4:17 skim the clean water, no need to pull the clay from the bottom through it. I was the only kid in high school ceramics class who volunteered to dig out the slop bucket while no one else wanted to. Ended up teaching clay in public schools over the years since 2001. Not sure if it was just meant to be, but it sure seems like it. Have used plaster drying frames, it is a 2x4 built frame with plaster poured into it, plaster dries as a surface block. Put the slop clay on the dry plaster and it really sped up air time due to absorption. Yes plaster and clay do not mix but it was a pretty good idea that worked well I have reclaimed so much clay drying my teaching. Towers galore. Thinking of a pug mill as I am getting tired of wedging.
Really fun to watch .. So many ways to skin this cat .The NC potters at Jugtown still have a 19th century style standing table on a slant(downhill away from you and a wire from the front edge and attached to the wall (maybe 28 " above the table with a screw tightener . The slapping and beating has a very cool rhythm there ..Say 6 pounds of clay is dropped or thrown through the wire (hands still on the outside of the ball that is now cut into two pieces of clay .. Left hand picks up and slaps down directly below itself on the the left and the right hand picks up its 3 pounds and slams it into the the same spot on the left of the wire on the table . (Opposite for lefties ) . At the same time you are going with gravity and the whole thing is turning on the table like the end of a regular wedge .This new 6 pounds is picked up and you do it again . The end results ends up sounding like "Bump de Bump" . Bump de Bump ... //// The northern English have a cool form of slapping and beating taking 30 to 50 pounds of clay in a square and cutting it in half (parallel to the table) and flipping the upper half and slapping it back into the whole (getting the wetter inner clay to the outside ) the slab is upended and the process is done again . 4 of 5 times brings the clay to a good working order...The southern Italians dance on the clay as do the Afghans and Greeks .Wet clay has dry sieved powder clay added to it and the dancing starts in the middle and worked in a spiral to the outside using a cutting motion of foot next to foot. the clay is slapped back into a mound and the process is started again until the whole is slapped up into a cheese like round ready for the wheel .The outside is rubbed smooth and wet cloth is added for aging or "souring " They like making next months clay .. :) //// Getting clay really wet (as in a blunger and putting it through a wet screen or sieve out onto a settling pan is the least amount of work in the long run if you just have the dry space to do it . The english use blungers and clay presses that bring clay to a quality we see very seldom over here .. ALl the best from New England ... I am 72 and have been doing this since I was 16 . I go through a half a ton a week as an old guy . I have settling tables in the throwing room and add the drying slop to the pugging or wedge it into the slugs that are a little hard . (Anything above 12 pounds or 2 gallon flowerpots need softer clay ) YOurs Guy
Thank you for sharing this, I’m new to ceramics and just bought a wheel and kiln, my question is can I stack and slam wedge instead of rams head or spiral ? Am I able to do just this type of wedging and then use that clay on the wheel? Can I stack a slam with new clay as well as recycled? It sure would help my wrists. Thanks
Hey JV. yes you can stack and slam instead of spiral wedging or rams head wedging. Also, yes, you can use new or recycled clay or mix them both togheter. I started doing it to save my wrists as well. Just make sure the layers are stacking in the same direction (picture strata of the earth or layers of a cake) and that when you put the chunk of clay on the wheel that those layers are running parallel with the wheelhead. Let me know if that doesn't make sense and I'll explain better. Great question! -mj
Yeah! I'm glad you got it and liked it. I love wedging this way. It can get a little loud but it really saves your wrists. Thanks for saying that about my kids, Bob! I appreciate that.
Instead of throwing damaged pottery glazed or any other reason, if it repaired like Japanese do, and keep it as decoration piece if you give an idea to store owner add these damaged repaired pots etc to their shelf I hope people will like and purchase.
Thanks Josiah! I appreciate that. I guess the drive kind of waned over teh past month but i'm getting back on the wagon. I took a 1 1/2 month detour on amazon prime which was a crazy learning experience. maybe we'll do some videos on that soon. Thanks again!
Great advice. My Mrs was talking about getting a Pugmill but you may have changed things there. It does seem to be an extravagant purchase especially as she is a hobbyist at this stage.
