooooo long I can't I give up
you need help cutting this down to about 5 minutes. ffs.
Or don't record it when you're stoned.
Damn, clay is so cheap. You must love punishment and be very bored to put up with doing this. I would think it wouldn't be cost effective to spend this much time on something that's so cheap to buy.
Meredith Inserra then why are you watching this video? you obviously are thinking about doing it yourself why would you go out of your way to find a video of this and call it stupid?
Robert Prough I didn't call it stupid! I simply noted that it seemed like a tremendous amount of trouble to go to for a comidity that's cheap to buy. I was curious about the process. That's why I watched the video. If I find some beautiful clay on my own property I might consider using it, if only to see how it looks when fired, but it would take a LOT of testing to figure out how high to fire it to achieve vitrification.
Meredith Inserra, Oh just stop it, it is congradulating. Rude!
Meredith Inserra Using local clay can be more interesting result wise. So it depends what your goal is. But do learn to talk politer
You must lea n to edit. WTF smh
And you must LEARN to spell 😉
2 minutes worth of info in 37 minutes try something different
primitive process.
Bertonni Magnus I think that is the point
37:56 mins long! Could've been 5 mins long if the guy wasn't talking at the pace of a turtle. This video wastes almost an hour of your life (and it's only part one!) and a beginner still wouldn't know anything that couldn't been learned from the other dozen videos on this process. Totally disappointed.
You could just go to the store and buy the clay. Do it the easy way, but hey, people are lazy these days. You could have turned turned up the speed of the play. 😝
@@JS-fj9ik You are absolutely right my friend, people are lazy (myself included) and yet not just buying clay is more satisfying. Sorry for my negative comment, I was in a weird place that day, I don't mean to be a troll :) Keep up the good work!
The grey clay works great for pottery. I have been using it just like that for quite awhile. It has plenty of iron in, which becomes apparent once it has been fired as it becomes a dark red.
Why would I want to add mussel shells to it especially at such a high ratio?
can i use this clay for sculpting?
+nava neethan yes