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Clays and Clay Bodies

Many people assume that clay science is somewhat less involved that glaze science. However in some ways it is much more difficult to formulate and maintain clay bodies. This is because there is a heavy emphasis on both their fired and physical working properties. Clays have to be formed and shaped, glazes do not. Clays have to achieve the critical balances involved with vitrification. Clay bodies tend to be made from less reliable materials and require close scrutiny to maintain their properties.

Like glazes, understanding the complexities of clay bodies requires marshalling several different viewpoints, that is, understanding things on different levels. We recommend you develop the ability to determine which level is most closely related to the problem at hand:

• The Process Level: What is the relationship between the equipment used to prepare, form, dry, and fire the clay to problems of production with it?
  
• The Recipe Level: How does the recipe and material makeup of the clay body relate to its performance?
  
• The Material Level: What is the purpose of each material in the recipe? How do each of these materials compare with similar competing name brands?
  
• The Physical Properties Level: What physical properties can be measured and how to these relate to the process, materials, and recipe? How can these properties be measured?

We encourage you to learn to test your clay bodies thoroughly to fully understand them and to control their consistency over time.

The Magic of Fire book is available on line and it has many chapters to help you understand clays and clay bodies.

Topics

• Pottery Crash Course for Beginners - Digitalfire Corp.
  This is designed for teachers who have inherited a ceramics lab and have no background in clay, or for someone that is just beginning. In 5 minutes you will learn enough to be able to at least ask some good questions and get on the right track.
• Understanding Casting Slip Bodies - Digitalfire Corp.
  To do ceramic casting properly it is very important to understand the 'rheology' of a slip and know how to measure its specific gravity and viscosity. With simple tools you can take any slip and figure out how to adjust it to make it pour and cast perfectly.
• Paper Clay- Digitalfire Corp.
  Enough details about paper clay to get you going.
• The Whining Stops Here - Jonathan Kaplan
  A down-to-earth discussion about clay bodies and body materials to help readers appreciate that final responsibility lies with the user to understand and deal with consistency and quality issues and be more demanding of body suppliers.
• Outdoor Weather Resistant Ceramics - Digitalfire Corp.
  How do you ascertain whether your sculpture or tile piece can survive the elements (especially freeze-thaw) out of doors.
• Inferring the Thermal Expansion of Commercial Clay Bodies - Michael McDowell
  Contribute information to expand our chart of commercial clays and the calculated expansion your matching glazes have
• The Power of Clay - Kathleen I. Kimball
  An archaeological look at the role of clay in the spiritual lives of native peoples, especially those of Africa.

Box 432, Cornwall, PE, C0A 1H0 Canada Phone Phone: (406) 662-0136

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