No method can compare to what a vacuum process pugmill will accomplish. The increased plasticity, the minimal attrition, & significantly increased workability are unmatched by what a vacuum process pugmill can accomplish.
You may be right, Mirroxaphene. I'm sure there is a lot going on in the pugmill, that I don't understand. I can't really tell a difference when throwing. The pugmill is faster when doing a lot of clay, though. I like that with stack and slam i can make a clay body wetter or dryer on the fly by adding wet or dry clay to the stack. Thanks for sharing this though - having multiple perspectives gives users a better understanding i think.
Hey Thanks! I'm glad these are helpful. That's my goal. Watch out though. Pottery is addicting :) Great carpentry videos btw! Carpentry with my Granddad in his workshop was my first love as a kid.
Thank you for these concise, well done videos! Also how they are complemented with worlds favorite supplier... amazon. Lol. I was wondering what type of wheel I would get from buying one on Amazon and appreciate the side by side choices you review. Did you actually rank them? I'd like to see your ranking.. comments? Does Amazon sell a worthwhile kiln or whats the price for a "beginner kiln" like low/mid fire...or would it be better for a beginner to take the prepped clay to a commercial kiln (like at a studio?) Sorry for all the questions... im curious. Do you solely work with clay or have you worked with concrete mixes? I'm currently on a journey making planters with fiber reinforced cement ..stabilized with polymers. I'd like to make clay pots for my many bonsai, but from what i can tell.. many don't need a wheel? For the low square/ angled pots they look slab built. My experience with clay pottery stopped many many years back.. but i have always had a hand in one art form or another ... Thanks again and especially if you read this whole thing hehe! 😁
Hi Lali. My apologies for the delayed response! 1. What type of wheel would i buy off amazon - If i was just starting out I would probably buy the wheel in my video titled "Pottery Wheels for Beginners - Amazon Budget Wheel with Solid Frame REVIEW". It's a great little wheel and very affordable. Amazon has a lot of venders that sell similar wheels. If it looks the same, then it probably is :) 2. The ranking would depend on what you are looking for. If portable is your #1 criteria I would go with a Shimpo Aspire. If you're looking to get started and try it out I would go with one like the one above in answer 1. If price is not a big deal I would go with the bigger clay boss wheel I did a review on. It's not very portable at all but it's a work horse! So they each have their advantages. If you have loads of cash $$$ there are better options but the Clay Boss is the nicest wheel I've owned :) 3. A kiln is going to be your biggest expense starting out. And for that reason I think your idea about taking it to a local studio first is a great one. I usually don't advise people to get a kiln until you have about 100 "bone dry" vessels on your shelf that your'e proud of and looking to fire. I have 2 pretty small kilns. I think both are about 3.2 cubic feet. I can fit about 50 mugs and about 300 shot glasses in there at a time in a glaze fire. Each of those kilns cost me about $1350 USD (About). Plus there's a cost to upgrading your electricity in your house house or studio which can also cost some cash. I think it cost me about $530 to do it here at my house in Texas. So kilns are where ceramics can start to get pretty pricy. But if you start at the wheel and get thoroughly addicted (like I did) you might just have to jump in no matter the cost. It's such a beautiful craft. I'm really glad I got lost in it! 4. Bonzai planters - yes many are slab built and they are crazy cool! Wheel thrown vessels look good for them as well. My work in cement is mostly functional - building structures and storage shelves outside and setting the posts in concrete. I haven't done many creatiive things with it :(. Just be sure to wear a mask with plaster and cement - you don't want that stuff sticking around in your lungs! :). We do a lot of slab building - my son really likes it. I think if you were going that route for your bonzais you would really like it. Let me know if you have any other questiosn Lali. I hope that gives you a little look into what clay could look like for your planters! mj
I believe my method is the best. I simply throw my scrap into a bucket of clean water as I go every day after I'm done throwing I mix it with a paint mixer a big metal paint mixer. I do this and turn it into slip perfectly smooth slip I have three buckets sometimes four sittings right next to each other and I keep them at various stages of slip. When my first bucket gets thick I start letting it shrink down in evaporate but I still mix it every single day . Eventually, it gets into a consistency like ice cream at which point I will take a big blob of clay out of it and throw it on a wood bored actually one of the tables I built for ceramics work. I like using wood rather than plaster of Paris I want it to stiffen up slowly not quickly I even cover it with a bucket every night I only leave it open while I'm working on stuff down there and occasionally I'll wedge it a little bit. There's almost no work involved in my method I mean literally, I simply press the trigger on a drill once or twice a day and keep it whipped up nice. I know a lot of people like when it gets dark moldy I don't do that I have but I don't find any advantage in it so occasionally if it starts getting smelly I will put a couple of drops of hydrogen peroxide in it and it's beautiful again you don't have to use hardly any. I don't hardly even have to wedge this clay because it is done over a long period of time it shrinks naturally and it starts as a thin liquid slip. I make sure nothing goes in the buckets that is not clay so I don't have to worry about screening it at all. It's absolutely no work!
That does sound like a good system. I'll have to try it! I like the idea of whipping up the scraps into slip. I do a lot of slip work and slip casting. Generally, I don't like standing water because we get mosquitos a lot here where I'm at but I could see this working. Thanks for sharing Clown Whisper.
Thank you for sharing this; very interesting. I am a retired art teacher and just bought my first kiln. I'm not too strong and this method sounds like it might work better for me. Thanks
yes you can use a normal same wire tool for this. I find it easier to rig something up where the wire is at a 45 degree angle and stationary, but a normal wire tool will work just fine!
Missed opportunity to call it "reCLAYmation"! Great video, I had no idea I could do this and honestly it doesn't look very hard!
good thinking fish feet! I should have thought of that!
4:17 skim the clean water, no need to pull the clay from the bottom through it.
I was the only kid in high school ceramics class who volunteered to dig out the slop bucket while no one else wanted to.
Ended up teaching clay in public schools over the years since 2001. Not sure if it was just meant to be, but it sure seems like it.
Have used plaster drying frames, it is a 2x4 built frame with plaster poured into it, plaster dries as a surface block. Put the slop clay on the dry plaster and it really sped up air time due to absorption. Yes plaster and clay do not mix but it was a pretty good idea that worked well
I have reclaimed so much clay drying my teaching. Towers galore. Thinking of a pug mill as I am getting tired of wedging.
Really fun to watch .. So many ways to skin this cat .The NC potters at Jugtown still have a 19th century style standing table on a slant(downhill away from you and a wire from the front edge and attached to the wall (maybe 28 " above the table with a screw tightener . The slapping and beating has a very cool rhythm there ..Say 6 pounds of clay is dropped or thrown through the wire (hands still on the outside of the ball that is now cut into two pieces of clay .. Left hand picks up and slaps down directly below itself on the the left and the right hand picks up its 3 pounds and slams it into the the same spot on the left of the wire on the table . (Opposite for lefties ) . At the same time you are going with gravity and the whole thing is turning on the table like the end of a regular wedge .This new 6 pounds is picked up and you do it again . The end results ends up sounding like "Bump de Bump" . Bump de Bump ... //// The northern English have a cool form of slapping and beating taking 30 to 50 pounds of clay in a square and cutting it in half (parallel to the table) and flipping the upper half and slapping it back into the whole (getting the wetter inner clay to the outside ) the slab is upended and the process is done again . 4 of 5 times brings the clay to a good working order...The southern Italians dance on the clay as do the Afghans and Greeks .Wet clay has dry sieved powder clay added to it and the dancing starts in the middle and worked in a spiral to the outside using a cutting motion of foot next to foot. the clay is slapped back into a mound and the process is started again until the whole is slapped up into a cheese like round ready for the wheel .The outside is rubbed smooth and wet cloth is added for aging or "souring " They like making next months clay .. :) //// Getting clay really wet (as in a blunger and putting it through a wet screen or sieve out onto a settling pan is the least amount of work in the long run if you just have the dry space to do it . The english use blungers and clay presses that bring clay to a quality we see very seldom over here .. ALl the best from New England ... I am 72 and have been doing this since I was 16 . I go through a half a ton a week as an old guy . I have settling tables in the throwing room and add the drying slop to the pugging or wedge it into the slugs that are a little hard . (Anything above 12 pounds or 2 gallon flowerpots need softer clay ) YOurs Guy
The shelf bracket idea for setting up wire is a great one.
Thanks Joyce. It certainly does save your wrists a lot of stress! -mj
Thank you for sharing this, I’m new to ceramics and just bought a wheel and kiln, my question is can I stack and slam wedge instead of rams head or spiral ? Am I able to do just this type of wedging and then use that clay on the wheel? Can I stack a slam with new clay as well as recycled? It sure would help my wrists. Thanks
Hey JV. yes you can stack and slam instead of spiral wedging or rams head wedging. Also, yes, you can use new or recycled clay or mix them both togheter. I started doing it to save my wrists as well. Just make sure the layers are stacking in the same direction (picture strata of the earth or layers of a cake) and that when you put the chunk of clay on the wheel that those layers are running parallel with the wheelhead. Let me know if that doesn't make sense and I'll explain better. Great question! -mj
Watched this twice and NOW I got it with the layering. Thanks Man, lucky kids.
Yeah! I'm glad you got it and liked it. I love wedging this way. It can get a little loud but it really saves your wrists. Thanks for saying that about my kids, Bob! I appreciate that.
Great video, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching!
Thank you brother, you're speaking my language...great tips.
Great video. So glad I found your channel!
me too! Thanks for dropping in Karri! -mj
That was helpful! I’ll give it a try. Thanks. Looks like a good workout!
Thanks! Yes it is a workout but it will save your wrists :). Thanks Jeanne for contributing! -mj
Your work table there is it covered with something or is it just bare wood?
Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
I’m a fan of the stack and slam!
Me too! Save my wrists and a little less sweaty in my Texas garage in the summertime :) Thanks Rick! -mj
How to buy..
Instead of throwing damaged pottery glazed or any other reason, if it repaired like Japanese do, and keep it as decoration piece if you give an idea to store owner add these damaged repaired pots etc to their shelf I hope people will like and purchase.
I really enjoy your videos, thank you for what you do! I appreciate your outlook and drive.
Thanks Josiah! I appreciate that. I guess the drive kind of waned over teh past month but i'm getting back on the wagon. I took a 1 1/2 month detour on amazon prime which was a crazy learning experience. maybe we'll do some videos on that soon. Thanks again!
Great advice. My Mrs was talking about getting a Pugmill but you may have changed things there. It does seem to be an extravagant purchase especially as she is a hobbyist at this stage.
No method can compare to what a vacuum process pugmill will accomplish. The increased plasticity, the minimal attrition, & significantly increased workability are unmatched by what a vacuum process pugmill can accomplish.
You may be right, Mirroxaphene. I'm sure there is a lot going on in the pugmill, that I don't understand. I can't really tell a difference when throwing. The pugmill is faster when doing a lot of clay, though. I like that with stack and slam i can make a clay body wetter or dryer on the fly by adding wet or dry clay to the stack. Thanks for sharing this though - having multiple perspectives gives users a better understanding i think.
If the clay is thoroughly blunged during recycling and slam wedged it is superb for throwing. Much better than store bought clay.
Thank you!
You're welcome!
Just found your channel, really enjoying the videos. I've not done any pottery, but like the idea of trying, these are really helpful. Thanks.
Hey Thanks! I'm glad these are helpful. That's my goal. Watch out though. Pottery is addicting :) Great carpentry videos btw! Carpentry with my Granddad in his workshop was my first love as a kid.
Great video !
Thanks Galileo!
Thank you for these concise, well done videos! Also how they are complemented with worlds favorite supplier... amazon. Lol. I was wondering what type of wheel I would get from buying one on Amazon and appreciate the side by side choices you review.
Did you actually rank them? I'd like to see your ranking.. comments?
Does Amazon sell a worthwhile kiln or whats the price for a "beginner kiln" like low/mid fire...or would it be better for a beginner to take the prepped clay to a commercial kiln (like at a studio?)
Sorry for all the questions... im curious. Do you solely work with clay or have you worked with concrete mixes? I'm currently on a journey making planters with fiber reinforced cement ..stabilized with polymers. I'd like to make clay pots for my many bonsai, but from what i can tell.. many don't need a wheel? For the low square/ angled pots they look slab built. My experience with clay pottery stopped many many years back.. but i have always had a hand in one art form or another ...
Thanks again and especially if you read this whole thing hehe! 😁
Hi Lali. My apologies for the delayed response!
1. What type of wheel would i buy off amazon - If i was just starting out I would probably buy the wheel in my video titled "Pottery Wheels for Beginners - Amazon Budget Wheel with Solid Frame REVIEW". It's a great little wheel and very affordable. Amazon has a lot of venders that sell similar wheels. If it looks the same, then it probably is :)
2. The ranking would depend on what you are looking for. If portable is your #1 criteria I would go with a Shimpo Aspire. If you're looking to get started and try it out I would go with one like the one above in answer 1. If price is not a big deal I would go with the bigger clay boss wheel I did a review on. It's not very portable at all but it's a work horse! So they each have their advantages. If you have loads of cash $$$ there are better options but the Clay Boss is the nicest wheel I've owned :)
3. A kiln is going to be your biggest expense starting out. And for that reason I think your idea about taking it to a local studio first is a great one. I usually don't advise people to get a kiln until you have about 100 "bone dry" vessels on your shelf that your'e proud of and looking to fire. I have 2 pretty small kilns. I think both are about 3.2 cubic feet. I can fit about 50 mugs and about 300 shot glasses in there at a time in a glaze fire. Each of those kilns cost me about $1350 USD (About). Plus there's a cost to upgrading your electricity in your house house or studio which can also cost some cash. I think it cost me about $530 to do it here at my house in Texas. So kilns are where ceramics can start to get pretty pricy. But if you start at the wheel and get thoroughly addicted (like I did) you might just have to jump in no matter the cost. It's such a beautiful craft. I'm really glad I got lost in it!
4. Bonzai planters - yes many are slab built and they are crazy cool! Wheel thrown vessels look good for them as well. My work in cement is mostly functional - building structures and storage shelves outside and setting the posts in concrete. I haven't done many creatiive things with it :(. Just be sure to wear a mask with plaster and cement - you don't want that stuff sticking around in your lungs! :). We do a lot of slab building - my son really likes it. I think if you were going that route for your bonzais you would really like it.
Let me know if you have any other questiosn Lali. I hope that gives you a little look into what clay could look like for your planters!
mj
clay boss or big boss from speedball. find a used kiln on Craig's list or marketplace.
I believe my method is the best. I simply throw my scrap into a bucket of clean water as I go every day after I'm done throwing I mix it with a paint mixer a big metal paint mixer. I do this and turn it into slip perfectly smooth slip I have three buckets sometimes four sittings right next to each other and I keep them at various stages of slip. When my first bucket gets thick I start letting it shrink down in evaporate but I still mix it every single day . Eventually, it gets into a consistency like ice cream at which point I will take a big blob of clay out of it and throw it on a wood bored actually one of the tables I built for ceramics work. I like using wood rather than plaster of Paris I want it to stiffen up slowly not quickly I even cover it with a bucket every night I only leave it open while I'm working on stuff down there and occasionally I'll wedge it a little bit. There's almost no work involved in my method I mean literally, I simply press the trigger on a drill once or twice a day and keep it whipped up nice. I know a lot of people like when it gets dark moldy I don't do that I have but I don't find any advantage in it so occasionally if it starts getting smelly I will put a couple of drops of hydrogen peroxide in it and it's beautiful again you don't have to use hardly any. I don't hardly even have to wedge this clay because it is done over a long period of time it shrinks naturally and it starts as a thin liquid slip. I make sure nothing goes in the buckets that is not clay so I don't have to worry about screening it at all. It's absolutely no work!
That does sound like a good system. I'll have to try it! I like the idea of whipping up the scraps into slip. I do a lot of slip work and slip casting. Generally, I don't like standing water because we get mosquitos a lot here where I'm at but I could see this working. Thanks for sharing Clown Whisper.
Thank you for sharing this; very interesting. I am a retired art teacher and just bought my first kiln. I'm not too strong and this method sounds like it might work better for me. Thanks
So for the wire tool, I can use the same kind of wire as for wiring off pottery?
yes you can use a normal same wire tool for this. I find it easier to rig something up where the wire is at a 45 degree angle and stationary, but a normal wire tool will work just fine!
Pug mill nya mana pak
sorry. no pug mill. i'm just saying that this method is better than a pug mill (dan jauh lebih murah)!
Thanks. But maybe remove the word pugmill from your video title?